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08/16 18:08 CDT Jack Whaley of England holds off Jay Leng Jr. to win US Amateur
at Merion
Jack Whaley of England holds off Jay Leng Jr. to win US Amateur at Merion
By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) --- Jack Whaley blinked back tears as he clutched the U.S.
Amateur championship trophy and could only think of the countless times his
father kept encouraging him, kept playing golf with him, all to urge a
promising teenager on the cusp of quitting the game to stick with it for better
days ahead.
With his dad on the bag, Whaley fulfilled Andy Whaley's unwavering belief and
capped the tournament victory of his life at Merion with a father-son embrace
that put an exclamation point on a career that at one point seemed destined to
dry up on English soil.
"He can actually see me happy, and I can see him happy coming off the golf
course," Whaley said.
Whaley played with double gloves, needed an umbrella, was stung by a wasp at
rainy Merion Golf Club and still pushed through the inconveniences to cap a
tremendous tournament and hold off Jay Leng Jr. to win the U.S. Amateur on
Sunday.
Whaley should keep the rain jacket.
The 22-year-old Englishman gets to soak up the spoils that come with winning
amateur golf's greatest prize.
With the sky finally clear on the rain-slogged course, Whaley sank his final
putt for birdie to win the 36-hole final 4 and 3 and hugged it out with his
caddie --- his father. Whaley's mother ran out to join them for a family
embrace while Andy gripped the famed wicker basket flagstick.
"This week it just clicked," Andy Whaley said. "I can't explain it. I don't
know why."
His son broke down in tears as he held the Havemeyer Trophy and dedicated the
win to his father, who never gave up on Jack, even as he kept missing cuts as a
teenager.
"As we were driving back, I was looking at my dad with some of the names that
are on this thing," Whaley said after his win. "I never thought my name would
among such impressive people."
Whaley made a rapid rise from NAIA star to Florida State to amateur champion
the college senior now has an exemption into the 2027 US Open, and the 2027
British Open at St. Andrews and the Masters should he remain an amateur. He
wore his Florida State Seminoles cap and team colors for the championship round.
Whaley won the seventh U.S. Amateur held at Merion and is the first Englishman
winner since Matt Fitzpatrick at Brookline in 2013.
Whaley shook off a wasp sting on the fourth fairway in the afternoon session
before he rallied his way to the title. Leng, a Stanford junior, held a 2-up
advantage through the first 18 holes after both players bogeyed the par-5 18th
on an overcast and windy round.
Whaley pointed to a spot on his right ankle where the wasp got him and left him
throbbing for the next two holes.
"I had to pull this stinger out," Whaley said with a laugh.
Maybe the stinger will be immortalized down the line at Merion.
The U.S. Amateur does hold a special place in Merion history. Take a look at
the rock near the 11th hole tee box at Merion and one of the grandest holes in
golf is marked.
"On September 27, 1930, And on this hole, Robert Tyre Jones, Jr., completed his
?Grand Slam' by winning the U.S. Amateur Championship."
It was on that hole where Bobby Jones closed out Eugene Homans 8 and 7 in the
36-hole final and clinched golf's only season Grand Slam with a win at the U.S.
Amateur.
Ben Hogan also has a plaque that honors his 1-iron on the 18th hole of the 1950
Open.
"It's a huge honor to be part of the names of all the famous people," Whaley
said.
___
See AP's full golf coverage here
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