Taishi Moto Stuns Joshua Ryan as U.S. Amateur Bracket Erupts

Taishi Moto had already played three extra holes Wednesday morning before the U.S. Amateur’s Round of 64 even started.

He was the last man into match play. By nightfall, the No. 64 seed had sent the medalist home.

Moto, a University of Arizona junior from Japan, defeated Joshua Ryan in 19 holes at Merion Golf Club, delivering the sharpest reminder yet that the two stroke-play rounds used to build the bracket offer no protection once match play begins.

Ryan had spent the opening two days becoming Merion’s hometown story. The Norristown, Pennsylvania, native shot 8-under 132, one stroke off the championship’s 36-hole scoring record, to earn medalist honors and the No. 1 seed.

Less than 24 hours later, his championship was over.

Moto’s victory was only part of the damage. Ryder Cowan eliminated 17-year-old Miles Russell, 2 and 1. Jack Whaley needed 22 holes to knock out No. 5 seed Jackson Ormond. Zackary Swanwick defeated world No. 7 Josiah Gilbert, 3 and 2.

Seven of the top 16 seeds failed to survive Wednesday.

The U.S. Amateur began the week with 312 players. It reached Thursday with 32, and the bracket looks nothing like the one most expected.

Taishi Moto, left, hugs No. 1 seed Joshua Ryan after Moto won the match at the 19th hole during the round of 64 of the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Ishika Samant/USGA)

U.S. Amateur Match Play

Merion’s Bracket Busters

Four results that reshaped the championship during Wednesday’s Round of 64.

No. 64 defeats No. 1

Taishi Moto def. Joshua Ryan

19 holes

Marquee match

Ryder Cowan def. Miles Russell

2 and 1

Longest match

Jack Whaley def. Jackson Ormond

22 holes

Top-10 exit

Zackary Swanwick def. Josiah Gilbert

3 and 2

Seven of the championship’s top 16 seeds were eliminated Wednesday.

From the Last Spot to the Day’s Biggest Victory

Taishi Moto walks to the eighth hole green during the round of 64 of the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Ishika Samant/USGA)

Moto’s route into match play nearly ended before Ryan ever reached the first tee.

The 16-for-11 playoff began on Merion’s 119-yard par-3 13th hole and lasted three holes. Moto secured the final available position with a bogey 5 on No. 15 after Guatemala’s Gabriel Palacios made double bogey.

His reward was a meeting with Ryan, who had shot 5-under 65 at Merion one day earlier and carried a substantial local following into the afternoon.

Moto held a 1-up advantage playing the 18th but snap-hooked his tee shot out of bounds, allowing Ryan to extend the match. That could have been the moment when the pressure, the gallery and the morning’s extra work finally caught up to him.

Instead, Moto made par on the first extra hole, Merion’s par-4 first, and Ryan could not match it.

The No. 64 seed had eliminated No. 1.

That result should not be treated as an indictment of Ryan’s stroke-play performance. He had played the best golf among 312 competitors over two courses. It simply demonstrated how quickly the terms change in this championship.

Stroke play rewarded Ryan for 36 outstanding holes. Match play required him to beat the man standing beside him. Moto needed one fewer stroke when it mattered.

Cowan’s Second Chip Changed His Championship

2026 Walker Cup team member Miles Russell, left, shakes hands with Ryder Cowan after Cowan won the match 2 and 1 at the 17th hole during the round of 64 of the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Dustin Satloff/USGA)

Cowan’s 2-and-1 victory over Russell carried its own misleading seed numbers.

Cowan entered the bracket at No. 59 only because he struggled early in stroke play and needed Wednesday morning’s playoff to advance. He remains the world’s eighth-ranked amateur, shared low-amateur honors at June’s U.S. Open and entered the week as a strong candidate for one of the remaining U.S. Walker Cup positions.

Russell, ranked fourth in the world and already selected for the American team, was hardly drawing an ordinary first-round opponent.

