Preston Stout won the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading male in the 2026 World Amateur Golf Ranking, it was announced last Wednesday.
The 22-year-old from Richardson, Texas, receives exemptions into next year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and Open Championship at St. Andrews by virtue of winning the award.
Preston Stout
Dustin Satloff, USGA
“Being named the McCormack Medal winner is a tremendous honor, and one I’ll never take for granted,” Stout said. “This recognition reflects not just my own work, but the support of everyone who has pushed me to get better along the way. It motivates me to keep raising my own bar and chasing what's next. I’m grateful to be included among the players who have earned this honor.”
Stout rose to the top of the men’s ranking following a junior season at Oklahoma State University in which he won five individual titles, including the NCAA Division I Individual Championship. Stout also won the Big 12 Conference Championship, becoming the first-ever three-time Big 12 champion.
Stout will represent the United States as part of the team that will face Great Britain and Ireland in next week’s Walker Cup match at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland. READ MORE
England’s Jack Whaley, who won the U.S. Amateur two Sundays ago at Merion, was one of five players named last Tuesday to complete Great Britain and Ireland’s team for the Walker Cup, having earned an automatic berth by virtue of his victory.
Scotland’s Connor Graham and Englishmen Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook and Josh Hill were also named to the squad that will face the United States at Lahinch. They join Ireland’s Stuart Grehan, who earned a berth as winner of the 2026 Amateur Championship, and four players who recently earned spots via the World Amateur Golf Ranking: England’s Tyler Weaver, Luke Poulter and Eliot Baker, and Scotland’s Niall Sheils Donegan.
Whaley, a Florida State senior, was not in the running for the squad until he won the U.S. Amateur, GB&I captain Dean Robertson acknowledged. READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Garrett Rank won his fourth Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship last Friday, a decade after winning the last of three consecutive titles from 2014-16. Rank, a 38-year-old National Hockey League referee, closed with a 69 at Brantford Golf & Country Club in Ontario to prevail by one stroke. READ MORE
European captain Anne van Dam announced her team for the 2026 Ping Junior Solheim Cup: Anna Ludvová (Czech Republic), Adriana García Terol (Spain), Lena Geier (Germany), Sofía Maier-Borst (Germany), Lauren Crump (England), Lana Guyot (Switzerland), Axelle Guillemard (France), Alice Kong (France), Carlota López Minguela (Spain), Marta Muñoz (Spain), Annabel Peaford (England) and Carolina Pérez-Tasso (Spain). The match is slated for Sept. 7-8 at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. READ MORE
PopStroke is building a multimillion-dollar miniature golf complex near the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, that will feature two 18-hole courses that wind among waterfalls, caves and tanks containing sharks and stingrays, according to multiple reports. The company, which is co-owned by Tiger Woods, plans to open the facility in December. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity
