After a grueling Thursday at Merion Golf Club, the 126th U.S. Amateur quarterfinals matches are set. Today, eight elite amateurs will compete for four spots in Saturday’s semifinals with one ultimate goal: to lift the Havemeyer Trophy on Sunday and claim their first USGA championship. And for the six American players remaining in the championship, a victory would deliver an automatic berth on the U.S. Walker Cup team at Lahinch.
In the first match (1:15 p.m. ET), the 48th-seeded Brandon Knight (534th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking) will take on the eighth-seeded Carter Loflin (47th in the WAGR). In the round of 64, Knight dominated 2025 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cupper Connor Graham, 6 and 5. The rising University of Colorado senior trailed early in the round of 32 to Noah Kent before storming back to win, 3 and 2.
In his round of 16 match against Gaven Lane, Knight didn’t lead until he won the 18th hole with a bogey despite a poor tee shot. He was 3 down through nine and tied the match with a par on 17.
“I’m definitely learning that I can compete with these guys,” Knight said. “I feel like I belong here.”
Loflin, who recently completed his senior season at the University of Georgia, trailed for one hole total in his matches against Grayson Wood, Wolfgang Glawe and William Jennings, which he won 1 up, 3 and 1, and in 19 holes, respectively. In his round of 16 match against Jennings, Loflin lost Nos. 17 and 18 but bounced back to win the 19th with a birdie.
The winner of the Knight and Loflin match will take on the winner of the match between 29th-seeded Adam Bresnu and the 60th-seeded Jack Whaley (1:30 p.m.). Bresnu, who is the first player from Morocco to compete at the U.S. Amateur, and Whaley, who is from England, are the only two non-Americans left in the championship.
Bresnu (30th in the WAGR), who is entering his senior year at Texas Tech, didn’t trail in either his round of 64 or round of 32 matches, in which he defeated Ward Harris (4 and 3) and Finn Koelle (3 and 2), respectively. He lost two holes total across both of those matches.
The Moroccan lost the first hole in his round of 16 match against Max Herendeen, but he won the second and third holes to take control. He’d only drop one more hole on the way to a comfortable 5-and-4 victory.
“I think the main goal for me is to try to show kids in Morocco, even young people, that if I can do it, everyone can do it,” Bresnu said. “We only have 34 golf courses in Morocco. There’s probably more in Rhode Island, I would say. It’s just to show that even if you don’t have a lot of golf courses or a facility, you can still make it.”
Whaley (90th in the WAGR), who will be a senior at Florida State, is the lowest-seeded player left in the championship. He qualified for match play after he lipped out for an ace on the first hole of a 16-for-11 playoff.
The Englishman went 2 down through two holes in what was to be a back-and-fourth round-of-64 match against Jackson Ormond. One down through 17, Whaley won the 18th hole with a bogey and then advanced on the 22nd hole with a birdie.
In the round of 32, Whaley beat Bowen Mauss, 2 and 1, and he never trailed to Christian Cavaliere, the last mid-amateur remaining, on the way to a 4-and-3 triumph in the round of 16.
On the other side of the bracket, in what could be the match of the day, seventh-seeded Jack Turner will take on red-hot, 15th-seeded Jay Leng Jr. (1:45 p.m.). Leng, the 2026 Western Amateur champion and Elite Amateur Cup winner, dominated his opening matches. The rising junior at Stanford and 23rd-ranked player in the WAGR never trailed and lost a combined two holes in his 5-and-4 victory in the round of 64 against Evan Beck and his 6-and-5 win in the round of 32 against Zackary Swanwick.
Two weeks ago at the Western Amateur, Leng defeated No. 1-ranked junior and 2026 U.S. Walker Cupper Miles Russell in the semifinals on the way to the title. On Thursday in the round of 16, Leng defeated another player who will play for the U.S. at Lahinch in September: Tyler Watts, who is third in the WAGR. Leng was 2 down through four holes, but he got one back on the fifth and then drilled a 50-foot birdie putt on the seventh to level the match. After he took the lead with a birdie on the ninth, he never looked back and won, 1 up.
“I’ve always thought that my game was good enough to compete with anyone,” Leng said. “I guess it just proves to me that I don’t need to change anything, that I can just do my own thing and swing how I like to do and just keep doing that.”
While Leng is on a roll, his opponent Turner (19th in the WAGR) will have a fighting chance. In the round of 64, he beat 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Fifa Laopakdee, 2 and 1, before defeating 2025 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Niall Sheils-Donegan, 3 and 2, and University of Florida teammate Joshua Bai, 5 and 3.
In the final match (2 p.m.), 11th-seeded Logan Reilly (56th in the WAGR) will face 19th-seeded Michael Lugiano (335th in the WAGR), who is one of 10 players from Philadelphia in the championship.
Lugiano has won all three of his matches by one hole, defeating Chase Hughes, Nevill Ruiter and Drake Harvey.
Based on the play this week, it seems likely there is only one spot left on the U.S. Walker Cup team, and it’s the spot reserved for the champion.
“It’s been quite stressful thus far,” Lugiano said. “I haven’t made it easy, but I’ve been able to get the job done.”
Reilly, coming off a national title with Auburn in his freshman year, has also won some close matches, defeating Emile Lebrun (19 holes), Evan Liu (2 up) and Ryder Cowan (20 holes).
Based on the play this week, it seems likely there is only one spot left on the U.S. Walker Cup team, and it’s the spot reserved for the champion. Preston Stout, Ethan Fang, Russell and Watts have already been named to the team. Cowan, William Jennings and Josiah Gilbert were strong candidates coming into the championship, and they all advanced to match play, with Jennings and Cowan losing in extra holes in the round of 16.
With his summer performance, Leng has also likely secured a place on the team regardless of how he fares today.
Among mid-amateurs, Stewart Hagestad likely clinched his sixth consecutive Walker Cup berth by making it to the round of 32.
That leaves the spot reserved for the U.S. Amateur champion. However, if international players Bresnu or Whaley win, it would bring Kihei Akina, Carson Bertagnole, Jack Turner and Reilly into Walker Cup consideration.
Meanwhile, Whaley may earn one of the five remaining spots on the GB&I side by virtue of his performance at Merion.
“I have not received a text message or email from anyone [about a captain’s selection],” Whaley said. “I may need to prove a point, but if they don’t see that I’m worthy of being in the Walker Cup, it’s the selectors’ choice. But I’m here to prove it.”