Jack Whaley survived one of the toughest stretches of the U.S. Amateur and advanced to Sunday’s championship match at Merion after a tense semifinal against Carter Loflin.
The rising Stanford junior, who won the Western Amateur last week, had to earn it the hard way. Whaley beat Adam Bresnu 5&4 in Friday’s quarterfinals, then built a 3-up lead over Loflin on Saturday before the match tightened all the way to all square as it headed to the 18th hole.
That kind of pressure is exactly what makes semifinal Saturday at the U.S. Amateur so difficult. The stakes are higher than a single match, with a spot in the final and invitations to the 2027 Masters and U.S. Open on the line for the winner.
Whaley felt the pressure build
Whaley did not try to hide how stressful the moment was. He said his entire body was shaking when he faced a key bogey putt and later described it as one of the longest four-foot putts he has ever had, with plenty at stake. He also said he underestimated how much he would think about the majors and the possibility of winning a U.S. Amateur on this day.
According to Whaley, the nerves showed up in his game. He said things got sloppy in the middle of the round and that he was more nervous than he had been during the previous couple of days. Still, he also said he settled down after the second hole and started focusing more on the golf shot itself rather than just trying to survive the moment.
That recovery mattered. Whaley noted that as his lead slipped from 3 up to 2 up, then 1 up and finally all square, he understood he would need to do something special down the stretch. In the end, he did enough to move on.
For Whaley, the semifinal was a reminder that talent alone is not enough in match play. He said the best response is to trust the work he has put in and rely on it when the moment gets biggest. That is exactly what Sunday now offers: one more chance to finish the week with a U.S. Amateur title.
Latest Scores: Jack Whaley survives Merion scare to reach U.S. Amateur title match
