If you love the Ryder Cup then you need to tune into the Golf Channel this weekend to watch the Walker Cup. This year the Walk Cup is being played in Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club (The Old Course) so be ready to get up early if you want to watch the early matches live. Golf Channel times:
Saturday, September 5:3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome matches and and eight singles matches
Sunday, September 6:3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome morning matches and 10 singles matches.
I assume the Golf Channel will rebroadcast in the evening but I can’t find any times listed.
The Teams: On paper the USA should win over GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) because the world amateur golf rankings for the USA team members are all in the top 25 and GB&I team members world amateur golf rankings are not as strong. GB&I does have two top ten players (Tyler Weaver and Luke Poulter) but the rest of the team are not as high in the rankings.
The USA team really is impressive and if you want to learn more about each member you can read Team USA bios on the USGA website. The website also has the team GB&I bios.
Now I think there are a number of reasons the GB&I team can give the USA a run for their money:
(1) It’s a home game for GB&I which always seems to make a difference.
(2) A few of the top players on the USA side have not shown very good form in recent big amateur events. Specifically, the #1 player in the WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) Preston Stout and #4 Ethan Fang did not make the cut to match play at the U.S. Amateur.
(3) If GB&I can get off to a fast start and win the majority of the alternate shot matches that would help; we all remember how that was the advantage for Team Europe at the most recent Ryder Cup.
Cheering for the USA
Team USA (defending champions) needs 13 points to win and GB&I need 13.5 points to win. I am definitely cheering for Team USA. I want to see good golf on both sides so that it is exciting to watch. I never really enjoy blowouts (unless the points don’t really indicate the closeness of matches). I want to see it come down to the single matches on the last day to decide the winning team.
Next UP – THE SOLHEIM CUP is the following week from September 7 to 13, 2026. It is being hosted by Team Europe in Netherlands at Bernardus Golf. And yes, I will post a blog post next week with all the details.
If you told me at the start of the week not one top 10 ranked (WAGR) male golfer would make the quarter finals I would not believe it but that is what has happened at the 2026 U.S. Amateur.
Here are how the top ten amateur golfers fared at the championship:
#1 Preston Stout – Missed the cut (+6) and did not make it to match play.
#2 Tyler Weaver – Did not compete due to a back injury.
#3 Tyler Watts – Made it to match play and lost in the round of 16; 1 down to Jay Leng, jr.
#4 Miles Russell – He was my favorite (#1 Jr in world) but shockingly lost in the round of 64 going 19 holes against Ryder Cowan (#8 WAGR). It was a very exciting match to watch.
#5 Williams Jennings – He is from Greenville, SC so I was cheering for him but he lost in the round of 16 to Carter Loftin going 19 holes.
#6 Luck Poulter – Yes, the son of Ian Poulter. He shot +6. He had a chance to go to match play but in the playoff (stroke play) he did not secure one of the 11 spots (out of 16 players in the playoff).
#7 Josiah Gilbert – Lost by 3 with 2 holes to play in round of 64 to Zackary Swanwick
#8 Ryder Cowan – Played well but lost in 20 holes to Logan Reilly (Ranked #47 in WAGR). After Cowan took out Miles Russell in the round of 64 I thought he might win it all.
#9 Ethan Fang – Missed the cut (+5). He was a player that the press made a big deal about a few years ago but he has not lived up to their hype.
#10 Tim Wiedermeyer – from Germany; Missed the cut (+4)
So, of the 8 men that have made the quarter finals today (Friday, August 14, 2026) the highest ranked golfer is Jack Turner ranked 19th. Turner is a senior at University of Florida (Gators). The next highest ranked (WAGR #23) is Jay Leng, Jr. (a junior at Standford University).
Logic would say that Jay Leng is now the betting man’s favorite because he took out #3 in the world (and #2 seed in the match play standings), Tyler Watts. And Leng has been playing well all season most recently winning the Western Amateur. But given how this championship has been going, I have no idea who will lift the trophy on Sunday.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur was just completed on Sunday August 9 with Asterisk Talley winning 8&6. Now it is time for the most prestigious amateur men’s event – the U.S. Amateur.
