Final: Lee claims the Macan Cup, Naik a runner-up again
Byungho Lee of Plano, Texas, is the 124th Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur champion, defeating Nilay Naik of Lake Oswego, Oregon, 3 and 1 in Saturday's 36-hole final at Palouse Ridge Golf Club—a first PNGA title for the rising Pepperdine junior and a crushing second consecutive runner-up finish for Naik.
The final was everything a week of attrition promised. The morning 18 opened with a flurry of traded holes—the fifth was the first halved—and after Naik and Lee swapped birdies at the seventh and eighth, they turned all square. Naik birdied the 628-yard par-5 10th and pounced on a Lee bogey at the 11th to move 2 up, a lead he carried through five straight halves. Then Lee delivered the swing of the match: par-eagle over the closing two holes to reach lunch dead level.
The afternoon followed the same rhythm. Lee birdied the first, Naik answered at the second, and after Lee won the fourth and fifth to go 2 up, Naik took the sixth and seventh right back. Tied through 27 holes, the match finally tilted at the 10th, where Lee's birdie restored his lead. A missed short par putt by Naik at the 12th made it 2 up; Naik clawed one back at the 13th, but a three-putt at the 16th left him 2 down with two to play. When Lee found the 17th green in regulation and Naik's chip from a greenside hill ran wayward, the concession came, and the Macan Cup—named for 1913 champion and Hall of Fame architect A.V. Macan—had a new name on it.
The No. 8 seed after stroke play, Lee flirted with elimination just once: his 20-hole escape in the round of 64. From there he never let a match reach the 17th hole—winning 4 and 3, 2 and 1, by concession in the quarterfinals, and 4 and 2 over Naoki Easterday in the semifinals—all while carrying his own bag through a week of more than 160 holes. His approach to the 36-hole days was simple: treat the second 18 as a fresh start.
For Lee, the title carries a personal thread—his Pepperdine head coach, Michael Beard, won this championship in 1999 at Inglewood, and the two now share space on the trophy. The 2026 Texas Amateur champion and 2024 Bill Cullum Invitational winner, Lee entered the week ranked No. 527 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. His victory ends Sam Renner's two-year reign and makes Lee the event's first new champion since Joshua Koo in 2023.
Naik, who recently finished his first season at Michigan after a year at Pomona College, leaves Pullman with a second straight silver medal, having lost last year's final to Renner at Sunriver. The Lakeridge High product and past Oregon Junior Amateur champion beat everyone in the bracket except the one man playing better.
Conditions stayed true to eastern Washington in July—sunny, breezy, and hot, with temperatures pushing into the low 90s. Palouse Ridge, the John Harbottle III design that opened in 2008 on the site of the old WSU Golf Course, hosted the championship for the first time since James Beale's 2014 win, and the Washington State-owned layout proved a worthy stage for one of the world's oldest amateur championships, first contested in 1899.
Semifinals and quarterfinals: Renner falls, the final four takes shape
Friday's double session reshaped the championship. Sam Renner's bid for a third consecutive title ended in the round of 16 at the hands of TingWei Chang of Eugene, opening a bracket the two-time defending champion had ruled for two summers.
Naik seized the opening. The stroke play runner-up edged Chang 1 up in the quarterfinals, then beat Grant Gudgel of Stillwater, Oklahoma, 2 up in the semifinals to reach his second straight final. Gudgel had earned his spot in the final four with a 2-and-1 quarterfinal win over Spokane's Alex Cooke.
On the other side, Lee advanced through the quarterfinals when Ryder Odem of Las Vegas conceded, then dispatched Portland's Naoki Easterday 4 and 2 in the semifinals. Easterday had reached the final four with a 3-and-2 quarterfinal win over Luke Dariotis of Sacramento.
Round of 32: Renner escapes, Naik grinds, medalist's conqueror keeps rolling
Renner's title defense nearly ended Thursday morning. The defending champion, so dominant in an 8-and-7 opening rout, was pushed to the final hole by Luke West of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, before escaping 1 up in the round of 32.
