ARDMORE, Pa. – Jay Leng won four of five holes midway through the morning half of the 126th U.S. Amateur final, and the Stanford junior will enter the lunchbreak Sunday at Merion’s East Course with a 2-up lead on England’s Jack Whaley.
Whaley, who is a rising senior at Florida State after playing two years at NAIA Dalton State, got off to a dream start, chipping in for birdie at the par-4 first hole.
But Leng didn’t fret. His L.A.B. putter, which be began using along with the claw grip two springs ago (he switched grips mid-tournament), heated up at the par-4 eighth, where Whaley poured in a lengthy birdie, only for Leng to make on top and remain 2 down. Whaley then failed to get up and down at the par-3 ninth, lipping out a 4-footer.
Another bogey by Whaley, at the short par-4 10th, and suddenly, for the first time since breakfast, the match was tied.
Whaley went back up with a winning par at the par-4 11th before Leng birdied each of the next two holes, both from outside 20 feet, to take his first lead of the match. Then at the par-4 16th, Whaley three-putted for bogey as Leng increased his advantage to 2 up.
The par-4 18th hole was tied with bogey.
Leng is trying to become just the 10th player to win both the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur in the same year – and the first to do so since Danny Lee in 2008.
The scheduled 36-hole final will resume at 2:05 p.m. ET.