Tyler Watts, 16, of Huntsville, Ala., and Trevor Gutschewski, 17, of Omaha, Neb., each won quarterfinal and semifinal matches on a picture-perfect Friday to advance to Saturday’s 36-hole final match of the 76th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club.
Watts, who is coming off a Round of 32 exit last year, defeated Jay Leng, Jr. 18, of San Diego, Calif., 3 and 2, in the semifinals. Gutschewski, who is attempting to become the first U.S. Junior Amateur champion from Nebraska, held off Xihuan Chang, 2 and 1, of People’s Republic of China.
The lefty Watts, who is the youngest reigning Alabama State Amateur champion, started his semifinals match with two pars before pouring in a birdie on the par-3 third hole and making the turn at 2 up after a stuffed tee shot resulting in an easy birdie at the ninth. Leng, who never trailed in either of his matches on Thursday, couldn’t make a run at Watts during the afternoon. He hit his approach to six feet on the 11th before Watts zipped a wedge inside his ball to three inches, tying the hole with birdies. Watts continued to pepper greens, building a 3 up lead after a conceded birdie on the 13th and a par on the tough 15th. On the short par-4 16th, Watts roasted a 3-wood to the front of the green and chipped it close to couple feet, closing the match in fashion.
“I definitely wanted to make match play, that’s obviously the first goal you have coming into the event,” said Watts. “After that, I just try to go one match at a time and see how long you can go. I’m one match away.”
Watts, the lone U.S. Junior National Team member left in the field, won the first hole of the day in his quarterfinals match to go 1 up, but quickly relinquished the lead on the 5th hole to a birdie by Diehl. The duo tied the next five holes with pars before Watts birdied Nos. 11, 12 and 14 with stellar iron play, eventually closing out Diehl, 3 up.
Gutschewski, the lowest-ranked WAGR® player in the quarterfinals (No. 3570), took a 1 up lead on Chang after three holes of his semifinals match, and didn’t trail for the rest of the day. Despite battling an errant driver throughout the middle part of the round, the University of Florida commit scrapped his way around “The Monster.” Gutschewski buried a 22-foot downhill slider for birdie on the 11th and followed that up by walking in a 12-footer on twelve for another birdie, taking a 2 up lead. Chang, the highest-ranked player in the field, according to World Amateur Golf Ranking (No. 39), grabbed one back on the 13th when Gutschewski lipped out a 3-footer and snagged another with a downhill 8-footer for birdie on the 14th to even the match. On the 338-yard driveable par-4, Chang found the water with his tee shot, prompting Gutschewski to lay-up, play for par and take a 1 up lead.
“I had driver out,” said Gutschewski, about the tee shot on 16. “I was thinking it's 290 carry over, so I thought I had that, and then he goes in the water so there is no reason to try it. Figured just hit one up there and make par. Figure that would be good enough unless he hit a really good shot.”
Gutschewski then closed the match on the next hole, the enormous 241-yard par 3, and got some exciting news that both he and Watts would be throwing out the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game.
“I couldn't have had any better news coming off the 17th green,” said Gutschewski. “I got to work on getting my arm ready. I feel like I got to throw out a faster pitch than Tyler today. Strike some fear into him before the first tee tomorrow.”
Gutschewski outlasted Simmons with a 1 up victory in the morning quarterfinals match. Simmons jumped out early, winning the first two holes and building a 2 up lead, but Gutschewski charged back and opened a 3 up lead through the 12th. He was able to hang on down the stretch, closing the match with a 6-footer on the final hole.
Trevor is the son of PGA Tour veteran Scott Gutschewski, who is teeing it up this week at the 3M Open in Minnesota. Scott was at the Junior Amateur on Monday and Tuesday and has been getting updates from his wife on the family group text.
Earlier in the morning, Leng outlasted his Junior Ryder Cup teammate Miles Russell in a hotly contested match which went the distance. Russell, the 15-year-old who became the youngest golfer ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this season and made a PGA Tour start last month at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, jumped out to 1 up lead after three holes, but Leng tied the match on the next hole and never looked back.
“I was really excited to finally be in front of a big crowd this week,” said Leng. “I was looking forward to it all of last night.”
Russell found himself 3 down after 11 holes and clawed back to 1 down on the 18th hole but was unable to make birdie from the fairway rough and conceded the match after a nifty lag putt from Leng.
What’s Next
Saturday’s 36-hole championship match will commence at 8 a.m. EDT and is scheduled to resume after the lunch break at 1:30 p.m. Peacock has live coverage from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.
Notable
Both finalists earned exemptions into next month’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn., and the champion will receive an additional exemption into the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club, in San Francisco, Calif.
Four of the seven highest-ranked players in the field, according to World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®, advanced to the quarterfinals. All four – Xihuan Chang (No. 39), Nguyen Anh Minh (No. 78), Miles Russell (No. 117) and Tyler Watts (No. 121) – are in the top 125 of WAGR.
Gutschewski would only be the second USGA champion from Nebraska, and the first U.S. Junior Champion from the Cornhusker State. Johnny Goodman won the 1933 U.S. Open and 1937 U.S. Amateur
Watts is from same hometown (Huntsville, Ala.) as 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur & 2023 U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap.
Gutschewski’s caddie is Jackson Benge, his long-time friend and teammate at Omaha Westside HS (back-to-back Class A state team championships in 2023 & 2024.) Jackson is an incoming freshman on the University of Nebraska men’s golf team and played in the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes. He is also the cousin of MLB Gold Glove winner and World Series champion Alex Gordon.
Chang’s caddie was Oakland Hills member Bill O’Connor. A past OHCC club champion, O’Connor has played in a total of 13 USGA championships, including the 2002 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills & the 1984 U.S. Junior Amateur at Wayzata (Minn.) Country Club.
Quotable
“I definitely know that I have what it takes, but there are a few areas of my game I know I need fine tune. Besides that, feel pretty about my game. I was really proud of the way I played.”- Jay Leng
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know if I want to say it or not.” - Tyler Watts
“Not really. Just a couple of whiffle balls. That’s about it. I’ll just lob it to the plate.” - Tyler Watts, on throwing out the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game tonight
“A lot of texts, a lot of notifications. Pretty awesome that we put ourselves in this situation.” - Trevor Gutschewski, on his phone blowing up this week
“I’m big on recovery, keeping the legs fresh and keeping my back solid. Just not overworking it, not getting to the range too early and hitting too many balls. Keeping it simple.” - Trevor Gutschewski, on the recovery needed during 36-hole matches
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