US Amateur winner's home golf club 'so proud'

This is the moment Jack Whaley's home golf club erupted into cheers following his victory in the US Amateur Championship.

Whaley, from Doncaster, became only the second Englishman to win the championship since 1911, earning himself a place in the fields for the Masters, US Open and The Open at St Andrews in 2027.

The 22-year-old was cheered on by fellow members at Rotherham Golf Club on Sunday, who described his achievement as "the pinnacle in amateur golf".

Club director Rob Norton said: "It doesn't get any better. It's something that you dream about as a kid growing up playing golf."

Whaley, who according to Norton has been a club member for nearly a decade, also automatically qualified for one of the 10 spots on the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team that will take on the United States at Lahinch in Ireland on 5 and 6 September.

Whaley had his father Andy caddying for him, with whom he shared an emotional embrace at the end of the tournament.

Whaley currently attends Florida State University and disclosed in earlier interviews how he had considered quitting golf when he kept missing the cut for tournaments.

Norton said Whaley's eventual success had been down to hard work and gradual improvement.

"He didn't find it easy but he's a hard-working lad, and ever since he's gone to America, he's just bloomed," said Norton.

"I think it's just been a progressive thing with Jack rather than being a child prodigy."

Whaley, from Conisbrough, first had a golf lesson at the age of four and was state-educated at Ridgewood Academy in Doncaster before he won a golf scholarship to attend college in the US.

Norton said Whaley would be honoured "in true Rotherham fashion" when he returned home.

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