U.S. Walker Cup captain Nathan Smith will have little time to celebrate his team’s impressive victory at Cypress Point two Sundays ago before he must turn around and prepare to defend the cup a year from now at Ireland’s Lahinch Golf Club.
It will be a compacted cycle as the USGA and R&A shift the schedule to have its two biennial team matches, the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, played in even years while separating them from the World Amateur Team Championships contested in odd years.
This means the USGA will convene another practice session, likely in south Florida this December, and then begin anew the eight-month selection process. One new wrinkle: the International Team Selection Committee will be folded into the U.S. National Development Program, and USNDP staffers will become involved in the selection process for all international competitions.
The 2026 U.S. Walker Cup squad will look much different than the winning 2025 team, and it may well include multiple junior golfers.
Jackson Koivun, the Auburn University junior who earned a PGA Tour card through PGA Tour University Accelerated, could leave school anytime to play for pay, although he has said he will finish this academic year. Michael La Sasso, Ben James, Tommy Morrison and Jase Summy will have exhausted their college eligibility next spring and are likely to turn professional after the NCAA Championships; few college players are willing to delay turning pro for the summer to play in a Walker Cup, particularly if they have already competed in one.
Oklahoma State University teammates Ethan Fang and Preston Stout could well return, as they will be seniors next fall. The same is true of Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski. They will have to earn it once again; team berths are not guaranteed for past players.
And then there is Mason Howell, the 18-year-old junior competitor who earned a spot on this year’s U.S. team by winning the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club.
A high-school senior, Howell won 2½ points in his maiden Walker Cup at Cypress Point. There is no reason to think that his game will regress; he could conceivably play in three career Walker Cups.
Though Howell, who has committed to play at the University of Georgia, will be in college next fall, a few juniors coming up behind him figure to compete for berths on the ’26 squad.
Miles Russell, a 16-year-old high-school junior, was thought to have just missed being picked to play this year. Ranked No. 13 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and No. 1 in the Rolex AJGA boys rankings by a mile, Russell is a strong candidate to be selected next year.
Keep an eye on Tyler Watts, the sixth highest-ranked junior and No. 31 in the WAGR. A 17-year-old high-school senior, Watts had a tremendous summer but needed to come from too far behind to merit serious consideration in this cycle. While the U.S. squad was prevailing at Cypress Point, Watts was posting a T4 finish in the Sahalee Players Championship, a big-time college event in which he competed as part of the U.S. National Junior Team.
Finally, Hamilton Coleman, No. 7 in the junior rankings and No. 85 in the WAGR, was impressive in winning the U.S. Junior Amateur this summer. The 17-year-old is expected to continue to improve and see his rankings rise. He will be a candidate in the next cycle.
And then there is the question of mid-amateur participation on the American side going forward. Will Stewart Hagestad mount another charge? (I asked him after the match at Cypress Point; he indicated it is too early to tell). Will someone emerge victorious at the U.S. Mid-Amateur this week and make a run, a la Evan Beck in 2025? Will there even be a guaranteed mid-amateur berth for the next team? All questions with no answers at the moment.
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Top: Mason Howell has potential to compete in three Walker Cups before he’s done college.
chris keane, usga