2026 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball — Desert Mountain Club
Two California 18-year-olds — an Alameda kid headed to Pepperdine and a San Jose kid bound for the University of the Pacific — fired a 9-under 63 on Desert Mountain’s Outlaw course Sunday to earn medalist honors at the 2026 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, finishing one stroke shy of the championship’s 36-hole scoring record.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kailer Stone of Alameda and Liam Eyer of San Jose backed up their Saturday 64 on Cochise with Sunday’s 63 on Outlaw to post a 36-hole total of 16-under 127 — just off the record 126 shared by four previous sides in championship history. Stone, a U.S. National Development Program Grant athlete, closed his round with three straight birdies on Outlaw’s 16th, 17th, and 18th holes, including a 9-iron from 143 yards stuffed to five feet on the 477-yard closer into a stiff wind. Eyer, playing in his first USGA championship, added birdies on Nos. 4, 6, and 8.
Two strokes back at 14-under 129, in a share of second place, are Saturday’s first-round co-leaders Drew Kittleson, 37, and Drew Stoltz, 41, of Scottsdale, and Atlanta’s Jack Larkin Jr. and Zach Healy, both 30 and Georgia alumni, who flirted with the 18-hole championship record before settling for an 8-under 63 at Cochise on Sunday. Three more sides — Davenport/Smith, Abercrombie/Emberson, and Dougherty/Gill — share T4 at 13-under 130.
The 36-hole stroke-play portion of the 11th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball is in the books. Match play begins Monday at host Cochise course, with the Round of 32 teeing off at 9 a.m. MST. An 8-for-3 playoff to determine the final match-play spots will commence at 7 a.m. off the 10th tee.
The morning wave caught Outlaw at its kindest. By afternoon, gusts climbed to the high 20s and low 30s on the more exposed back nine, with the wind shifting in and out. The same course that surrendered three 63s on Saturday played as one of the toughest tests of the week by Sunday’s back end.
“Every time I would hit a shot, a gust would come and the ball would pick up speed,” said Bryan Hoops, who played the back nine of Outlaw with a Scotsman in his group. “He was saying the wind was worse than some links courses in the United Kingdom.”
After 36 Holes: Stroke-Play Leaderboard
Top 14 sides after Round 2 · Match-play cut at 6-under 137
| Pos | Side | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam Eyer / Kailer Stone ★ San Jose / Alameda, Calif. · both 18, MEDALISTS | 64 | 63 | 127 -16 |
| T2 | Jack Larkin Jr. / Zach Healy Atlanta, Ga. · Sun. 63 at Cochise; Jack Sr. on the bag | 66 | 63 | 129 -14 |
| T2 | Drew Kittleson / Drew Stoltz ★ Scottsdale, Ariz. · 2022 & 2023 runners-up | 63 | 66 | 129 -14 |
| T4 | Will Davenport / Mike Smith Boynton Beach / Ponte Vedra, Fla. | 63 | 67 | 130 -13 |
| T4 | Jared Abercrombie / Max Emberson Simi Valley / Thousand Oaks, Calif. | 63 | 67 | 130 -13 |
| T4 | Kyle Dougherty / Justin Gill Irvine / San Marcos, Calif. · UC San Diego alums | 64 | 66 | 130 -13 |
| T7 | Craig Long II / William Long Alpharetta, Ga. · alternates · brothers | 65 | 66 | 131 -12 |
| T7 | Bryan Hoops / Jeremy Defalco ★ Scottsdale / Tucson, Ariz. · oldest side, 57/53 | 63 | 68 | 131 -12 |
| T9 | Evan Beck / Dan Walters Virginia Beach, Va. / Winston-Salem, N.C. · 2025 runners-up | 67 | 65 | 132 -11 |
| T9 | Jack Denery / Lunden Esterline Little Rock, Ark. / Andover, Kan. | 68 | 64 | 132 -11 |
| T9 | Bobby Massa / Cody Massa ★ Dallas, Texas / Cave Creek, Ariz. | 67 | 65 | 132 -11 |
| T12 | Trey Diehl / Mac Scott Orlando, Fla. / Birmingham, Ala. · 2024 semifinalists | 68 | 65 | 133 -10 |
| T12 | Brian Blanchard / Sam Engel ★ Scottsdale, Ariz. · 2024 champions | 65 | 68 | 133 -10 |
| T12 | Torey Edwards / Bret Parker Long Beach, Calif. / Alpine, Utah | 69 | 64 | 133 -10 |
★ = Arizona-based side · Defending champs Colton/Mawhinney also advanced at T15 (-9 / 134) · Full results at USGA.org →
Four Stories Heading into Match Play
Match Play: What to Watch Monday
- 7:00 a.m. MST — 8-for-3 playoff for the final three match-play spots, off the 10th tee at Cochise
- 9:00 a.m. MST — Round of 32 begins off the first tee at Cochise
- Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend
Sides advancing of note
- Defending champion Tyler Mawhinney and new partner Luke Colton finished at -9 (134), advancing T15 after a Sunday 66 on Outlaw. Mawhinney is the only player in the field who can become the first back-to-back winner in championship history.
- 2025 runners-up Evan Beck and Dan Walters bounced their R1 67 with a 65 on Outlaw Sunday — T9 at -11. Beck’s 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur credentials cast a long shadow over the bracket.
- 2022 champions Chad Wilfong and Davis Womble shot 65 on Cochise Sunday to advance at -9, the same total as defending champ Mawhinney/Colton. Two of the field’s six past-champion sides will play match-play golf this week.
- The youngest and oldest sides in the field both made the bracket. Hong Kong 16-year-olds William Lisle and Darren Zhou advanced at -7 (136); Arizonans Bryan Hoops (57) and Jeremy Defalco (53) at -12 (131), keeping the historic senior-side run alive. No senior pair has ever reached a U.S. Amateur Four-Ball final.
- 2024 semifinalists Trey Diehl and Mac Scott advanced T12 at -10 after a 65 at Cochise Sunday. Diehl/Scott join Davenport/Smith (the other 2024 semifinalist tandem) in the bracket.
- The Arizona contingent. Of the 16 Arizonans in the field, nine advanced — seven from Scottsdale. Kittleson/Stoltz (Scottsdale), Defalco/Hoops (Tucson/Scottsdale), Massa /Massa (Cave Creek/Dallas), Blanchard/Engel (Scottsdale), and Desert Mountain members Charlie Allen/Mikey Russello (both Scottsdale) all carry the hometown flag into match play.
Notable misses
- Nathan Smith / Todd White — 2015 inaugural champions, missed by one
- Benjamin Baxter / Andrew Buchanan — 2016 champions
- Chip Brooke / Marc Dull — 2018 runners-up; Dull made history last May as the first solo player to win a four-ball match
- Carson Looney / Hunter Powell — 2025 semifinalists
- Zach Foushee / Robbie Ziegler — 2025 quarterfinalists, 2024 medalists; Foushee was a best man at a wedding Saturday
- Will Wears / Christopher Baloga — Wears is Arnold Palmer’s grandson
Will Davenport, the Yale and Wharton-credentialed half of the T4 side at -13, switched to a broomstick putter four years ago after a missed 6-footer at the 2022 Four-Ball at the Country Club of Birmingham. The miss cost his side match-play qualifying. Saturday he made roughly 250 feet of putts at Outlaw with the broomstick, including five birdies of 30 feet or more. Sunday he was quieter but still had it on a string.
“It’s starting on my line, which is really the reason I went with the broomstick after the 2022 Four-Ball. I had around a 6-footer to make match play and had a terrible stroke with a short putter, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to feel like that under pressure again.’ It’s revolutionized my golf game.” — Will Davenport
Pre-Tournament Favorites: 36-Hole Status
Mawhinney is chasing the first back-to-back title in championship history. Sunday’s 66 on Outlaw moved the side up 19 spots from R1 — into the bracket and within reach of the lead.
