Tyler Watts Wins Northeast Amateur by Five at Wannamoisett

Tyler Watts never let anyone close. The Tennessee commit closed with 5-under 65 Saturday at Wannamoisett Country Club to capture the Northeast Amateur by five strokes at 16-under 260, adding the second leg of the Elite Amateur Series to the Sunnehanna Amateur title he claimed in early June. The Huntsville, Alabama native, who seized control with Thursday's tournament-low 60, never trailed over the final 54 holes and finished well clear of San Diego's Jay Leng Jr., who posted 66 for an 11-under 265 total.

Watts's closing 65 on Donald Ross's strategic 1914 layout capped one of the most commanding wire-to-wire performances in recent Northeast history. He opened with 66, surged to a four-stroke lead with the 60 in round two — the tournament's lowest score since Preston Stout's 61 a year ago — added 69 in Friday's third round, and cruised home Saturday with five birdies against no bogeys. In a tournament where the cut line typically hovers in the mid-70s and breaking par for 72 holes is rare, Watts finished 16 strokes under on a course that yields little.

That margin underscores both the quality of the performance and the caliber of the venue. The Northeast Amateur is ranked No. 4 among U.S. amateur events on the R&A World Amateur Ranking List — the only 72-hole amateur championship played entirely in twosomes, a format that has earned it the nickname the "Masters of Amateur Golf." Wannamoisett's par-69 layout, all of 6,688 yards, punishes precision over power: a single par-5, narrow fairways choked by thick rough, and large, deceptive greens. Watts mastered every condition, posting rounds of 66-60-69-65 to finish five clear in a field stacked with elite amateurs from across the country and around the world.

The win cements Watts's place among the tournament's storied champions. Past Northeast winners include Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, Luke Donald, Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, David Duval, and most recently Nick Dunlap and 2025 champion Preston Stout, whose dominant eight-stroke victory included the very 61 that Watts bettered with his second-round 60.

William Walsh of San Mateo, California, and Carson Bertagnole of Pinehurst, North Carolina, shared third at 10-under 266. Walsh, who opened with 63, closed with 65, while Bertagnole — who fired an opening-round 61 to seize the first-day lead — also posted 65 on Saturday to climb back into the top three. Three players finished T5 at 7-under 269: world No. 1-ranked junior Miles Russell (Jacksonville Beach, Florida), Ryan Ford (Westfield, Indiana), and Logan Reilly (Lovettsville, Virginia), one of seven Auburn players in the field fresh from the Tigers' NCAA Championship victory.

Leng, who posted 64 in Thursday's second round to climb into striking distance, added rounds of 68 and 66 over the weekend but never seriously threatened Watts's cushion. The San Diego player's 11-under total left him alone in second, one stroke clear of the Walsh-Bertagnole duo and well ahead of the chasing pack.

Caleb Bond (Williamston, Michigan), Max Herendeen (Champaign, Illinois), and China's Ziqin Zhou finished T8 at 6-under 270. Herendeen, an Illinois standout and Arnold Palmer Cup selection, posted rounds of 67-69-65-69, while Zhou closed with 69 after a mid-tournament 64.

For Watts, the victory is the latest chapter in a breakout that has rewritten record books across the amateur landscape. He first announced himself at 15 as the youngest champion in Alabama State Amateur history, breaking a mark previously held by Gordon Sargent. He reached the final of the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur, falling 4 and 3 to Trevor Gutschewski, then broke out in the summer of 2025 — winning the Sunnehanna Amateur as its youngest-ever champion with a record 19-under 261 that shattered a four-round scoring mark Allen Doyle had held since 1992. That victory was the first event of the Elite Amateur Golf Series, the same circuit the Northeast anchors as its second leg. This June he advanced to final qualifying for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. A member of the U.S. National Junior Team, Watts has long looked the part of a future Walker Cup name, and this week's performance at Wannamoisett — his second Elite Amateur Series title in as many starts — only sharpens the case.

The Northeast is the second of seven tournaments in the Elite Amateur Series, which awards points to players based on their finishes. Points leaders earn exemptions into PGA Tour and USGA events. The Northeast was recently added to the select list of events whose champion receives one point toward the PGA Tour U Accelerated Program standings, plus an exemption into the U.S. Amateur.

Ranked No. 4 among more than 700 U.S. amateur events on the R&A World Amateur Ranking List, the Northeast is the only 72-hole amateur championship contested in twosomes, a distinctive format that has earned it the nickname the "Masters of Amateur Golf." Ninety-plus elite players from across the United States and around the world competed over four days on Donald Ross's strategic 1914 masterpiece.

A Roll Call of Legends

The list of Northeast champions reads like a history of the modern game: Ben Crenshaw, Jay Sigel, David Duval, Luke Donald, Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim, Peter Uihlein, Collin Morikawa, and Nick Dunlap have all hoisted the trophy at Wannamoisett. Defending champion Preston Stout (Oklahoma State) underscored the event's pedigree once again — just last week he was crowned NCAA individual champion in California, adding another marquee credential to his 2025 victory here.

