Doncaster-born golfer Jack Whaley defeated American Jay Leng Jr in a gruelling 36-hole final on Sunday to win the US Amateur Championship and book his place at The Open next year.
After making the final at Merion Golf Club, Whaley had already secured himself a spot at The Masters and the US Open, but his 4&3 win has now also earned him a place at St Andrews next summer.
The victory also makes him only the third English golfer to win the tournament after Matt Fitzpatrick claimed victory at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 2013, while Harold Hilton won back at The Apawamis Club in New York, in 1911.
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Whaley will hope to feature in next month’s Walker Cup
Whaley began his final round in epic fashion, chipping in on the first hole for birdie to take an early lead against Leng Jr.
The pair toiled all day, with Whaley going two up after five holes, before Leng Jr fought back, wrestling the match back to all square on the 12th before going two up through 16 holes.
Whaley wrestled the lead back on the 22nd hole, before moving to three up with four holes to play.
The Englishman chipped onto the green on the 33rd hole, and gave himself a 20ft putt for birdie.
Emotional scenes then erupted after Whaley, who is ranked 90th on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, clinically holed the putt before turning to hug his caddie and dad Andy and his mum, who had ran onto the green.
“My dad has helped me so much this week,” Whaley said. “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 honour to be able to experience this with my dad and hole that eight-footer on the last.”
Whaley will also be hopeful his epic victory will convince Walker Cup skipper Dean Robertson to name him as a captain’s pick for this September’s tournament, which is live on Sky Sports.
“I think I proved that I’m good at match play,” the Florida State University student said. “I think coming through and just scraping through the playoff, it opened my eyes that I was inside the top 64 players in the world and that my game is good enough.
“Knowing that I’ve played a lot of match play over the years, I kind of was very confident going into the matches. I think it’s all thanks to the upbringing that I had and county golf and Sheffield Union that have really got me ready for this moment.”
Leng, who sits at No 23 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, had been the favourite coming into the match, but Whaley battled hard in the rainy conditions in Pennsylvania, and credited his putting for the victory.
“I think I holed a lot more putts this afternoon,” Whaley said. “I think it was just getting confidence back into my head that I’m a good putter and I can definitely roll it.
“I think it’s just all down to my putting.”
Watch the Walker Cup live on Sky Sports this September. Sky Sports Golf will show both days of the tournament, with coveage of the first day commencing at 8.30am on Saturday September 5. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW
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