Rotherham golfer Jack Whaley has secured the U.S. Amateur Championship after defeating American Jay Leng Jr. 4&3 in the final at Merion Golf Club. The Florida State University student becomes the third English winner in the tournament's history, joining Harold Hilton (1911) and Matt Fitzpatrick (2013).
The 22-year-old’s path to the title required navigating two rounds of stroke play, a play-off, and six match-play rounds. With the win, Whaley joins a list of past champion line-ups that includes Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Bobby Jones.
“I don't think it's sunk in yet,” Whaley said. “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.”
Whaley’s championship run matched the trajectory of Italy's Edoardo Molinari, who also won the title at Merion by a 4&3 margin after navigating a stroke-play play-off.
Whaley began Wednesday morning in a 16-for-11 play-off to claim one of the final match-play spots, nearly acing the par-3 13th hole to lock up his position in the bracket. In his opening match, he defeated 2026 U.S. Open qualifier Jackson Ormond in 22 holes before advancing through the remaining rounds.
In the 36-hole final, Whaley found himself 2-down to Leng after the morning 18 holes following a run of birdies from his opponent.
“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?” Whaley said. “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 while he's just making birdies out of nowhere. He played unbelievably 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.”
Whaley shifted the momentum in the afternoon session by winning four consecutive holes starting at the par-5 20th to build a 2-up lead. He did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the match, ending the final on the 35th green (the 15th hole of the afternoon round) with a 10-foot birdie putt.
The victory was celebrated on the green with his mother Kerry, girlfriend Sara Burger, coaches from Florida State and Dalton State College—where Whaley won the 2025 NAIA Championship and earned the Jack Nicklaus Award—and his father Andy, who served as his caddie.
“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 victory earns Whaley exemptions into the fields for the 2027 Masters, U.S. Open, and The Open at St Andrews. The win also guarantees him a spot on the 10-man Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team to face the USA at Lahinch on September 5–6, ahead of the R&A's official team announcement on Monday.
Whaley's win makes him the second Englishman to win a major championship event at Merion, following Justin Rose’s victory at the 2013 U.S. Open.