Cowan birdied the opening playoff hole Wednesday morning to reach the bracket, then watched Russell erase a 2-down deficit during their afternoon match. They remained tied until Russell ran into trouble on the par-4 16th and Cowan claimed the hole with a steady two-putt par.

The decisive sequence came on Merion’s 251-yard par-3 17th.

Cowan’s tee shot found thick rough left of the green. His first chip barely moved. Facing another delicate pitch toward a green running away from him, Cowan holed the 20-foot shot for par.

Russell still had a chance to continue the match but missed from 12 feet.

“I love it because I love competition,” Cowan said. “I knew there was going to be a lot of people out here. I knew there were going to be cameras. It was going to be tough, and I love that.”

Russell did not search for excuses.

“Those days happen,” he said. “Didn’t have my best stuff, and I kind of needed it. That’s the way it goes in match play.”

Cowan was not perfect Wednesday. He simply kept competing long enough to turn a poor first chip into the defining shot of the day.

Merion’s Survivors Do Not Fit One Profile

2026 Walker Cup team member and U.S. National Junior Team member Tyler Watts smiles at his caddie at the seventh hole during the round of 64 of the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (Ishika Samant/USGA)

The players left in the championship range from accomplished Walker Cup candidates to a 16-year-old who suddenly finds himself as the youngest player remaining.

Tyler Watts, the No. 2 seed and highest-ranked player left in the bracket, never trailed while defeating Parker Sands, 3 and 2. William Jennings, ranked fifth in the world, eliminated Malan Potgieter by the same margin.

Jay Leng Jr. carried his strong summer into Merion with a 5-and-4 victory over 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck. Leng won the Western Amateur two weeks ago and remains in the discussion for the U.S. Walker Cup team.

Stewart Hagestad provided the day’s most compelling argument for experience. The three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion made five birdies and played the equivalent of 4 under through 15 holes in a 5-and-3 victory over Vanderbilt’s Ryan Downes. Hagestad is attempting to earn his sixth consecutive Walker Cup appearance.

At the other end of the age range, 16-year-old Anson Munzlinger routed Tianyi Xiong, 7 and 6, the most lopsided result of the round.

Noah Kent, the 2024 U.S. Amateur runner-up, survived a much stranger ending. His tee shot on No. 18 struck a spectator and caromed into rough near the 14th fairway. Kent recovered by muscling a 9-iron onto the green, nearly making a 50-foot birdie putt and securing a 1-up victory over Kailer Stone.

Merion does not ask every player to solve it in the same way. Wednesday’s winners included patience, power, short-game improvisation and enough emotional control to survive the occasional piece of chaos.

What Comes Next

Thursday’s 36-Hole Gauntlet

The field will be reduced from 32 players to eight during the championship’s most demanding day.

Morning

Round of 32

First match begins at 7:15 a.m. ET

Afternoon

Round of 16

Matches begin at approximately 1:15 p.m. ET

Highest-Ranked Survivors

World No. 3: Tyler Watts
World No. 5: William Jennings
World No. 8: Ryder Cowan
World No. 18: Niall Shiels Donegan

Watch: Peacock and NBC Sports Network, 3-6 p.m. ET

Thursday Will Cut the Field Twice

The Round of 32 begins Thursday at 7:15 a.m. Eastern, followed by the Round of 16 during the afternoon.

That makes Thursday the championship’s most punishing day. Players must prepare for two separate opponents, potentially play 36 holes and reset mentally between matches. One good round is no longer enough. By Thursday evening, only eight players will remain.

Watts, Jennings, Cowan and 2025 semifinalist Niall Shiels Donegan are the four highest-ranked amateurs still alive. Hagestad, Leng and several others remain under consideration for Walker Cup selections that will be finalized following the championship.

None of those résumés will start anyone 1 up.

Moto understands that better than anyone. He entered Wednesday without a guaranteed place in the bracket and finished it by removing the player who had earned the best one.

At the U.S. Amateur, survival does not care where a player was seeded. It only asks who can win the next hole.

PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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