Opening Golf to the World
The Walker Cup is a prestigious international match bringing together leading amateur male players from Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America for the biennial contest.
The United States of America team for the 2026 Walker Cup, taking place at Lahinch on 5 and 6 September, can be found below. Tickets are now available here.United States of AmericaWalker Cup Team
Preston Stout - Dallas, Texas
WAGR® - 1
Age - 22
Stout claimed the NCAA Division I individual title in May at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's North Course, in Carlsbad, California, earning himself his first US Open start at Shinnecock Hills. A member of the victorious USA Walker Cup team in 2025, Stout currently sits top of the WAGR® after posting four collegiate victories in the 2025-26 season. Besides his NCAA title, he also successfully defended his Big 12 Championship. He won the 2025 Northeast Amateur and reached the last-16 of the US Amateur at The Olympic Club after earning medalist honours in stroke play. He posted a 2-2 mark in the USA Walker Cup victory at Cypress Point last September, winning both of his singles matches. He also represented his country in the Palmer Cup in 2025 and the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore.
Tyler Watts - Huntsville, Alabama
WAGR® - 3
Age - 18
Watts became the youngest winner in the history of the Northeast Amateur, winning the prestigious event at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island by five strokes. He currently holds the number three position on the WAGR®. The University of Tennessee student made history last year winning the 84th Sunnehanna Amateur after shooting 18-under par, the lowest 72-hole score in the history of the event. The left hander also made the championship match of the 2025 North & South Amateur at Pinehurst. In 2023, Watts claimed the 107th Alabama State Amateur Championship title, setting the record as the youngest player in history to win at the age of 15. That same year, he won the Jones Cup Junior Invitational at Sea Island, Georgia. In 2024, Watts represented the US in the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup in Canada and played in the 2024 US Amateur. Watts is a member of the US National Junior Team, having been part of the programme since its inception in 2024.
Ethan Fang - Plano, Texas
WAGR® - 9
Age - 21
Fang is currently fourth on the WAGR® after a strong season that included winning the Maridoe Collegiate and finishing in the top ten of the Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship. The junior at Oklahoma State also made his US Open debut at Shinnecock Hills this past June. In 2025, he captured The Amateur Championship at Royal St George's with his victory over Gavin Tiernan. Just prior to the 2025 US Amateur, Fang advanced to the final of the Western Amateur. Those performances helped him earn a selection to the victorious USA Walker Cup team in 2025. At Cypress Point, he posted a 1-2-1 record, winning his Sunday singles match over Stuart Grehan, 5&4, as the Americans posted an 8-1-1 record in the event's final session. He also represented his country at the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore. In 2024, Fang advanced to the quarter-finals of the US Amateur at Hazeltine National.
Miles Russell - Jacksonville Beach, Florida
WAGR® - 4
Age - 17
Russell made the cut and went on to finish tied-39th in his US Open debut at Shinnecock Hills. The left-hander, who was a member of the inaugural US National Junior Team, finished fifth at the Northeast Amateur, tied-second at the Jones Cup and won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. The Florida State student presently holds the number five position on the WAGR®. In 2024, Russell became the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make a cut, doing so at the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida. He was also named the 2023 and 2025 American Junior Golf Association's Player of the Year. Russell reached the quarter-finals of the 2025 US Amateur at The Olympic Club and also advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2024 US Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills. He also received sponsor invitations into the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic and Bermuda Championship, narrowly missing the cut in both events.
Kihei Akina - Alpine, Utah
WAGR® - 11
Age - 19
Akina earned the 2026 Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's top collegiate freshman after being named 2025-26 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year in his first season at Brigham Young University. Akina tied for eighth in the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa and was runner-up in the Big 12 Conference Championship. He won a pair of collegiate tournaments in the 2025-26 season – the R.E. Lamkin Invitational and Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational. Akina made the 36-hole cut in the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship and tied for 16th in the Puerto Rico Open this year. He also advanced to the last-64 at the US Amateur and the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship in 2026. He was a member of the 2025 US National Junior Team and was chosen earlier this year to be a member of the 2026 Elite Amateur Programme as part of the US National Development Programme.
Ryder Cowan - Edmond Oklahoma
WAGR® - 8
Age - 21
Cowan earned the low-amateur honours at the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, finishing tied-23rd. The rising University of Oklahoma senior qualified for his first US Open by posting a six-under total at BallenIsles and then surviving a three-for-two play-off for the final spots. Cowan posted one collegiate victory this past season in Hawaii. He also finished fourth individually at the NCAA Corvallis Regional in Oregon. He was the runner-up in the Valspar Collegiate Invitational and finished third in the Maridoe Collegiate. Cowan has qualified for the last four US Amateurs, including reaching the last-16 at Merion in August. In 2019, Cowan was the runner-up in the Boys 12-13 Division of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National.
Josiah Gilbert - Millbrook, Alabama
WAGR® - 7
Age - 21
Gilbert is a rising senior at Auburn University, where he helped lead the Tigers to their 2024 and 2026 NCAA Division I titles. During this year’s championship run, Gilbert was Auburn’s individual low man in both the NCAA Regionals and the NCAA National Championship, where he shot 11-under-par to finish third in stroke play. His 2-1 match-play record was highlighted by his 4&3 victory over Oklahoma State’s Ethan Fang in the semi-finals as well as a win over Walker Cup team-mate Jay Leng Jr in the quarter-finals. Gilbert’s 2026 season earned him PING Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC honours. Currently seventh on the WAGR®, Gilbert advanced to match play in his third US Amateur appearance.
William Jennings - Greenville, South Carolina
WAGR® - 5
Age - 20
Jennings is a rising junior at the University of Alabama who is coming off his runner-up finish during the stroke play portion of the 2026 NCAA National Championships. His 2026 season with the Crimson Tide featured four additional top-five finishes, including his win at the NCAA Marana Regional in Arizona. In 2025, Jennings picked up a pair of runner-up finishes and his first collegiate victory at the Folds of Honor Collegiate. He also advanced to match play at the 2025 US Amateur at The Olympic Club and made the quarter-finals of the 2025 North & South Amateur. He then reached the last-16 of this year’s US Amateur.
Stewart Hagestad - Newport Beach, California
WAGR® - 27
Age - 35
Hagestad is competing in his sixth Walker Cup, owning a 7-1 record in singles play. All five of his previous appearances were victories for the USA (2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025) and in 2017, he competed on his home course, The Los Angeles Country Club. Hagestad is a three-time champion of the US Mid-Amateur (2016, 2021, 2023) and has qualified for five US Opens (where he made the cut in 2022 at The Country Club). To date, he is the only invited US Mid-Amateur champion to make the cut at the Masters Tournament (2017). Hagestad made the stroke play cut at the 2026 Western Amateur, tied for eighth in the 2026 Southern Amateur and advanced to the last-32 of the 2026 US Amateur.
Jay Leng Jr - San Diego, California
WAGR® - 23
Age - 20
Leng Jr is coming off an impressive summer that includes a US Amateur runner-up finish at Merion, a win at the Western Amateur, a runner-up place at the Northeast Amateur and a tie for fifth at the Southern Amateur. The rising junior at Stanford helped the Cardinal qualify for match play at the 2026 NCAA Championship. Leng Jr advanced to the semi-finals of the 2024 US Junior Amateur, defeating Miles Russell in the quarter-finals before losing to eventual runner-up Tyler Watts, both Walker Cup teammates. He qualified for match play in the 2024 US Amateur at Hazeltine National and led Torrey Pines High School to the 2024 CIF state title.