USGA announces first 4 selections for 2026 U.S. Walker Cup team, including 2 teenagers
The Walker Cup is two months away, and the USGA announced Wednesday the first four selections for the United States squad.
Preston Stout, Tyler Watts, Ethan Fang and Miles Russell will represent the stars and stripes Sept. 5-6 at Lahinch in Ireland, site of the 51st Walker Cup — a biennial match between the top amateurs from the United States and those from Great Britain and Ireland.
Stout, Watts and Fang earned automatic spots on the U.S. side thanks to being the highest-ranked Americans in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, while Russell was selected by the Walker Cup committee.
Stout, a rising senior at Oklahoma State, recently moved to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He won the individual title at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in June and was on the Walker Cup team last year at Cypress Point. He also won medalist honors at the 2025 U.S. Amateur and he’s likely to be No. 1 on the PGA Tour University Class of 2027 rankings. Last week, he made his first cut in a PGA Tour event, finishing in the top 15 at the John Deere Classic, where he played on a sponsor exemption.
Watts won the Northeast Amateur two weeks ago, jumping into the top five of WAGR and becoming the youngest champion in the event’s history. The 18-year-old is ranked No. 3 in the world and is an incoming freshman at Tennessee, where he’s likely to be one of several teenagers on the team.
Fang, also a rising senior at Oklahoma State, is also a returning Walker Cup member. He won the 2025 British Amateur at Royal St. George’s and went 1-2-1 at Cypress Point. He’s ranked No. 4 in the world and helped the Cowboys reach the semifinals at the NCAA Championship.
Miles Russell, a rising high school senior committed to Florida State, is No. 1 in the American Junior Golf Association ranking and is widely considered the best junior in the world. The 17-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, played his way through local and final qualifying for the U.S. Open and made the cut at Shinnecock, finishing in a tie for 39th.
The Walker Cup is a two-day event with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes matches. The U.S. leads the overall series, 40-9-1, though its advantage is only 12-7 since 1989. The team will be finalized after the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur, set for Aug. 10-16 at Merion in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: USGA announces first 4 selections for 2026 U.S. Walker Cup team, including 2 teenagers