The 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion bounced a Saturday 67 with a 65 on Outlaw Sunday — the type of complementary round that wins match play. T9 heading into the bracket is exactly the seeding profile of a deep run.
The 2024 champions hit the ceremonial opening tee shot at Cochise Saturday and are now headed back to defend on familiar ground. A 68 on Outlaw Sunday cost the side some seed value, but they’re into the bracket and live.
The Stakes: What Brought Everyone to the Desert
The 11th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship marks the first USGA event contested at Desert Mountain since 1999 — when Carol Semple Thompson won the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur on the Renegade course. All match play this week will be contested at the par-71 Cochise course, the only other Desert Mountain layout to have hosted a USGA championship.
The 2026 winners receive a gold medal, a 10-year exemption back into the championship, and exemptions for each member of the winning side into the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club — one of the hardest tickets in the amateur game — plus U.S. Junior Amateur, Mid-Amateur, and Senior Amateur exemptions if age-eligible.
Desert Mountain: Two Nicklaus Tracks, One Championship
| Course | Yardage | Par | Rating | Slope | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cochise (host, all match play) | 7,042 | 71 | 73.5 | 146 | 1988 |
| Outlaw (co-host, stroke play) | 7,090 | 72 | 74.7 | 149 | 2003 |
Championship Schedule
| Day | Format | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Sat. May 16 | Stroke play, R1 — Complete | Cochise & Outlaw |
| Sun. May 17 | Stroke play, R2 + cut — Complete | Cochise & Outlaw |
| Mon. May 18 | Playoff (7 a.m.) + Round of 32 (9 a.m.) | Cochise |
| Tue. May 19 | Round of 16 / Quarterfinals | Cochise |
| Wed. May 20 | Semifinals / Championship Match | Cochise |
How Four-Ball Match Play Works
Each side plays its own ball. The lower of the two scores on each hole counts. That structural detail changes everything: a player can swing freely on a risk-reward par-4 because his partner is in play with a safer line. A bogey by one player is irrelevant if the other makes par. The format incentivizes aggression in a way stroke play does not — and rewards the side whose two players have complementary tendencies.
Stoltz called Saturday a “good ham-and-egg day.” Healy used the same phrase Sunday. The language fit the format. The teams who win this championship aren’t always the two best individual players in the bracket. They’re the two best partners.
A Decade of U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Champions
| Year | Champions | Venue | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Nathan Smith / Todd White | The Olympic Club (Lake) | 7&5 |
| 2016 | Benjamin Baxter / Andrew Buchanan | Winged Foot G.C. (East) | 3&2 |
| 2017 | Ben Wong / Frankie Capan | Pinehurst No. 2 | 2&1 |
| 2018 | Garrett Barber / Cole Hammer | Jupiter Hills (Hills) | 4&3 |
| 2019 | Todd Mitchell / Scott Harvey | Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald) | 2&1 |
| 2020 | Cancelled (COVID-19) | ||
| 2021 | Kiko Coelho / Leopoldo Herrera III | Chambers Bay | 19 holes |
| 2022 | Chad Wilfong / Davis Womble | Country Club of Birmingham (West) | 19 holes |
| 2023 | Aaron Du / Sampson Zheng | Kiawah Island Club (Cassique) | 2&1 |
| 2024 | Brian Blanchard / Sam Engel | Philadelphia Cricket Club (Wissahickon) | 2 up |
| 2025 | Will Hartman / Tyler Mawhinney | Plainfield Country Club | 3&1 |
Daily Reporting Continues from Desert Mountain
Stroke play coverage above. Match-play wraps for May 18-20 drop into the slots below as the championship unfolds.
