Jack Whaley became only the second Englishman to win the US Amateur Championship since 1911, beating American Jay Leng Jr. 4&3 at Merion on Sunday. The 22-year-old from Doncaster came into the 36-hole final as a significant underdog.
According to BBC Sport, Leng Jr. ranked 23rd in the world amateur golf rankings going into the final, some 67 places higher than Whaley. The rankings appeared to be holding up through the opening 18 holes, when Whaley fell two down.
He fought back in the second round with back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes, winning four consecutive holes. Rain was falling across Pennsylvania as both players traded holes over the next stretch. Leng Jr. then misread a putt on the 12th to give Whaley a three-hole lead. Whaley closed it out with a left-to-right birdie putt on the 15th.
Whaley attends Florida State University. His victory earns him spots in the 2027 Masters, US Open, and The Open Championship at St Andrews.
The last Englishman to win the US Amateur was Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013. Before Fitzpatrick, Harold Hilton had held that distinction since 1911. Scotland's Richie Ramsay, who won in 2006, is the only other British winner since 1898. Fitzpatrick went on to win the US Open in 2022 at The Country Club in Brookline, the same course where he had won the amateur title.
Past US Amateur champions include Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, and Viktor Hovland.
