Miles Russell will play Noah MacLauchlan in Saturday's final at the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur after a strong Friday at Saucon Valley Country Club, where the world No. 1 junior amateur moved through both the quarterfinals and semifinals with authority.
Russell beat Dylan Boenning 6 and 5 in the quarterfinals before following it up with a 2 and 1 win over Tyler Mawhinney in the semifinals. By the end of the day, he was 14 under through 30 holes played, a level of scoring that underlined just how sharply he is performing in the championship.
Russell keeps the pressure on
After a long day on the course, Russell made it clear he felt he had produced the kind of golf that does not come around often. He said: "Long day, but it was a lot of good golf. You don’t get many of those, that good of golf days a year, very few, and you’ve got to take them when you can get them, and just try to keep that rolling into tomorrow."
That is the right mindset for a player trying to turn a big Friday into a title-winning Saturday. Russell has already qualified for the 2026 U.S. Open, made the cut at Shinnecock Hills and finished T39, so this is another step in a growing body of work at elite level. The challenge now is to carry Friday's form into the final match, where one more strong performance will decide the championship.
MacLauchlan reaches the final the hard way
MacLauchlan had to work just as hard to earn his place in the final, beating Cooper Moore 1 up in the semifinals. That sets up a title match with Russell that brings together two players who have handled the pressure of match play across a demanding week.
For Russell, the path to the final has been built on control, scoring and composure. For MacLauchlan, it has been about finding a way through tight margins. On Saturday, those different routes meet with the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur title on the line.
