Teens Jackson Herrington, Mason Howell advance to U.S. Amateur final
SAN FRANCISCO — Tennessee teenager Jackson Herrington birdied the 18th hole to beat local favorite Niall Shiels Donegan on Saturday to advance to the U.S. Amateur final at The Olympic Club.
Herrington won, 1 up, and will face Georgia teenager Mason Howell in the 36-hole final Sunday. Howell beat Eric Lee, 3 and 2, in the other semifinal at the 125th U.S. Amateur.
Both Harrington and Howell advanced to the final after being among the 17 players to survive a 20-man playoff Wednesday morning to determine the final 64 for match play.
The matches teed off in typical summer San Francisco weather with heavy fog that made it difficult to track shots, along with a steady mist and wind gusts of more than 20 mph.
Herrington got in an early hole after bogeying the first two holes against Donegan, the 20-year-old Scot who grew up just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Mill Valley.
Herrington, a 19-year-old about to enter his sophomore season at Tennessee, overcame the partisan crowd, the weather and the early deficit to get the win.
Donegan nearly pulled off a fifth straight late rally. He erased a two-hole deficit when Herrington bogeyed the par-5 16th and then Donegan made a short birdie putt at the par-5 17th to set the stage for the decisive final hole in front of loud crowd of his supporters.
Herrington hit a perfect approach shot on the par-4 18th and then hit his 5-foot par putt after Donegan narrowly missed his birdie attempt.
Howell, who is about to enter his senior year in high school, continued an impressive 2025 season after qualifying for the U.S. Open earlier this year.
He was tied at the turn with Lee but took a two-hole lead after Lee made bogey on the 11th and 14th holes. Howell then won the match with a long birdie putt on the par-5 16th, punctuating it with a fist pump.
Lee was playing in his first career U.S. Amateur after helping Oklahoma State win an NCAA title this year.
This is the fourth U.S. Amateur to be held at The Olympic Club. Charlie Coe (1958), Nathaniel Crosby (1981) and Colt Knost (2007) won the others.
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