Today, Monday August 10 the stroke play has already begun with 312 competitors playing two courses; Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club. The match play portion of the championship will be played at Merion Golf Club. Match play will begin on Wednesday with the round of 64. You can follow live scoring on the USGA website.
How To Watch: Peacock and Golf Channel will be broadcasting the following match play rounds:
Wednesday, August 12 Round of 64: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, August 13 Round of 16: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Friday, August 14 Quarterfinals: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, August 15 Semifinals: Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Semifinals: NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, August 16 Championship Match (Afternoon 18), Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Championship Match (Afternoon 18): NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Players to Watch: There are so many amazing young golfers but let’s start with the reigning U.S. Open Champion, Mason Howell. Howell is ranked 49th in the WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) and plays college golf for the University of Georgia. I don’t think he will win back-to-back.
Other players that are top Amateurs are Preston Stout (#1 WAGR), Miles Russell (#3 WAGR), Luke Poulter (#4 WAGR) and the son of Ian Poulter. Ethan Fang (#9) and Luke Colton (#48) are Americans that also get a lot of press from the golf analysts.
I will also keep my eye on Stewart Hagestad who is 39, won the U.S. Mid-Am in 2016 and was the Low Amateur at the Masters with a T37 finish in 2017. He has also been on five Walker Cup teams including last years 2025 winning team.
The oldest player in the field is Mike McCoy (63). McCoy was the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur Champion and that qualified him for the U.S. Amateur. He has had a very storied amateur career winning the 2022 British Senior Amateur Champion and the U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion in 2013, and two U.S. Four-Ball Championship in 2015 and 2019. Plus he has captained the Walk Cup. He has even more accomplishments that you can read in his bio from the Iowa Golf Association.
Finally the youngest players Landon Tudor and Bento Assis both 15 years old. Of course, there are a number of 16 year old golfers in the field (which speaks to the age of golfers with amazing games getting younger and younger).
SIDE NOTE: The youngest player in the U.S. Womens Amateur last week was Maggie Ma (14). She is from California and advanced to the quarterfinals where you played Asterisk Talley forcing the match to 19 holes where Talley took the win. That is very impressive considering Talley won the championship overall by 8&6..
So do you have a favorite golfer playing in the U.S. Amateur this week? I would like to see Miles Russell win since he was just the runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur. But it will be fun to watch all the golf and hopefully it will be an exciting Championship.
There was lots of golf to watch this week and I was surprised at the outcomes in men’s amateur golf, the women’s professional game and the men’s professional game.
U.S. Jr. Amateur at Saucon Valley
The USGA championships are a grind with two days of stroke play to finish in the top 64 to advance to match play.
I was fully expecting Miles Russell to win the U.S. Amateur. He is ranked #1 in the AJGA (American Junior Golf Rankings) and #7 in WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings). Russell sailed through stroke play as “medalist” (meaning he finished in first place in stroke play).
In match play Russell won his first match 6 and 5, the next won 4 and 2, the next match won 2 up; and won his quarter final match 6 and 5 and his semifinal match 2 and 1. In the final, championship match, they play 36 holes (18 morning then lunch and 18 in the afternoon). Russell’s opponent was Noah Maclauchlan with an AJGA ranking of 31 and a WAGR of 2,047. Maclauchlan got into the championship as an alternate and did great finishing T39 to make it into stroke play.
Noah Maclauchlan won the U.S. Jr. Amateur against Miles Russell 6 and 5 (ending on the 31st hole). It was certainly nice to see the “under dog” win; but I also felt it was a very disappointing final. It was televised on golf channel and you could see that Russell was off his game all day (with a two-way miss). Russell fought hard but was down in the match the majority of the day. Frankly I feel like this is the problem with the national amateur championships being settled by match play. My opinion is that it just seems if you want to crown the best player in the world then you need to have the championship be stroke play.
Scottish Women’ Open
Jenny Shin won the Scottish Women’s Open. It is her first win in 10 years. Shin is Korean and her other win 10 years ago was the 2016 Volunteers of American Texas Shootout.
