Andy DevaneyWhat a week for Jack Whaley, the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship winner, survived Merion and then seized his chance.
The Englishman beat American Jay Leng Jr. 4&3 in the 36-hole final, becoming only the third English player to lift the title after Harold Hilton in 1911 and Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013.
From play-off survivor to Merion champion
Whaley’s week had little interest in the direct route. The Rotherham golfer, who attends Florida State University, came through two rounds of stroke play and then a 16-for-11 play-off for the final match-play places, nearly holing his tee shot at the par-three 13th to secure his spot.
He then needed 22 holes to beat 2026 U.S. Open qualifier Jackson Ormond in the opening round before winning five more matches. By the final, he had become rather familiar with the view from the edge.
Leng wins the morning argument
Whaley struck first, chipping in for birdie at the opening hole and building two separate 2-up leads on the front nine.
Leng refused to cooperate. Pars at the ninth and 10th levelled the match, then birdies from 30 feet at the 12th and 15 feet at the 13th swung it his way. A Whaley three-putt at the 16th left the Englishman 2 down after the morning 18.
“I was kind of a little bit shocked that I managed to lose that many holes coming in. I got off to a good start, and I was up, and then I was just like, what just happened?” said Whaley.
“Jay just made a 20-foot putt, a 30-foot putt and then another 20-foot putt, and I’m like, well, that was out of nowhere and I’m kind of scraping my pars and he’s just making birdies out of nowhere. He played unbelievable this morning coming down the stretch.
“During the break, it was kind of just reset, recoup and get ready for the afternoon. I knew 2-down wasn’t too much for me to handle. Going into it, it was just be confident and let things happen.”
The 90-minute interval did its work. So, perhaps, did the weather.
Rain, wind and a four-hole swing
Temperatures dropped, the wind stiffened and rain arrived early in the afternoon. Leng, from Southern California, was changing gloves repeatedly and pulled on rain gear for the first time. Whaley reached for black rain gloves after driving out of bounds at the 22nd.
Then the match changed shape.
Whaley won four consecutive holes from the par-five 20th to move 2 up. Leng recovered one at the 24th, but Whaley answered with birdie putts from 25 feet at the 26th and 15 feet at the 28th to stretch the lead to three.
Over the closing stretch, Whaley mostly removed drama from the equation. In 36-hole match play, that can be a particularly efficient form of cruelty.
A finish with history underfoot
Whaley found the penalty area with his approach at the 29th, the same hole where Bob Jones closed out the 1930 U.S. Amateur to complete his Grand Slam. Leng took the hole, but Whaley immediately restored his 3-up advantage with a winning two-putt par at the 30th.
Three holes later, a 10-foot birdie on the 33rd ended it.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” said Whaley of joining the likes of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Bob Jones as a U.S. Amateur champion.
“But it’s definitely a huge honour to be able to be part of the names of all the famous people and unbelievable golfers that have come through this golf course and won. Yeah, I don’t really have words for it right now.”
The celebration quickly became a family affair, with an emotional embrace between Whaley and his father and caddie, Andy.
“It’s just off the charts. I’m not very emotional as a rule, but this is very emotional,” said Andy Whaley. “Never in our wildest dreams did we think that this was possible. Jack has just achieved the impossible, frankly. That’s what this is about. I just can’t be proud enough of the guy.”
The prize beyond the trophy
Whaley, No. 90 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earns exemptions into the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and The Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews, plus a likely invitation to next April’s Masters Tournament.
He also secures one of the 10 places on the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team for the match against the United States at Lahinch on 5-6 September.
Whaley is the first Englishman to win the U.S. Amateur since Fitzpatrick in 2013 and the first player since Tyler Strafaci in 2020 to trail after the opening 18 of the final and still take the title.
A week that began with a scramble for the last match-play places ended with Whaley holding one of amateur golf’s grandest trophies. Merion does not hand out many favours. He did not need one.
