ARDMORE, Pa. — Sitting at 2 down after the morning 18 holes, Jack Whaley had serious work to do to take down Jay Leng Jr. in the U.S. Amateur championship match at Merion. He was used to it.
Whaley began the week by shooting two-over par in the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event, putting him directly on the qualifying line. He was thrust into a 16-for-11 spots playoff that began at the short par-3 13th. He nearly aced it, surviving with a birdie and setting up a Round of 64 match with fifth-seeded Jackson Ormond. It took 22 holes, but Whaley survived that, too.
Still relatively unknown at the time, the rising senior at Florida State then beat Bowen Mauss, 2 and 1, in the Round of 32. Then Christian Cavaliere, 4 and 3, in the Round of 16. Next came Morocco’s Adam Bresnu, who Whaley disposed of, 5 and 4. In the semis, he led Carter Loflin 3 up with six to play. Loflin tied the match on 17. Whaley still survived, making bogey to Loflin’s double on one of the most famous finishers in championship golf.
RELATED: What each U.S. Amateur finalist ate during the lunch break between 18s
The remarkable run culminated with a 36-hole final on Sunday where he took down Leng, one of the hottest amateur players in the world, who just won the Western Amateur earlier this month after consecutive top-five finishes at both the Southern Amateur and Northeast Amateur. Leng went on a dominant run in match play, reaching the 15th hole only twice in his first five matches and went 2 down early to Whaley on Sunday, but clawed back to take a 2-up lead heading into the lunch break.
Jay Leng Jr. hugs Jack Whaley after the end of the U.S. Amateur championship match.
Isaiah Vazquez
Despite the deficit, Whaley was itching to get back out there, finding his way to the first tee box right of the Merion clubhouse a full 20 minutes before the 2:05 p.m. ET tee time. Whaley won four of the next five holes, including the par-5 fourth, where the Englishman was stung by a wasp in the fairway. Then came the rain, on and off for the remainder of the day.
“It couldn't get any worse, could it?” Whaley said. “I was on the comeback for that point, but I was down, and I was just like, what's going on, I've been stung. It couldn't get any worse. It was just a kick up the rear end, come on, let's play good golf.”
The bee sting certainly shook him—Whaley hit his drive out of bounds at the sixth hole and lost the hole. The rain did not. He broke out the rain gloves, the towels, the umbrellas and the jacket and went on to make birdies at the eighth, 10th and, finally, the 15th, closing out the match 4 and 3.
Whaley, who barely cracked match play and, prior to this week, was not being seriously considered for the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, kept it short and sweet when asked what he proved to the world after he got his hands on the Havemeyer Trophy.
“I think I proved I’m pretty good in match play,” Whaley said.
Whaley’s father, Andy, who caddied for him this week, already knew that.
“We always knew Jack was a strong match play player,” he said. “The upbringing he had in county golf, team golf, has all been primarily match play He’s always performed really well one on one.”
RELATED: U.S. Walker Cup team announced and U.S. Am runner-up Jay Leng Jr. Nabs a spot
Whaley’s Florida State teammates, as well as his coach, Trey Jones, knew it, too. Rising junior Drew Jones, who flew in for Saturday’s semifinal and stayed for the championship match, said it’s no surprise he had success this week at Merion and in this format. “He peppers fairways,” Jones said. “If he gets up in matches [like he has this week], he just wears you out pretty good.”
Trey Jones said it’s the Englishman’s competitiveness that served him so well in this mano-a-mano setting.
“Everybody’s a competitor, to some degree,” Jones said. “All the great players have something about them that separates them. His is his competitiveness and just how he fights all the time. I think he’s had to. It’s just kind of in his DNA. He’s just a grinder.”
It’s all Whaley knows. After advancing to the semis on Friday, he told the media he did not make a cut in his amateur career until he was 17 years old in the English Amateur. Prior to Florida State, Whaley played at NAIA Dalton State for two seasons, where he led the team in scoring average as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to FSU.
His coach, Jones, was fortunate to discover him through an assistant coach that was good friends with Whaley’s Dalton State coach, Ben Rickett. Whaley went through the portal and put together a solid if not spectacular junior campaign. With this victory, Whaley will now star alongside fellow Englishman and top-ranked amateur Tyler Weaver for the Seminoles next year. The duo will likely team up at the Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland, too.
As Jones says, he’s an even better person than a player, making this vault into stardom much easier to root for.
“He’s the least entitled person I’ve ever been around,” his coach said. “Like, if you give him a ball marker, a sleeve of balls, whatever, he keeps saying thank you. I spent 10 minutes with him [between 18s] on the putting green, and literally told him nothing other than how good he was, and he thanked me for it. He’s very appreciative and humble. A guy you look forward to seeing every day.”
Jack Whaley and his father Andy at Merion.
Isaiah Vazquez
Whaley showed that appreciation to his father Andy, choking back tears during his post-victory interview on NBC.
RELATED: Here are the 50 players who qualified for the BMW Championship
“I think it all goes down to my dad,” Whaley said. “He's helped me so much this week. Honestly, I can't thank him enough for it. He was just telling me, just keep going, just keep playing. It's just a huge honor to be able to experience this with my dad and hole that eight-footer on the last.”
Whaley thanked the fans for coming out in the rain, too, even apologizing to them for having to trudge through the wetness. The fine folks of Philadelphia were undeterred, creating a phenomenal atmosphere throughout the week, including the rain-soaked final day.
Many of those fans wanted a picture with the champion afterward, something Whaley certainly did not envision on Monday when this whole thing started.
“I'm just so shocked at the amount of people that want pictures with me,” he said. “It's never really been a big thing. Never really had it happen to me before, and then all of a sudden I've got 100 people wanting a picture with me. Even just outside there, some of the workers of Merion Golf Club have wanted pictures with me. All they're doing is working this week, but obviously they know it's a big event, and I'm very blessed to be out there, to win this.”
It won’t be the last picture Whaley gets asked to take. He still has his senior year ahead of him at Florida State, where he’ll undoubtedly be a much more recognizable face after this win. As the reigning U.S. Am winner, he’ll also play in next year’s Masters (Augusta National), U.S. Open (Pebble Beach) and Open Championship (Old Course). If he thought 2026 was good, just wait until 2027.
“This has just blown me away,” Whaley said. “It's not completely sunk in yet. But yeah, this is a massive achievement, and I didn't think this would ever happen. So I'm very, very happy with myself for this week.”