Happy for Shin but it was another odd tournament where the big names did not show up to the party. Nelly Korda finished T16 (+2), Lottie Woad finished T37 (+7), and Charley Hull finished T44 (+10). Now every player faced the same cold and windy conditions and only seven players were under par; Shin had two great rounds of 66 and 67 to start and that gave her a huge buffer going into Sunday so that even shooting 75 in the final round she was able to win at 9 under (two strokes ahead of second place.)
Let’s hope at the AIG Women’s Open (which follows the Scottish Open) the big names have a better week.
Jackson Koivun
You know the name Jackson Koivun if you follow college golf because he has been the top golfer for a few years; with an all time NCAA career scoring average record at 68.89 and won every major award for men in college golf. He helped Auburn win the NCAA D1 championship in June (of this year) and in his third PGA Tour tournament start this week he won the 3M Open with a score of 25 under par; and holding off world #1, Scottie Scheffler who finished 22 under par.
We have seen other players come out of PGA Tour University (a program that let’s the #1 college golfer go straight to the PGA Tour) and win (remember Nick Dunlap) but many of those players haven’t made much of a splash lately. Will Jackson Koivun be the “one in a million” that comes out and gives the current superstars a run for their money? A number of PGA Tour pro were asked about Koivun’s game. Most Pros just praised his game but the funniest reply I heard was from Ben Griffin who shared that he joked with Koivun (when he played with him while he was still an amateur), “Tell me when you are going to turn pro so I can plan my retirement.”
One final thing that was interesting, the reporter interviewing Koivun after the win asked what was written on his glove. He said “Confidence, Trust, and Dominate.” Here is the clip on Instagram
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins on Wednesday April 1, 2026. For those that don’t follow amateur women’s golf, the weekend prior to The Masters is the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA). You can read my 2025 blog post on ANWA here.
It’s a stacked field with 48 of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings participating. A fun fact – Ten of the women in the field previously participated (as kids) in the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition at August National.
How to Watch: Each day you can watch the competition lived streamed on the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Website, ANWAgolf..com or you can watch on Golf Channel and NBC (the final).
The first two days at Champions Retreat (Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2) are streamed and on Golf Channel from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m (EST). The final round from Augusta National (Saturday, April 4) is streamed and on NBC from Noon to 3 p.m. Note: No coverage on Friday, April 3 because all participants are at practice rounds at Augusta National.
Past Champions in the Field:
Unlike last year, when there were three past champions in the field. This year, only two past winners are playing. The 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani (Japan) and the 2022 Champion, Anna Davis (American) are playing.
In 2021, Kajitani won in a playoff against popular America, Emilia Migliaccio (now working for NBC Golf). The media made a big deal about the fact that the year she won, Hideki Matsuyama won The Masters so it was a “Japan sweep.” Kajitani has missed the cut the last two years so I’m not sure how she will play this year.
Davis became a media darling in 2022 because she wore a bucket hat when she won. No one really had their eye on Davis but as the leaders fell apart; the laid back Californian played her way to the win. Davis has a current world amateur golf ranking (WAGR) of 14. She has been ranked as high as seven in the world but I don’t see her as a favorite this year.
Top 10 World Amateur Golf Rankings – as of March 30,2026
I do predict that the winner of ANWA in 2026 will be one of the top 10 women in amateur golf. Below is a screenshot of the current top 10. Many will have their money on Kiera Romero, the #1 amateur player in the world but I have my eye on three other players.
(1) Megha Ganne – She is ranked six in the world and is ranked 7 on the D1 College rankings. Ganne won the USGA U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer (so she is the current champion).
Ganne has played ANWA five times with mixed results – missing the cut twice and her highest finish was last year with a T7 finish. One note of interest, in round one of ANWA in 2025, she scored a record 9 under par at Champions Retreat Golf Course. She plays for the dominating Women’s College Golf team, Stanford. Side note: Stanford has five players in the ANWA field.
(2) Asterick Talley is seventeen years old, has been a standout amateur golfer for a number of years (as a junior) and is ranked 10 on WAGR. She was the runner up at ANWA last year closing with a final round at Augusta National of 68; just one shot behind the winner. She has won a USGA championship (U.S. Amateur 4-Ball in 2024).
She is playing great going into the 2026 ANWA. She won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley earlier this springs and last week she played in the LPGA tournament in Arizona . On Friday she shot seven under (65) and finished T29.
(3) Farah O’Keefe is a Texas University player that has been on fire this college golf season. She has won the individual title in three events this spring; and she is a long hitter which is a big advantage once the ladies get to the final round at Augusta National. I just have a good feeling about her changes and if I was not such a big fan of Asterick Talley, I would probably go with Farah O’Keefe as my pick.
Other Players I have on my “Favorites” list on the ANWA website:
There are a number of great amateur golfers I follow and so I hope they do well at ANWA. A couple of ladies that play for southern schools are:
(1) Ella Galitsky – She has been a standout in junior golf for a number of years and this is her fourth time playing in the ANWA. She has finished in the top 10 the last two years at ANWA. She is a freshman at University of South Carolina. She has also won two events on the Thai LPGA tour (she is from Thailand). She finished T8 in 2024 and T4 in 2025 at ANWA.
(2) Macy Pate – A Wake Forest player that I have enjoyed following in college golf. She missed the cut last year at ANWA (her first time) but hopefully she can make the cut this year with having had experience. She is playing well this year in college competitions.
Predictions
It’s hard to predict especially with six of the top eight players on last year’s ANWA leader board back in the field. However I if the world number one does not win then my pick is Asterisk Talley. It may be crazy to go against the norm of picking the #1 player, Kiara Romero, in women’s amateur golf because world #1’s have a history of winning ANWA; but Asterisk Talley is playing really well (last week she was T29 at the LPGA event), was runner up last year at ANWA; and it just seems like she has good momentum going into this year.
Side Note: Lucky Standford University because Talley has committed to play golf for the Cardinals.
Of course, I will add an Update to this post with the winner after Saturday.
The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship has been around since 2001 but many people that love golf don’t know about it. The video below is a nice overview of the championship.
I learned about it because I follow Paige MacKenzie on Twitter and Paige is the captain of the 2013 United States team. Paige is also a former Spirit International competitor. I watched the last hour of coverage on Thursday and Friday online and really enjoyed it. I wish I could have seen more but it is impossible to watch this type of event during a work week. You can watch it Saturday (November 2, 2013) via the live webcast at the Spirit International Website.
There are only four players for each country (20 Countries represented by 2 men and 2 women). It may be a small field but the golfers are some of the best young players in the world and it is a nice preview of what we can expect to see in the coming years on the professional tours. Past Spirit International competitors include US stars like Brandt Snedeker and Paula Creamer; as well as international stars such as Jason Day, Charl Schwatzel, Lorena Ochoa, and Ya-Ni Tseng. As they say, the list goes on and on.
The format is interesting because they have multiple competitions which include:
International Team- combined best ball of the men’s team and women’s team.
Men’s Team- Best ball of two players (four ball stroke play)
Women’s Team- Best ball of two players (four ball stroke play)
Men’s Individual- Most holes under par.
Women’s Individual- Most holes under par.
So you can cheer for your favorite country, men’s team, women’s team, and individuals. I want the United States and Canada to do well because I have lived in the United States most of my life and feel an allegiance to the US; but I was born in Canada and I have a soft spot for athletes from Canada. I hope that Brooke Henderson (a young Canadian golfer whose career I follow) does well. I am happy to report that as of the end of the second round Brooke is in first place for the Women’s Individual competition.
The United States is leading the overall competition. Check out the Leaderboard to see the other country standings. And if you can’t watch the live webcast then the next best thing is following the championship updates on twitter @thespiritgolf.
UPDATE (November 3 2013) – USA wins overall and Brooke Henderson wins Women’s Championship. See all results at the Spirit Website.
Golf Expectations 