Josh Bai  in action today – image USGA

The 36-hole qualifying phase of the US Amateur Championship has been all but completed at the Merion Golf Club and the Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania. A handful of players are still to finish their second rounds after darkness halted play and will need to return on Wednesday morning (US time)

One New Zealander is safe, and another remains a possibility for inclusion in the 64 golfers to contend in the knockout matches.

Hawkes Bay golfer, Zackary Swanwick, an attendee at Forida State University, began his campaign with a mediocre opening round of 72  at the Philadelphia Country Club on Monday, but playing the historic Merion Golf Club’s course on day two, he produced five birdies in seven holes through the middle of his round to eventually record an impressive round of 67 and finish in a share of 16^th place in the field of 312.

The effort was no doubt made even more enjoyable for Swanwick after missing out on the matchplay by one shot last year.

Auckland’s Josh Bai, who along with Swanwick attends Florida State University, also played the Merion Golf Club today. After an encouraging round of 69 at the Philadelphia Golf Club on day one, he struggled to a round of 73, and when he bogeyed his final hole it appeared he might have fallen short of the required mark.

Bai was forced to wait all day to see if he would advance into the matchplay stage, and as the day progressed his chances improved. He would eventually finish in a share of 54th place, and so with darkness halting play with a few left to complete their strokeplay rounds, Bai is forced to wait until Wednesday morning to hopefully survive a playoff with as many as 17 players vying for one of ten spots

Bai, the runner-up in the US Junior Championship in 2023, and the winner of the prestigious North and South Amateur last month, made the matchplay last year after surviving a playoff to get there but was eliminated in the Round of 64.

Australians Kayun Mudadana and Harry Takis have unfortunately been eliminated from the championship after failing to make the cut.

Sydney’s Mudadana appeared to be well enough placed after an opening round of 71 at the Merion Golf Club and through 10 holes at the Philadelphia Country Club today, but he bogeyed his 11^th and 12^th holes and was unable to pick up the extra birdie he needed to get into the playoff for one of the final 64 spots.

Queensland’s Takis, the leading world-ranked of the Australasians in the event and who is also attending college in the US, disappointed with his opening round of 74 at the Merion Golf Club on day one, and although he improved to a round of  71 at Merion on day two, he fell three short of the playoff.

The Round of 64 matches begin on Wednesday US time.

SCORING

Kelsey Bennett in action this week – image courtesy of Ladies European Tour 

Kelsey Bennet has continued her impressive Ladies European Tour season with a 5^th place finish in the lucrative PIF London Championship at the Centurion Club, maintaining her third place in the 2026 L.E.T Order of Merit.

Bennett, from Mollymook on the south coast of NSW, won €61,000 for her 14 under par total behind the winner, Anna Huang of Canada, adding this performance to a win in Australia and two runner-up finishes earlier in the season.

Tournament sponsors PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) have proven a good source of prizemoney for Bennett in 2026 having finished 12^th in the season opener in Saudi Arabia, where she earned €80,000.

It is perhaps ironic that there was so much song and dance about the PIF’s support of LIV Golf in the early days given the role of women in that country, that they have become such a supporter of women’s golf and yet we now hear no such reaction to their involvement.

Huang won by two over local Charley Hull, who four-putted the 17th green after taking a one-shot lead and eventually finished two behind Huang in second place.

SCORES

Ella Scaysbrook during her Round of 16 match today – image USGA

Australia’s bid for a second US Women’s Amateur Championship title has ended at the Round of 16 stage at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, the last two of six Australian entrants in the event, NSW’s golfers, Ella Scaysbrook and Rachel Lee, being defeated after an impressive run to reach the last 16.

Scaysbrook, who was no doubt keen to put to bed the memories of her semifinal loss twelve months ago, bounced back from a 2-down deficit in her Round of 32 match against Japan’s Yurina Hiroyoshi to win 1 up, but in her Round of 16 matchup against Seojin Park of South Korea, she lost her last three holes of the match to lose 3&1.

Sydney’s Rachel Lee, the 2025 Australian Amateur Champion, but still only 18 years of age, had an easy win in her Round of 32 match against American Macy Pate. In her Round of 16 match against the brilliant Asterisk Talley, however, despite recovering from a three-hole deficit through 8 holes and fighting back to tie the match through 13, she would lose 3&2.

Earlier in the Round of 32 matches, Victorian Raegan Denton fought her way back from a three-hole deficit through 13 holes of her match against Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, playing her last five holes of regulation at 4 under, only to suffer an agonising loss at the 20^th hole.

The US Men’s Amateur Championship gets underway this week at the Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania, where two Australians, Harry Takis and Kayun Mudadana, and two New Zealanders. Zackary Swanwick and Josh Bai are in the field of 312 vying to make the leading 64 to advance to matchplay.

Scoring

Jazy Roberts in action today – image Darren Carroll USGA

Victorian golfer Jazy Roberts has, by some margin, done best of the six-strong Australasian contingent during the 36-hole qualifying for the US Women’s Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

While several players are still required to finish their second rounds tomorrow due to a weather delay and then darkness, Roberts will finish the qualifying in around 8th place and comfortably qualify for the knockout rounds, which will commence after resumed play on Thursday (US time)

Australia’s highest-ranked female amateur (32nd in the world), Roberts won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this year and has since won events such as the Riversdale Cup, the English Women’s Strokeplay Championship, and the Porter Cup in the US.

Last year, Roberts made it through to the Round of 32 in this event after qualifying 7th in the strokeplay, but the Bendigo golfer is a considerably more credentialed golfer now and her experience and success in some significant events over the last few months should bode well for her chances this week.

In 2019, Victorian Gabi Ruffels became the first Australian to win the title and lost in the final the following year before turning professional.

Roberts began with a round of 72 on Tuesday, but she opened round two with an outward nine of 33, and although she dropped two shots late in her round, a last-hole birdie has given her a high ranking amongst the qualifiers.

Queensland’s Amy Hodgkins, a recent winner of the Colorado Women’s Amateur Championship, is now at college in the US, initially at Northern Arizona and now in Louisville, and, interestingly, her sister Kirsty also played college golf in the US.

Hodgkins has two holes to play when play resumes tomorrow, and at 2 over par she sits inside the current cutoff mark of 4 over.

Victorian Raegan Denton bounced back from an opening round of 77 with a round of 70 on day two and made it into the field for the match play beginning on Thursday (US time), while last year’s semi-finalist Ella Scaysbrook of NSW is also at 3 over and having completed her 36 holes, she is safely into the knockout phase and on track for another shot at the title.

18-year-old NSW golfer, Rachel Lee might yet have work to do if she is to advance. Lee is at 4 over and, with 65 players on that score or better and 64 advancing, she is on the cusp, although she is likely to have done well enough to avoid a playoff. The 2025 Australian Amateur Champion has been a prolific winner of titles already in her career, and it is hoped she can make it through to test herself against the match play field.

64-year-old Victorian Sue Wooster will unfortunately miss out on advancing after struggling through the 36-hole qualifying.

SCORING

Yealimi Noh – facing the biggest day of her career – image R&A via Getty Images 

American Yealimi Noh, at 7 under, takes a three-shot lead over five players into the final round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes after the leading contenders through 36 holes battled an increasingly demanding layout.

Noh, who has won only once since joining the LPGA Tour in 2020, faces the prospect of winning not only a second title but a major at that and one carrying a first prize of US$1.5 million, so tomorrow is shaping as the biggest day of the 25-year-old’s career.

Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki, Haeran Ryu from South Korea, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Lucy Li of the USA, and Germany’s Esther Henseleit are those golfers in a share of second place at 4 under.

Noh began the day in a share of 3^rd place, and two behind the then leader, Haeran Ryu, and bogeys at her 4^th and 5th holes suggested staying in touch might have been a struggle. But Noh was not alone in coming to terms with the windy conditions, and although Ryu made a fast start to the day, she began dropping shots soon after, and Noh’s recovery for a round of 69 saw her move three clear as she finished her round.

Earlier in the day, Japan’s Ayaka Furue had produced four birdies and an eagle for a round of the day 65 to move from just inside the cutline to what would eventually be 47 places better and in a share of 8^th and Esther Enseleit also made considerable ground with her round of 67.

At the completion of the day only 13 players are under par, and those at 1 under are just six from the lead and, more importantly, in the event of a Noh struggling with the demands of leading a major, they are just three from second place. No player has held a three-shot lead or better in this event previously and failed to go on and win, but the task will not be an easy one.

“Yeah, I had a little bit of a rough start, a couple bogeys on the front nine, ” said Noh. “Actually a chip-in par save on the second, which was nice. Yeah, I just fell out of tempo a little bit and then got it together for the back nine, and it was really solid. Had some good par saves.”

Noh paid credit to her fiancée for improving her mindset following some ordinary efforts of late. “He’s been the best supporter, my biggest supporter besides my parents. I really wouldn’t be able to do anything without him, especially out on the golf course. You know, we’re always so stressed, and whether it’s going good or bad, it’s a lot with golfers. He’s been a really great supporter. He also plays golf, and he’s really good, so he understands a lot of it.

“Last week I was able to relax more. He reminded me that golf could be fun, like I said yesterday, just that it’s just a game. So he’s really helped me be in a good mindset for this week.”

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko heads the Australasians in a share of 12^th place, her round of even par 71 today keeping her in touch of a high finish if she can produce a strong round tomorrow.

Robyn Choi, who is playing her first AIG Women’s Open has impressed with her showing, the Queenslander in a share of 16^th place at 1 over par, while Hannah Green is two shots further back at 3 over.

Leaderboard 

Lydia Ko – in action during round 3 – image R&A via Getty Images