​The U.S. Walker Cup team is now 40 percent formed, with the USGA selection committee revealing a 10-man squad led by the top three Americans in the World Amateur Golf Ranking: No. 1 Preston Stout, No. 3 Tyler Watts, and No. 4 Ethan Fang. In a notable addition, No. 5 Miles Russell earned a debut selection through a committee pick. Russell, 17, came within less than a tenth of a ranking point behind Fang for one of the automatic berths, but after finishing last year’s Walker Cup selection period as the first alternate, he won’t have to endure a suspense-filled wait. He has twice been named AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year and has led every major junior golf ranking for much of the past three years. Alongside Watts, who is headed to Tennessee as a freshman and is the recent Northeast Amateur champion, Russell becomes the second junior on the U.S. roster for the first time since Jordan Spieth and Patrick Rodgers joined as incoming college freshmen in 2011.
Stout and Fang, teammates at Oklahoma State and both rising seniors, represented the United States last year at Cypress Point, posting a combined 3-2-1 record, though they were 0-2 as a foursomes pair. The remaining six U.S. spots will be filled after next month’s U.S. Amateur at Merion, with one of those slots reserved for the winner of the championship if American, and another set aside for a mid-amateur.
Alabama junior William Jennings, recently the NCAA individual runner-up to Stout, is the next highest-ranked American in WAGR at No. 6, followed by Auburn senior Josiah Gilbert (No. 8), Oklahoma senior and recent U.S. Open co-low amateur Ryder Cowan (No. 9), BYU sophomore Kihei Akina (No. 11), and Notre Dame senior Jacob Modleski (No. 13), who played on last year’s U.S. team that saw five players turn pro (Jackson Koivun, Ben James, Tommy Morrison, Jase Summy, and Michael La Sasso). Stewart Hagestad, holder of three U.S. Mid-Amateur titles, has guided the U.S. to five consecutive Walker Cup victories and remains the world’s highest-ranked mid-amateur at No. 46. Bobby Massa sits next at No. 73, with Evan Beck at No. 81. Reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Brandon Holtz sits far back at No. 310, making him an unlikely choice.
Other players generating buzz this summer include Oklahoma State’s Eric Lee (No. 14), who joined Russell and Cowan in advancing to the U.S. Open cut; Florida’s Jack Turner, who was tied for 14th or better at conference, regional, and nationals before narrowly missing match play at the British Amateur by a single shot; and Pepperdine’s Willy Walsh (No. 32), who followed back-to-back top-10 finishes in the NCAA postseason with a third-place at Northeast.
On the Great Britain and Ireland side, British Amateur champion Stuart Grehan, a 33-year-old reinstated amateur, has already secured a berth on his second consecutive Walker Cup team. The top five players in WAGR as of Aug. 5, the Wednesday before U.S. Amateur week, will be a focal point for ongoing SEO relevance, given the interest in the event and the ranking implications ahead of the competition.