Politano Finishes Play at 126th U.S. Men’s Amateur Championship
Aug 11 | Men's Golf
ARDMORE, Pa. – Rutgers rising sophomore Lucas Politano competed in stroke-play qualifying at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship this week, a 312-player field vying for a place in the 64-man match-play bracket at Merion Golf Club's East Course and Philadelphia Country Club.
Politano finished stroke play tied for 271st at 14-over par, carding an 11-over 81 in Round 1 at Merion and rebounding with a 3-over 73 in Round 2 at Philadelphia Country Club. Round 2 on Tuesday set the cut to the low 64 who advance to match play.
Politano punched his ticket to Merion by winning the Vermont Amateur Championship at Ekwanok Country Club in July — his second Vermont Am title in three years, won by 12 strokes on the strength of the two lowest rounds of the tournament, including a closing 65. It capped a summer that also included a 19th-place finish at the Canadian Men's Amateur and a 31st at the New England Amateur.
The Brandon, Vt., native enters his sophomore season off one of the best freshman campaigns in recent Rutgers men's golf history. Politano posted a 72.25 stroke average with seven rounds in the 60s and 11 rounds under par en route to Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational — where he set a program 54-hole scoring record at 18-under and the program's lowest single round at 9-under. He went on to qualify for the NCAA Columbus Regional as the individual field's No. 7 seed, becoming the first freshman under 14th-year head coach Rob Shutte to reach NCAA Regionals.
This marked Politano's second U.S. Amateur appearance; he also competed in the 2024 championship but did not advance to match play. He'll look to build on the experience when he returns to Piscataway for his sophomore season this fall.
