The U.S. Amateur final is no joke. It’s all day, 36 holes, you versus one other person and with spectators walking next to you and breathing down your neck the entire time. It’s a gauntlet, but the key is often the adjustments made throughout the day.
The newest U.S. Am champ, Jack Whaley, recently joined GOLF’s Subpar podcast and discussed the tweaks he made during his 36-hole final versus Jay Leng Jr. last weekend.
Whaley was 2 up at one point but suddenly 2 down after 18 holes. He said he struggled with the speeds of the greens in the morning round and went to the putting green with his coach to figure it out.
“I went to the putting green and dialed the speed down,” Whaley said. “Coach [Trey] Jones noticed a little bit I needed to work on, and it somehow clicked and I was on the tee 15 minutes early cause I thought I was really ready to get out there and play again.”
Whaley, who grew up playing in England, also felt like he had an edge during Sunday’s cold and rainy conditions.
“You kind of get used to those conditions and I think it gave me a little advantage,” he said. “My dad said to me when we were walking up 6 when it was really raining, he said, ‘Listen, you have played a lot more golf in these conditions. This is your time.’”
And it was. Whaley, with his dad as caddie, won 4 and 3 at Merion Golf Club. You can listen to the entire podcast with Whaley here, of watch the video below.
