 Threes a Crowd at Saucon Valley: Floridians Russell, Patel, Californian Jones Co-MedalistsJuly 20-25, Saucon Valley Country Club (Old/Grace Courses), Bethlehem, Pa.Leaderboard | Round of 64 Bracket | Photos | Media Resources Add another major accomplishment in the brilliant junior career of Miles Russell. The 17-year-old Jacksonville Beach, Fla., phenom earned medalist honors for the first time in a USGA championship – sharing it with fellow Floridian Sohan Patel and Southern Californian Brayden Jones – at the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club. Finishing before an afternoon thunderstorm delayed Tuesday’s second round for 70 minutes, the left-hander, who tied for 39th in last month’s U.S. Open and was recently named to the 2026 USA Walker Cup Team, carded a 5-under-par 66 on the Old Course for a 36-hole total of 6-under 135. Later in the afternoon, first-round co-leaders Patel, 17, of Weston, Fla., and Jones, 17, of Seal Beach, Calif., each came in at 135, the former shooting a 1-under 69 on the Grace Course, the stroke-play, co-host venue, and the latter posting a 2-under 69 on the Old Course. Vaclav Svub, 18, of Czechia, who will join Jones at Arizona State in the fall of 2027, finished two strokes back of the trio after shooting a 67 on the Old Course. Incoming Vanderbilt University freshman Tyler Mawhinney, 18, of Fleming Island, Fla., a U.S. National Team member with 2027 Vanderbilt commit Patel, and Hong Kong, China native William Lisle, 16, were another stroke back at 138 after carding a 68 on the Old Course and a 69 on the Grace Course, respectively. The cut for match play came at 5-over 146 with 14 golfers playing off for the final two spots in the 64-player match-play draw. The litany of Russell’s accomplishments run longer than one of his booming drives. In 2023, he surpassed Tiger Woods as the youngest American Junior Golf Association Boys Player of the Year, an honor he again received in 2025. He’s also won the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley twice (2025, 2026), the Junior PGA Championship (2023), the Rolex Tournament of Champions (2024), the Junior Players Championship (2023, 2025) at TPC Sawgrass near his hometown and represented his country in the Junior Ryder Cup (2025) and Junior Presidents Cup (2026). The missing trophy for the No. 7 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®? One that bears U.S. in its name. Russell has reached the quarterfinals of this championship the past two years and was among the final eight in the 2025 U.S. Amateur last August at The Olympic Club. Now he’ll enter match play as one of the top 3 seeds (the USGA’s scoring system breaks ties for seeding via the computer). Taking advantage of softer conditions from intermittent morning rain, the 2027 Florida State verbal commit registered an eagle and four birdies against one bogey in Round 2. The big bird came on the 338-yard 13th hole when his 310-yard drive came up just short of the green and he perfectly executed a 20-yard pitch that fell into the hole for a 2. “I used lob wedge and just hit a little chip I’ve been practicing, and it came out nice,” said Russell. “Personally, I like [the rough], when it’s a little wet. I like it when it’s firm, too, but chipping is a little easier out of the rough when it’s a little wet…It depends on how much it rains, but it can slow down the greens a little bit, but today it was nothing too crazy.” Patel, like Russell a left-hander, got off to a better start than Monday’s opening round when he bogeyed the par-5 first hole. This time the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinalist birdied the par-5 10th and then went to 7 under par with another birdie on 12. But three consecutive bogeys from No. 13 – two of which came before the horns blew to suspend play – pushed Patel back to 4 under. After chilling during the delay with good friend Landon Ashcroft, he played 2-under-par golf over his last 12 holes, including an 18-foot birdie on the 223-yard, par-3 third hole. Patel left his 15-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, his last of the round, just short of the hole that would have given him medalist honors outright. But Patel, who also has competed in two U.S. Amateurs, the first as a 14-year-old in 2023 at Cherry Hills Country Club, knows what he shot the last two days won’t matter on Wednesday. He’ll need to be ultra-focused for match play, where anyone is capable of winning over 18 holes. “I just feel like I’m an overall better player than I was last year,” said Patel, who advanced to match play as a 15-year-old at the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club. “I kind of let some things go on the last nine holes against Hamilton [Coleman], who eventually won. Great champion. But I just feel like I’m overall sharper with my game this year. If I win a couple matches, everything will take care of itself if I just keep playing the game I know how to play.” Jones, a member of Team Southern California as part of the U.S. National Development Program, also played in last year’s championship, losing in the Round of 64 to fellow Team Southern California member Max Emberson. On Tuesday, he was 1 over par through six holes before the suspension. A quick bite with his dad and a couple of friends was enough to recharge Jones for his last 12 holes, which he played at 3 under par. On the par-3 ninth, Jones also had a chance to get to 7 under and alone at the top of the stroke-play leaderboard, only to see his downhill 15-footer just slide by the hole. “I mean, it’s definitely a good honor,” said Jones. “Obviously, it doesn’t really matter in match play, but I still thought it would be really cool to be at the top of the leaderboard after two days with such a good field.” On Wednesday, everyone starts at Ground Zero. What’s Next: The 14-for-2 playoff to determine the final