Preston Stout Claims U.S. Amateur Medalist Honors After Late Birdie Run
Preston Stout would’ve preferred more lake time this summer. The Richardson, Texas, native often skipped tournaments as a junior – even prestigious AJGA invitationals – to fish or hunt. He still winters at his family’s property in the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge in southern Oklahoma.
“That’s my therapy,” Stout says. “For other people, it might be something else, but for me, it’s hunting and fishing.”
But Stout’s been playing too damn well lately to take much time off.
He did make it to the lake Tuesday – the Olympic Club’s Lake Course, that is.
The rising Oklahoma State junior fired a 4-under 66 in cool, breezy conditions to secure U.S. Amateur medalist honors at 8 under. Paired with Texas senior Tommy Morrison, who finished at 6 under, Stout pulled away late with four birdies in his final six holes.
“You always want to win, right?” said Stout, who earned the top seed for the Round of 64 beginning Wednesday. “Especially the last few holes, me and Tommy were pretty close, and I’m pretty competitive, so I wanted to beat him.”
Stout is Oklahoma State’s first medalist at this championship since Hayden Wood in 2017. He has Cowboys head coach Alan Bratton on the bag – who’s trying to make history as the first caddie to loop for three U.S. Amateur champions after previously caddying for Peter Uihlein (2010) and Viktor Hovland (2018).
If Stout wins Sunday, he’d become the sixth U.S. Amateur champion from Oklahoma State and also the sixth medalist to claim the Havemeyer Trophy, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and most recently, Ryan Moore in 2004.
But as both Bratton and Stout emphasized: “The tournament starts over tomorrow.”
If anyone can break the medalist drought, though, it’s Stout with his current form.
His scorching summer builds on tremendous momentum from his sophomore season, where he earned first-team All-America honors, won a second straight Big 12 individual title, and led the Cowboys to another NCAA Championship. Stout made the Arnold Palmer Cup team and won the Northeast Amateur before July even arrived. He then made his PGA Tour debut at the 3M Open, missing the cut by just one stroke, before tying for 23rd at the Western Amateur. He’s already secured a spot on the 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team competing at Cypress Point next month.
“I didn’t want to play that much this summer, and then it kind of just happened,” said Stout, who’s climbed to fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. “But it’s sharpened my game, and I’m playing nicely.”
Stout doesn’t know his first-round match play opponent yet – that’ll likely be determined after Wednesday morning’s playoff. But the knockout stage features plenty of firepower, including five other top-10 world amateurs: Morrison, No. 1 Jackson Koivun (T-8), No. 2 Ben James, No. 7 Jase Summy, and No. 9 Christiaan Maas. A sixth, No. 5 Filip Jakubcik, is in the playoff at 3 over to complete the bracket.
