Englishman Whaley wins US Amateur title

Jack Whaley captured the US Amateur Championship at Merion, becoming the second Englishman to win the event since 1911 by defeating Jay Leng Jr 4&3. The victory grants him a place in the 2027 Masters, US Open and Open Championship at St Andrews. Whaley, a Florida State University student from Doncaster, entered the match as a sizable underdog against Leng Jr, who sits 23rd in the world amateur rankings, 67 places ahead of Whaley. After falling two down following the opening 18 holes of the Sunday 36‑hole final, Whaley rallied with back‑to‑back birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes of his second round, eventually winning four holes in a row. Rain fell in Pennsylvania; both players each won two of the following six holes before Leng Jr misread a putt on the 12th, giving Whaley a three‑hole lead. Whaley sealed the win with a left‑to‑right birdie putt on the 15th, becoming the first English amateur to claim the title since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013. Prior to Fitzpatrick, Harold Hilton was the last English champion in 1911; Scotland’s Richie Ramsay (2006) remains the only other British winner since 1898. Fitzpatrick later parlayed his Brookline success into a 2022 US Open victory at the same course. Former US Amateur winners include Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland.