The U.S. Amateur Championship comes to Merion Golf Club. Here’s your guide to the week.
The best amateur golfers in the country are coming to the Philadelphia area this week for the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship from Monday to Sunday.
The tournament will be held at the historic Merion Golf Club in Ardmore for the first time since 2005. Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne will serve as the co-host for the first two days of stroke play.
Here’s what to know before the competition begins.
What is the U.S. Amateur?
The U.S. Amateur is the oldest tournament held by the United States Golf Association, starting in 1895. It is one of the most prestigious events in amateur golf and has produced a long list of golf’s best, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Bobby Jones, who won the amateur at Merion in 1930 and won the Grand Slam.
The tournament is open to amateur golfers with a Handicap Index of 0.4 or better. There are 312 players competing for the Havemeyer Trophy this year, with the field determined through a two-stage qualifying process with 5,111 entries.
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Who’s in the field?
Forty-seven of the top 50 in the Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field this week. No. 1 Preston Stout, the current Division I NCAA individual champion with Oklahoma State, No. 3 Tyler Watts, and No. 4 Miles Russell, who finished runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club, will play together at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at Merion and 7:33 a.m. on Tuesday at Philadelphia Country Club.
Mason Howell, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, will look to defend his title. Howell was 18 years old when he won at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. He defeated University of Tennessee’s Jackson Herrington in the 36-hole final to become the third-youngest champion in tournament history.
Forty-five states and 36 countries are represented in the field. There are 12 past USGA champions and 13 runners-up.
Mike McCoy, 63, is the only player in the field to have competed in the 2005 U.S. Amateur at Merion.
How many locals are in the field?
Ten players from Pennsylvania will compete in the championship, with many from the Philly area. Drue Nicholas, 23, of Egg Harbor Township is the only Merion member competing in the field this week.
Nicholas, who graduated from Drexel, recently won his second straight Philadelphia Open, becoming the second player in history to sweep the Philadelphia Open and the Philadelphia Amateur in the same year.
Nicholas Gross, 19, of Downingtown; Hunter Stetson, 20, of Newtown Square; Charlie Barrickman, 18, of West Chester; Michael Lugiano, 20, of Jackson Township; Patrick Isztwan, 23, of Huntingdon Valley, and Joshua Ryan, 22, of Norristown are all competing.
How does the tournament work?
The U.S. Amateur is decided through both stroke and match play.
The first two days, Monday and Tuesday, are stroke play. Every player will play 18 holes each day, with one round at Merion’s East Course and one at Philadelphia Country Club.
After 36 holes, only the 64 lowest scores will advance to match play.
The Round of 64 begins Wednesday, the Round of 32 and 16 on Thursday, followed by the quarterfinals Friday, the semifinals Saturday, and the championship match Sunday.
The final match is 36 holes and the eventual champion will have to win six consecutive match-play rounds to claim the title.
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How can I watch?
The event will air live on Peacock and NBC. Here’s the television schedule:
Wednesday
Round of 64: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Thursday
Round of 16: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Friday
Quarterfinals: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinals: Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m.
Semifinals: NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday
Championship Match (Afternoon 18), Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m.
Championship Match (Afternoon 18): NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Tickets to attend the tournament are available on the USGA’s website.
What does the champion receive?
The championship comes with significant benefits.
Along with a gold medal and the Havemeyer Trophy, the winner will receive exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the 2027 Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland, as long as one remains an amateur. The winner is also likely to receive an invitation to the 2027 Masters.
What’s the history behind Merion?
Merion’s East Course opened in 1912 and was designed by Hugh Wilson. It has hosted some of the most important tournaments in golf history, including 20 USGA championships.
Ben Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion and Justin Rose won in 2013.
The U.S. Amateur has been played at Merion five previous times. In 2005, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari defeated Dillon Dougherty in the championship match.
Merion will host the U.S. Open in 2030 and the U.S. Women’s Open in 2034.