Naik's road wasn't any smoother. He needed 19 holes to put away Nathan Szpakowicz of Vancouver, B.C., before advancing past Owen Davis-Piger of Eugene, a 3-and-2 winner over Lucas Latimer, in the round of 16.
Harrison Moir, the Portland player who stunned medalist Eli Geddy on Wednesday, showed it was no fluke, edging Aaron Buck 1 up. Lee continued his march with a 4-and-3 dismissal of Joshua Ince before beating Garrett Harrison of Granite Bay, California—a 1-up winner over Ayden Stack—in the round of 16.
The seeds kept falling elsewhere. Kade McDonough of Missoula, Montana, a co-third-place qualifier at 8 under, was clipped 1 up by Leighton Wright of Vancouver, B.C., while fellow top-10 seeds Beau Sahr (2 and 1 to Shaunak Nair) and Max Thomas (3 and 2 to Wyatt Brook) also exited. Luke Dariotis delivered the round's most emphatic result, a 6-and-5 thumping of Ian Schoonmaker.
Ben Borgida of Shoreline, Washington, who trailed early in his Wednesday opener before rallying, kept his run alive with a 1-up decision over Maxim McKenzie of Chilliwack, B.C. Grant Gudgel defeated Quinn Hefele 3 and 2 to reach the round of 16.
Round of 64: Medalist Geddy ousted, Renner rolls as match play opens
The championship delivered its first shock Wednesday, when stroke play medalist Eli Geddy of Oceanside, California, was bounced from the bracket in the opening round of match play, falling 1 up to Moir.
Geddy had done everything right through 36 holes. His opening 8-under 62 on Monday—a bogey-free tour of Palouse Ridge—was followed by a steady 68 Tuesday for a 10-under 130 total and medalist honors by one over Naik. But the championship's oldest truth reasserted itself Wednesday morning: stroke play credentials guarantee nothing once the bracket takes over.
While Geddy packed his bags, Renner made the loudest statement of the day, dismantling Seattle's Quinn Burwell 8 and 7. He had quietly worked his way into the bracket with a Tuesday 65 that lifted him to 5-under 135 and a share of tenth in qualifying.
Naik opened his own campaign emphatically with a 5-and-4 win over Andy Yang of Portland, while Lee survived the scare of his week, going 20 holes to get past Eshan Singh. Extra holes also decided two other matches: Ryder Odem outlasted David Sibbett of Tacoma in 21 holes, and Shaunak Nair of Katy, Texas, needed 19 to get past Dylan Reiser.
Geddy wasn't the only seeded casualty. Theodore Snyder of Gig Harbor, Washington, fell 1 up to Bellevue's Ayden Stack; Luke Bohmer of Temecula, California, was beaten 4 and 2 by Dariotis; and co-seventh seed Theo Anderson was routed by Chang. The most lopsided result of the morning belonged to Wyatt Brownell of Burlington, Washington, a 7-and-6 winner over Lincoln Hipp.
Stroke play: Geddy goes wire-to-wire for medalist honors
The Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship, a fixture on the regional calendar since 1899, opened with fireworks Monday, when Geddy carded an 8-under 62 to seize the first-round lead, then closed with a 68 Tuesday to claim medalist honors at 10-under 130.
Naik posted 63-68 to finish one back at 9 under. McDonough and Ben Borgida shared third at 8-under 132, with Max Thomas and Beau Sahr another shot behind at 133. Lee, the eventual champion, qualified eighth at 6-under 134 after an opening 64.
Palouse Ridge, set in the rolling wheat country of eastern Washington, rewarded aggressive play in benign conditions, and the field chased more than a trophy: exemptions into the Pacific Coast Amateur and Sahalee Players Championship were on the line. The 124th edition of this storied event—past champions include Tiger Woods, Ben Crane, and Nick Flanagan—wrapped Saturday with a new name on the Macan Cup.