Walker Cup watch: Top contenders to fill out U.S. team entering Western

The battle to fill out this year’s 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team has reached its final couple stages.

The U.S. Amateur is on tap for mid-August at Merion, where the champion, if American and not already qualified, would receive an automatic berth to represent the U.S. at Lahinch in early September. But first, it’s next week’s Western Amateur at Beverly Country Club, where nearly every top American amateur is competing. The only absentee is world No. 1 Preston Stout, who has already clinched a second straight Walker Cup spot and instead will play the PGA Tour’s 3M Open this week.

Stout’s Oklahoma State teammate Ethan Fang, also a Walker Cupper last year, has received his invite onto the U.S. team, as have junior players Tyler Watts and Miles Russell.

As for the remaining six spots, one has to be a mid-amateur, presumably veteran Stewart Hagestad. The other three are fairly clear, though a lot can still happen over these final few weeks before the team is solidified on the Sunday evening following the championship match at Merion.

Here’s what the current picture looks like, in my opinion:

ALREADY ON TEAM

• Preston Stout (1)
• Tyler Watts (3)
• Ethan Fang (5)
• Miles Russell (7)

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LOCKS

• William Jennings (4) – Rocketing up WAGR as he won three times last season and was runner-up at NCAAs, then was T-12 in a KFT event earlier this summer.

• Ryder Cowan (9) – Co-low amateur at U.S. Open (T-23) and runner-up at Trans-Miss after breakout junior season.

• Stewart Hagestad (50) – Top 10 at Southern Amateur and really no legitimate threat to deny him a sixth straight Walker Cup as the mid-amateur rep.

LAST THREE IN

• Josiah Gilbert (8) – Top 10 in WAGR who has rattled off top-11s in several top events recently, such as Northeast, NCAAs, regionals and SECs. One interesting note to consider, however, is Gilbert played under the Australian flag less than two years ago.

• Kihei Akina (11) – Nearly top 10 in world and reached quarters of British Amateur after a two-win spring.

• Eric Lee (15) – Strong ranking, plus made U.S. Open cut and won an NCAA regional.

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NEXT IN LINE

• Jack Turner (17) – Nice NCAA postseason has padded his resume enough to where if he performs well at Western, U.S. Am, he’s most likely to move into the team.

• Carson Bertagnole (35) – Bounced back from North and South with a third at the Southern, matching his third at Northeast. Consider several top-10s, including a win, as a freshman at North Carolina and his resume is as good as any of the guys on the outside.

• Willy Walsh (31) – Another guy who has had a strong last few months with top-10s at both regionals and nationals, plus a third at the Northeast. MC at Southern knocks him down a little, though.

• Jacob Modleski (14) – Gets credit for being on last year’s U.S. team, but he’s mostly struggled this year, including at the Southern, where he MC’d. Was outside the top 50 at Northeast and Jones Cup, too, and his lone win last season came against a weak field at the Schenkel.

• Jay Leng (42) – The Stanford junior is starting to look like the AJGA standout from a few years ago. He was top 11 in four straight tournaments before a T-49 at NCAAs, then went second at Northeast and fifth at Southern.

• Luke Colton (40) – Coming off another quarters run at North and South, though otherwise has a lot of finishes in the teens, and it’s unlikely the USGA will take three high-schoolers on its team.

• Mason Howell (53) – Same line of thinking for Howell as with Colton, even if Howell made last year’s team as the U.S. Amateur champion. He only has one top-10 since winning at Olympic (third at Sage Valley), though most of his starts have been in pro events and majors.

LONGSHOTS TO MONITOR

• Max Herendeen (25)
• Bryan Kim (26)
• Dean Greyserman (41)
• Parker Sands (57)
• Evan Beck (90)