U.S. Amateur 126 takes place from August 10 to 16 in Pennsylvania (USA), gathering 312 amateur golfers. Two courses Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club are used for the first 2 Stroke Play rounds. Nguyen Anh Minh is the only Vietnamese golfer to participate in the tournament.
Playing at Merion Golf Club with a length of 7,222 yards, Anh Minh had a fairly favorable start when he scored a birdie right at hole 1. After a bogey in hole 2, the golfer born in 2007 quickly regained points with a birdie in hole 3. He continued to score a birdie in hole 8, interspersed with a bogey in hole 6.
Closing the first 9 holes, Anh Minh achieved a score of -1 stroke with 3 birdies. In the next 9 holes, he continued to have more birdies in hole 12. However, 2 double bogeys in holes 13 and 17 caused the Vietnamese golfer to lose many points. He completed the last 9 holes with +4, thereby closing the round with 73 strokes (+3), temporarily ranked T144.
This result took place during a day of competition that was not easy for most golfers. The dense rough area at the two courts is considered one of the significant challenges, requiring golfers to maintain high accuracy in their kicks.
The average score of round 1 at Merion Golf Club was 73.28 strokes, while at Philadelphia Country Club it was 73.26 strokes. The weather also affected the progress of the match when a large thunderstorm caused the round at Philadelphia Country Club to be temporarily suspended for 54 minutes. There were 39 golfers who could not complete round 1 before dark.
Many top candidates also faced difficulties. Preston Stout, the golfer currently ranked No. 1 in the world on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), completed the first round with 75 strokes (+5). Defending champion Mason Howell reached 74 strokes (+4). Meanwhile, William Lisle (Hong Kong, China) and Finn Koelle (Germany) temporarily lead with both 65 strokes (-5).
The second Stroke Play round takes place on August 11 (US time), when golfers change fields to compete. After 36 holes, 64 golfers with the best results will qualify for the Match Play round.
With 73 strokes (+3) in the first round, Nguyen Anh Minh still has a chance to improve his position. This is the third time the Vietnamese golfer has participated in U.S. Amateur, after 2 previous times he could not pass the Stroke Play round.
