Sleeping at home and shining at Merion, Joshua Ryan earns U.S. Amateur medalist honors
ARDMORE, PA — To the west of Merion Golf Club runs a train to and from Philadelphia. The gray cars can be heard screaming up and down the track, as the brakes squeak for the nearby station and echo throughout the legendary hills of the golf course.
About 10 minutes north is Norristown, where Joshua Ryan is sleeping in his own bed this week. Next week, he’ll be a professional golfer. But on Tuesday, he earned medalist honors at the 2026 U.S. Amateur.
Ryan was brilliant Tuesday at Merion, shooting 5-under 65 to finish at 8-under 132, two shots ahead of 18-year-old Tyler Watts. He was 4 under after four holes, making an eagle on the par-5 second, and will be the No. 1 seed in match play, which begins Wednesday.
“Couldn’t write it up any better,” Ryan said after signing his scorecard. “Wasn’t trying to get ahead of myself at all. Didn’t expect it, if I was being honest. Just went out and tried to play quality golf, get to match play and see what happens.”
Although Ryan is from just up the road, Tuesday was only his sixth round at Merion. This week is his second USGA event, and the former Liberty Flame won the Pennsylvania State Amateur two weeks ago to earn a spot in the field at his hometown track.
Now, the target on his back couldn’t be bigger as the field shrinks to 64. But Tuesday, there were plenty of shaky moments from an unlikely medalist candidate.
He still found a way to come through.
“The first hole, I chunked a 3-wood and it went like 280,” Ryan said. “The hands were shaking. We were pretty excited. Wasn’t super nervous, just more excitement. Holed out on hole two, so everyone kind of started buzzing right away. So that was fun.”
Ryan said his mother made chicken parm on Monday night, and the experience of being able to sleep in his own bed is second to none. It doesn’t hurt when more than 100 people are cheering you on, either.
As Ryan summited the 18th fairway and marched toward the green, the crowd followed, scurrying to get to the best spot to watch his closing moments. He needed a double or better to secure medalist honors. He tapped in for bogey, picked up his ball, turned and threw his hands in the air.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve never seen me play who were able to get out to play this week,” Ryan said. “So, I mean, it was super special.”
Ryan said a group of folks from his hometown took a bus ride to watch him play Tuesday. Last year, Niall Sheils Donegan made a run at Olympic Club with dozens of supporters from his local club up the road from San Francisco. This year, it’s Ryan capitalizing on the home crowd.
His former Liberty teammate, Michael Lugiano, is crashing with Ryan this week, though the two haven’t seen much of each other because of being in opposite waves. Perhaps the chicken parm is good luck; Lugiano is also going to be in match play come Wednesday.
Ryan’s 23rd birthday is Wednesday. He doesn’t want to look too far ahead, knowing the championship really gets underway Wednesday.
“It’s been an awesome two days so far.”
Sleeping in his own bed and carrying the hopes of a hometown gallery, Ryan hopes his Merion journey is only beginning.
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: Sleeping at home and shining at Merion, Joshua Ryan earns U.S. Amateur medalist honors
