ARDMORE, Pa. – A few weeks ago, Joshua Ryan made the eight-mile drive down from Norristown to Merion Golf Club for a practice round. He was paired with Niall Shiels Donegan, the Bay Area kid who made a run to the semifinals at last year’s U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club with nearly his entire hometown spurring him on.
“I remember watching him last year and seeing the crowd getting pumped and him getting pumped,” said Ryan, who had over 100 people following him down the stretch Tuesday evening, a group that included a busload of members from his home club.
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Ryan’s supporters were hooting and hollering as the 22-year-old Liberty graduate birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch on the back nine to build a three-shot lead on clubhouse leader Tyler Watts, the third-ranked amateur in the world who was finished at 6 under.
Ryan is ranked 412th, though none of the 311 other amateurs in this 126th U.S. Amateur field played better in 36 holes of stroke play. He rolled in a short bogey putt at the last Tuesday to cap a 5-under 65 and win medalist honors by two over Watts.
Germany’s Finn Koelle tied Drake Harvey, for third at 4 under, while Miles Russell and Jack Turner were among those at 3 under. Harvey returned to Merion on Tuesday morning to complete his first round, then birdied each of his last two holes to tie the course record. Jay Leng, Max Herendeen Connor Graham, Noah Kent, Carson Bertagnole, Josiah Gilbert, Stewart Hagestad and Donegan himself were among those also qualifying for match play.
“I mean, couldn’t write it up any better,” Ryan said. “Wasn’t trying to get ahead of myself at all. Didn’t expect it, if I was being honest. Just went out and tried to play quality golf, get to match play and see what happens.”
This week, Ryan is sleeping in his own bed while hosting Flames teammate Michael Lugiano, who also advanced to the knockout stage at 1 under. He got off to a dream start, too, wedging from 96 yards to 10 feet and sinking the birdie putt on Merion’s opening hole, then holing a 7-iron from 174 yards for eagle at the par-5 second to tie the lead at 3 under.
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“The first hole, I chunked a 3-wood and it went like 280,” Ryan said. “The hands were shaking. Wasn’t super nervous, just more excitement. The gallery, everyone kind of started buzzing right away.”
Ryan never gave them any reason to stop.
Liberty head coach Jeff Thomas said of Ryan, who games a 62-degree wedge bent to 61, “He has the ability to make pars from places that you shouldn’t.” And Ryan’s five straight pars, starting at the par-4 sixth, kept momentum on his side.
Then the floodgates opened with birdies on Nos. 11, 13, 14 and 15, and Ryan hung on over some of the best holes in all of golf, with two more pars, at Nos. 16 and 17, and then a smart bogey on No. 18, where he hacked his second shot back into the fairway before finding the back part of the green and two-putting.
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“Couldn’t have happened to a better person,” said Thomas, whose incoming freshman Noah Maclauchlan won the U.S. Junior Amateur last month.
Thomas knows the ball-striking struggles that Ryan experienced his last two seasons at Liberty. Ryan was the Atlantic-Sun’s freshman of the year, then player of the year as a sophomore, but he mustered only three top-10s and finished outside the top 35 a whopping 10 times on the back half of his college career. His final start for the Flames came at the NCAA Corvallis Regional, where he tied for 49th.
But after deciding to remain amateur through the summer, Ryan, who turns 23 on Friday, found a spark, finishing runner-up at the Jay Sigel Match Play and then capturing the Pennsylvania State Amateur, held only 13 days ago at another USGA staple in Oakmont Country Club. He also finished fourth when Merion hosted the state amateur in 2021.
Ryan has now played Merion just six total times, though he called the venerable layout “my style of golf.”
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The last medalist to win the U.S. Amateur was another Ryan, Ryan Moore in 2004.
Ryan will no doubt have a target on his back, whomever he draws in Wednesday’s Round of 64. There will at least be a 16-man playoff for the final seven match-play berths on Wednesday morning. (Jason Shwartz, among only a handful of players not to finish their second rounds because of darkness, is 2 over with one hole to play.)
Ryan could very well draw a formidable foe with William Jennings, Luke Poulter, Ryder Cowan and Kihei Akina, all top-11 amateurs, in the playoff.
None of those guys, however, have an army of a hundred-plus behind them.
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