match-play spots will take place Wednesday at 7 a.m. EDT on the Grace Course starting at the par-5 first hole and then continuing on Nos. 5 and 18, if necessary. They will repeat that same loop if more holes are required. Matches in the Round of 64 will begin at 8 a.m. EDT on the Old Course. Match play continues Thursday and Friday with the 36-hole championship match scheduled for Saturday. Golfchannel.com will stream the semifinals on Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Golf Channel re-airing the broadcast from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Golf Channel has the championship match on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend. Notable Among the competitors in the playoff is Charlie Woods, the son of 15-time major champion and three-time U.S. Junior Amateur titlist Tiger Woods. Also in the playoff is world No. 33 Oscar Couilleau, of France.Defending champion and U.S. National Junior Team member Hamilton Coleman and fellow USNJT member Phillip Dunham were among the notables to miss the cut. Also failing to qualify was 2026 U.S. Open qualifier Jackson Ormond. U.S. National Junior Team members Ronin Banerjee, Jessy Huebner and Giuseppe Puebla, who qualified for last month’s U.S. Open, advanced to match play. A total of 22 players affiliated with the U.S. National Development Program qualified for match play. Besides the aforementioned players, three USNDP Grant Athletes and 14 State Junior Team athletes advanced. Two of the five Pennsylvanians to qualify advanced to match play, including Douglassville’s Chase Yenser, who carded a 5-under 66 on the Old Course with nine birdies. He had five pars and four bogeys. Douglassville is an hour southwest of Saucon Valley. Nico Ward from Coraopolis (Pittsburgh area), who also is a USNDP Grant Athlete and member of Team Pennsylvania, was the other Keystone State resident to qualify. Five of the six current collegians made the cut: Reed Arnaldo (University of San Diego); Dylan Boenning (Washington State); former U.S. National Junior Team member Henry Guan (Oklahoma State); Gabriel Mainella (Longwood) and Luke Smith (Tennessee). Guan defeated medalist and eventual U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell in the opening round last year at Trinity Forest. Eli Weidmann (St. John’s) failed to qualify. Vaclav Svub, of Czechia, who finished at 137, is competing in his first-ever event in the U.S.The 18-year-old’s college recruiting intensified last summer when he helped his country take home the gold medal in the European Boys Team Championship held in Czechia. He also tied for 13th in the European Amateur earlier this summer. Fellow countryman Louis Klein, also advanced. The best turnaround between rounds came from Liangliang Gu, of the People’s Republic of China, who improved 19 strokes but missed the cut by three. Gu rebounded from a first-round 84 to shoot a 65 on the Grace Course, the lowest round by any competitor this week. Maintenance staffs from across the country, including several Golf Association of Philadelphia courses including nearby Lehigh Country Club, are assisting the grounds crew in preparing Saucon Valley’s two courses for the championship. The USGA agronomy staff on-site is led by championship agronomist Darin Bevard. The second-round scoring average was higher on the Grace (75.22) than it was on the Old Course (74.08). Quotable “It’s just golf. You still have to play the same game you’re going to play anyway. I didn’t used to like match play as much as I do now. It’s kind of grown on me. It’s probably about 50/50 now. I’ve just played more match play, and I’ve learned how to play it a little better and developed a better mindset going into it.” – Miles Russell “Yeah, I mean, I definitely wanted to win medalist, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that much. My goal coming here this week was just to get into match play and then see what happens. I made a couple silly errors today, but I also hit a lot of good shots. So, it all evens itself out. But I’m glad I tied for medalist.” – Sohan Patel “I mean, you don’t really have to worry about score as much. You’re just playing against one person. So, you just have to play against your opponent and beat him.” – Brayden Jones “It was honestly pretty nice. We only had to deal with rain off and on about 20 times. The pace of play might have been a bit slower, and the greens will stay soft in the afternoon … also maybe the rough. When the rough gets a little wet, it’s a little more difficult.” – Tyler Mawhinney on the conditions “I’ve had a lot of food. My favorite is steak. Steaks are really good, and hamburgers.” – Czechia’s Vaclav Svub on enjoying the cuisine in his first-ever golf event in the U.S. “I was fortunate enough to play every event during my freshman year, and I feel like I’ve gained a lot of experience playing under pressure and with coaches around. I know it’s a little different for me because I’m not a junior trying to get recruited. That definitely puts pressure in the back of your mind, especially having the assistant coach on your bag. I think just having the experience of playing a lot of different golf courses, with rough and pin positions like this, has prepared me well because it’s good college-type golf.” – Washington State rising sophomore Dylan Boenning on being one of six current college golfers in the field “I live only 50 minutes away, so I’m sleeping in my own bed this week, which is awesome. And I can’t wait to play this place again tomorrow… A bunch of my buddies have come out. Obviously, most of my family is here. My grandparents are here. My [future] Baylor coaches are here. It’s just so cool to have everyone be supportive.” – Chase Yenser, one of two Pennsylvanians to make match play |
Threes a Crowd at Saucon Valley: Floridians Russell, Patel, Californian Jones Co-Medalists
By Roy Akers