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The Strongest Field of the Summer

Tournament co-chairs Mick Hogan and Ben Tuthill assembled a roster stacked from top to bottom. Leading the returning contingent was last year's runner-up and the top-ranked junior in the world, 17-year-old Floridian Miles Russell, who has committed to play collegiately at Florida State. Fellow junior Tyler Watts, T6 here a year ago, went on to claim the Elite Amateur Cup and a spot in the PGA Tour's Bermuda Championship; he is headed to Tennessee.

Other returning top-10 finishers included BYU first-team All-American Kihei Akina (T8), Auburn's Josiah Gilbert (T6), Virginia's Josh Duangmanee (T8), and top mid-amateur Stewart Hagestad (T8), last year's winner of the Joseph Sprague Sr. Award as the tournament's low mid-am.

The National Champions Arrived

Fresh off Auburn's NCAA Championship victory over UCLA last week, seven of the 10 participants in that final match made the trip to Rumford: Auburn's Logan Reilly, Jake Albert, Cayden Pope, and Gilbert, alongside UCLA's Josh Kim, Baylor Larrabee, and Tyler Loree.

The field also welcomed reigning U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, U.S. Junior Amateur champion Hamilton Coleman, and England's Luke Poulter — currently the world's No. 9-ranked amateur — all making their first Northeast Amateur appearances.

Arnold Palmer Cup Contingent

Ten players in the field will compete in July's Arnold Palmer Cup at Tralee Golf Club in Ireland. The U.S. side drew on first-team All-American William Jennings (Alabama), Jacob Modleski (Notre Dame), Ryder Cowan (Oklahoma), Max Herendeen (Illinois), Wheaton Ennis (Texas A&M), Cayden Pope (Auburn), Josiah Gilbert (Auburn), Willy Walsh (Pepperdine), and Connor Williams (ASU). Poulter (England/Florida) represented the International side.

Mid-Ams and Local Standouts

Among the notable mid-amateurs were Latin American Amateur champion Mateo Pulcini, Terra Cotta champion Connor Doyle, and standouts Evan Beck (VA) and Bobby Massa (TX). The local contingent featured five-time Rhode Island State Amateur champion Bobby Leopold, RI Amateur champion and Player of the Year Mike Calef, Massachusetts standouts Matt Parziale and Ryan Downes (Vanderbilt), Connecticut Amateur champion Adam Friedman, and New England Amateur champion Eli Spaulding.

A Stern Donald Ross Test

Wannamoisett's compact routing and strategic design reward precision over power. The course proved a punishing examination in 2025, when Stout's 9-under 267 — built on a second-round 61 — was the only total under par across 72 holes. He won by eight. Only 18 players broke par for the week, and the cut line typically settles in the mid-70s, a testament to the layout's enduring ability to challenge the world's best amateurs.

Tournament History

First played in 1962 as a 54-hole event, the Northeast expanded to its current 72-hole format in 1968. The field is limited to 92 players by invitation only. In 2012 the tournament celebrated 50 years of success, commemorated by the 50th Anniversary Book dedicated to the members of Wannamoisett Country Club in gratitude for their unwavering support.

Northeast Amateur Champions

1962 · Dick Siderowf

1963 · Gene Francis

1964–65 · Ronnie Quinn

1966 · Dick Siderowf

1967 · Marty Fleckman

1968 · Pete Bostwick, Jr.

1969 · Jerry Courville

1970 · Allen Miller

1971 · Vinnie Giles

1972 · Wally Kuchar

1973 · Ben Crenshaw

1974 · Bill Hyndman

1975 · Rocky Waitt

1976 · Bob Byman

1977 · Scott Hoch

1978–79 · John Cook

1980 · Hal Sutton

1981 · Dick Von Tacky

1982 · Chris Perry

1983 · Bill Hadden

1984–85 · Jay Sigel

1986 · Robert Friend

1987 · Bob Lewis, Jr.

1988 · Brett Quigley

1989 · Jeff Barlow

1990 · Todd White

1991 · Jay Sigel

1992 · David Duval

1993 · Allen Doyle

1994 · Gary Simpson

1995 · Notah Begay III

1996 · Jason Enloe

1997 · Brad Elder

1998 · Michael Harris

1999 · Jonathan Byrd

2000–01 · Luke Donald

2002 · Brian Quackenbush

2003 · Chris Nallen

2004 · Anthony Kim

2005 · Kyle Reifers

2006 · Carlton Forrester

2007 · Dustin Johnson

2008 · Brendan Gielow

2009 · Dan Woltman

2010 · Joseph Bramlett

2011 · Peter Uihlein

2012 · Justin Shin

2013 · Cory Whitsett

2014 · Stewart Jolly

2015 · Hunter Stewart

2016 · Fred Wedel

2017 · Collin Morikawa

2018 · Justin Suh

2019 · Garrett May

2021 · Dylan Menante

2022 · Dylan Menante

2023 · Nicholas Dunlap

2024 · Anthony Delisanti

2025 · Preston Stout

2026 · Tyler Watts