Proud family moment: Noah Maclauchlan surrounded by, from left, brother Huxley, father Tim, mother August, and brother Liam.
As Noah and Liam Maclauchlan walked down the fairways at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania in late July, the elder brother kept repeating the same mantra, almost to the point of overkill.
“ Stay present,” Noah would say, sometimes out loud, sometimes quietly to himself, even as his lead over Miles Russell, the world’ s top junior, continued to grow during the 36-hole championship match of the U. S. Junior Amateur.
“ I think Liam heard me say that to myself 100 times the last day,” Noah said with a laugh while sitting in the pavilion on a cool Thursday morning at Stonehenge Golf and Country Club, five days removed from winning the biggest championship of his life.
By now, the story’ s basics are known, but they’ re worth a quick rehash. Maclauchlan only gained his spot in the 264-player field as an alternate when one of the qualifiers from Elizabeth Manor G & CC became exempt after winning the Alabama Golf Association’ s junior championship. Like Liam, Noah shot a 5-over 76 on the first day of stroke-play qualifying, leaving him with little room for error to make it to the 64-player match-play bracket.
Noah posted a 3-under 68 on day two to earn the No. 49 seed, while Liam shot a 75 to miss the cut. Liam’ s role then shifted, as he traded his golf bag for a caddie bib and carried his brother’ s bag the rest of the way. Noah caught a break in the round of 64 when opponent Jonathan Ward withdrew after nine holes— with
Noah leading 5-up— due to a hip injury.
Noah then ran through the bracket, not seeing the 18th hole until a semifinal matchup with New Zealand’ s Cooper Moore. Maclauchlan drained a clutch par putt on the final hole to advance to the championship match against Russell, a 17-yearold wunderkind and the world’ s fifth-ranked amateur.
Unfazed by the stature of the opponent, Maclauchlan jumped to a 3-up lead through 10 before leaking oil; a bogey-double-bogey stretch allowing Russell to tie the match. Russell birdied 15 to take his only lead, but Maclauchlan steadied himself with wins on 16 and 17 to take the lead for good. He won four of the first six holes in the afternoon session and finally closed the 6-and-5 victory with a no-doubt birdie putt on the 31st hole.
Maclauchlan dropped to one knee and said a quick prayer, taking in the moment he became a USGA champion. Moments later, he shared a teary embrace with Liam, not only his brother, but his best friend.
“ Our embrace on the final green was really genuine,” Noah said.“ And it was so special. I couldn’ t have asked for a more special moment.
“ I think winning the U. S. Open on Father’ s Day would be the best possible thing in the world, but on the level that we’ re both at right now, that was the best day of our lives.”
Noah celebrates with Liam and others on the final green. vsga. org S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2026 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 21