Maclauchlan receives …
Noah said the biggest difference between the unsure player he was two years ago and the fully formed player he is now is mental. He’ s learned how to succeed in multiple ways, even when things aren’ t going well on the golf course.
“ I think that’ s just a testament to working on every single part of my game over the offseason and the spring,” he said.“ I didn’ t just work on the driver. I didn’ t just work on putting or the short game. Every facet of my game has been firing this year because I’ ve worked on every part of the game. I realize you can still win when you only hit nine or 10 greens in a round, or you can win by hitting 18 greens in a round.
“ If you don’ t have your‘ A’ game with your ball striking, you can still find a way. You don’ t have to be perfect to win. And that really has been the difference maker in my game this year.”
As perfectly as things were going during the championship match against Russell, there was that mid-round stumble, one that Maclauchlan might have struggled to recover from in the past. Instead, he and Liam found a way to work through it.
“ Even though it may have looked calm on the outside, inside, your brain is spinning, the world is spinning,” he said.“ You just feel like you’ ve done such a good job of coming out of the gates against the No. 1 player, the natural tendency is to be like,‘ How am I supposed to possibly do this again?’”
In previous years, Noah said he would’ ve like spiraled downward, but something was different this year.
“ I think that’ s where it helped having Liam,” he said.“ Even though I knew in my own mind that this was true, it just helped that someone was there to reiterate it, right? It’ s OK, just because you went 3-up, it doesn’ t mean that we’ re coming back all the way down, and that you can’ t do it again.”
Trust and commitment to sticking to the plan were the keys, Noah said. And it all led to that shining moment on the final green at Saucon Valley, friends and family old and new, Virginia flag flying proudly, celebrating a champion.
For his win,
Maclauchlan receives …
• A gold medal
• Custody of the Tiger Woods Trophy for the ensuing year
• Exemption in the 2027 U. S. Open at Pebble Beach
• Exemptions into the next two U. S. Amateurs( 2026 at Merion, 2027 at Oak Hill)
• Name engraved on the 2026 USGA Champions’ plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum
Liam and Noah line up a putt during the final match.
USGA vsga. org S EPTEMBER / O CTOBER 2026 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 23