Fairways were everything on the opening day of the 126th U.S. Amateur. At both Merion Golf Club and stroke-play co-host Philadelphia Country Club, thick rough turned a missed tee shot into a scramble for par — and the players who kept the ball in play separated themselves. When Monday's weather-interrupted first round finally halted for the day, two teenagers-turned-college stars from outside the United States sat on top.
Hong Kong's William Lisle and Germany's Finn Koelle share the lead at 5-under 65. Lisle, 17, a 2027 verbal commit to the University of Texas, kept his ball in the short grass around Philadelphia Country Club. Koelle, 21, a rising senior at the University of Washington, actually reached 6 under at Merion East before bogeying the iconic 18th after finding the right rough off the tee.
"The rough is gnarly," said 2024 runner-up Noah Kent, who opened with a 3-under 67 at Merion. "Making sure you keep it simple and don't overcomplicate things is important. The short game is definitely important for keeping a round and your momentum going."
Lisle and Koelle set the pace
For Koelle, it's a first taste of this stage. "This is my first U.S. Amateur," he said. "I come from Germany, so I usually play all the European [amateur] events. I haven't played anything big here in the States, just some smaller junior tournaments when I was younger."
Lisle, meanwhile, is already looking at the harder half of his draw — he moves to Merion for Round 2. "It's all mental. You just have to keep it going," he said. "You have to keep it in the fairway, especially out there, and the greens are going to be fast and probably firmer than they were today. It's all about strategizing and keeping the ball in play."
Herendeen and Harvey give chase
Illinois rising senior Max Herendeen, of Bellevue, Wash., made the day's late charge, playing his final seven holes in four birdies to post a 4-under 66 at Philadelphia Country Club, which measures 353 yards longer than Merion but plays to the same par of 70. Herendeen is no stranger to the moment — he knocked out then-world No. 1 Jackson Koivun in the Round of 32 at last year's U.S. Amateur — and is pushing for a spot on the 2026 USA Walker Cup Team.
BYU incoming freshman Drake Harvey, of Henderson, Nev., was 4 under with two holes to play at Merion when darkness ended his day.
A crowded pack at 67
Nine others posted 67. At Merion, Kent was joined by 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up Miles Russell — the No. 4 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and an already-named Walker Cup selection — along with Florida incoming freshman Jackson Ormond, Oregon graduate Aiden Krafft and BYU graduate Tyson Shelley. At Philadelphia C.C., Liberty graduate Joshua Ryan (a Norristown, Pa., local) joined Herendeen, world No. 7 Josiah Gilbert of Auburn, North Carolina's Sihan Sandhu and UCLA's Joshua Kim at 3 under.
Ryan is bracing for the course switch. "It's going to be a different test tomorrow. You could very easily shoot a high number over there," he said of Merion. "It's nice to have a little bit of a cushion, but we'll see where the field sits at the end of the day."
Favorites with work to do
Several of the tournament's biggest names left themselves plenty to do. Defending champion Mason Howell shot 74 at Merion. World No. 1 Preston Stout — whose caddie this week is Oklahoma State coach Alan Bratton, a two-time winning Havemeyer looper for Peter Uihlein and Viktor Hovland — carded a 75, also at Merion. Ethan Fang and 2026 U.S. Open co-low amateur Ryder Cowan each shot 74 at Philadelphia C.C.; Fang and Stout have both already been named to the 2026 USA Walker Cup Team. The international contingent had its own strugglers: Stuart Grehan, June's Amateur Championship winner at Royal Liverpool, opened with a 77 at Merion, and 2025 USA Walker Cup member Jacob Modleski shot 75 there.
Weather, darkness and a 7 a.m. restart
Play was suspended for 54 minutes by a late-afternoon thunderstorm, and darkness eventually halted the day at 8:02 p.m. with 39 players unable to finish their opening rounds. They resume at 7 a.m. Tuesday, at which point Round 2 also gets underway.
Notably, the two courses played almost identically hard: the stroke average was 73.28 at Merion and 73.26 at Philadelphia C.C. Among the storylines to carry into Tuesday, three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad was 1 under through 17 at Merion when play stopped — one of five mid-amateurs (25 and older) to better par on Day 1, along with Stephen Behr, Payne Denman, Christian Cavaliere and Travis Woolf.
Color from the grounds
Merion member Drue Nicholas had the honor of the championship's opening tee shot on his home course and settled for a 1-over 71. "I was really nervous. I was nervous to make contact with the ball," he said. "I was really nervous the first six holes and then I settled down and played some good golf after that."
The caddie ranks were full of names, too: Todd Miller — son of 1973 U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller and BYU's head coach — is on the bag for Kihei Akina, who flew in from making the cut at the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship to shoot 69. Peyton Mussina, son of Hall of Fame pitcher Mike Mussina, is caddying for George Mason's Logan Paczewski. Each of the 312 competitors received a mini wicker-basket flagstick as a gift from Merion, and Eagles legend Jason Kelce has been on the grounds mingling with players since Saturday. Iceland's Arni Sveinsson, the first from his country to play a U.S. Open, withdrew 12 holes into his round.
What's next
The second and final round of stroke play takes place Tuesday, with competitors switching courses. The field is then cut to the low 64 for match play, which begins Wednesday at Merion; if a playoff is needed for the final spots, it starts Wednesday morning on Merion's 13th hole. Peacock and NBC Sports carry the Round of 64 live from 3–6 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Follow every score on our live scoring, and check the U.S. Amateur coverage hub for updates all week.