Howell, Herrington vie for Havemeyer Trophy in US Amateur final

Two teenagers will duel for the Havemeyer Trophy on Sunday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, as the United States Amateur championship enters its final 36-hole match after a weekend of dramatic upsets and steady progress through one of golf’s most demanding formats. Mason Howell, 18, and Jackson Herrington, 19, earned spots in the final by navigating a field that began with 312 players and progressed through two days of stroke play into a match-play bracket that will determine the winner and secure their invitations to the Masters next April.

The championship blends a grueling stroke-play phase with a rigorous match-play run that can extend over seven days and up to 162 holes. The field begins with stroke play over 36 holes on the Lake and Ocean courses, with the top 64 advancing to a single-elimination bracket. Seeding is determined by stroke-play results, with ties resolved in a sudden-death format to fill the bracket. From there, rounds shorten the field from 64 to 32 to 16 to eight to four, all 18-hole matches, except the final, which is staged as a 36-hole test on Sunday. The winner receives the Havemeyer Trophy, a gold medal, and a slate of benefits rather than prize...