Tennessee golf will have a representative during Masters week, as sophomore Jackson Herrington walked away the runner-up at the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship.
Herrington took the course at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California, and struggled against upcoming high-school senior Mason Howell in a 36-hole bout for the title, where Howell needed 30 holes to run away with dominance.
Howell took the morning 18 holes to build a 4-up advantage, before Herrington could not grapple with his approach game — falling behind seven holes when the match was called, crowning the Georgia commit as champion.
“I got through a lot of people this week, and it was tough,” Herrington said. “I proved to myself I could do it. He played good, and I didn’t play great. It was unfortunate I was that way, but I learned a lot about myself.”
Herrington joined Oliver Goss and Eric Rebmann as one of three Tennessee golfers to play in the U.S. Amateur finals. Goss took a 4-and-3 defeat to Matthew Fitzpatrick in 2013, while Rebmann suffered a 4-and-3 loss to Bill Mayfair in 1987.
Conveniently, 19-year-old Herrington and 18-year-old Howell’s match is the first final between two teenagers since Fitzpatrick overtook Goss in 2013.
As a finalist, Herrington earned exemptions to both the 2026 Masters Tournament and U.S. Open. He is the second golfer under Vols head coach Brennan Webb to earn a major invite, joining teammate Lance Simpson — who participated in the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
Road to exemption
Herrington’s path to the finals was a grueling path, one in which he had to battle back from adversity.
He began the tournament with a plus-2 score in stroke play, landing him the 37th seed in the field. Herrington’s round of 64 matchup was against Vanderbilt’s Chase Nevins, where he escaped 1-up to advance. Through 13 holes, Herrington held a 4-up advantage before Nevins rattled off three wins on the next four holes heading into the 18th. Herrington secured the win with a final par, matching Nevins to hold on to his one-hole advantage and move forward in his quest.
The round of 32 was an easier match for Herrington, who faced off against Pepperdine’s Brady Siravo. He did not need the full 18 holes to secure the match-play victory. Herrington did not surrender any individual holes to Siravo, building a 4-up advantage through 15 holes before the match was called.
Michigan State’s Caleb Bond gave the Dickson, Tennessee, native a run for his money in the round of 16. The pair of Division I golfers needed 20 holes to decide the fateful match, where Herrington pulled off a playoff par on hole 10 to best Bond’s bogey. It was a back-and-forth match, with each player exchanging five hole wins a piece while tying nine holes before the Vols golfer stole it away.
Herrington responded to the adversity with another clean round in the quarterfinals, securing a 4-and-2 win over Division III golfer Jimmy Abdo. He closed with a par-5 birdie on hole 16 to eliminate Abdo, becoming the first Vol to make it to the semifinals since Goss in 2013.
Needing to power through another round to earn a pair of exemptions, Herrington faced his toughest challenge yet with California local Niall Shiels Donegan yielding a bulk of support at the course. Having to filter out the crowd noise, Herrington battled through the round with some late trouble. He took advantage of back-to-back bogeys by Donegan on holes 10 and 11 to take a 2-up lead. Then Herrington bogeyed a par-5 on hole 16, and Donegan birdied the par-5 hole 17 to knot the score heading to the final hole.
That’s when Herrington dug into his bag, blistering a gap wedge onto the green on his second shot to set up a six-foot putt for the win.
“After he hit the fairway and they’d be yelling like he made a hole-in-one,” Herrington said after Saturday’s win. It was funny, I’d walk up the fairway and be like thank you. I’d feed off of it. There’s a couple of people out here that wanted me to win, but it was kind of me against everybody else.”
Setting up for the title round, Herrington needed a clean 36-hole day to walk away as the first-ever Tennessee golfer to become a U.S. Amateur champion. That did not happen.
Howell was at the top of his game, stroking two birdies and an eagle in the opening round to go with three bogeys — coming on holes one, two and 18. That left little margin for error with Herrington, and the pressure was too much. The Vol golfer posted six bogeys to pair with three birdies. He set himself up with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 before a lunch break, but the momentum was not enough.
Herrington came out of the break struggling to get his approach down and land the ball on the green. He bogeyed four of the first five holes on the back half of the battle and allowed Howell to go 6-up. From there, it was too much to battle back from.
The Dickson, Tennessee, native won four holes on the day. All four times, Howell came back and won the following hole to keep any momentum from sparking.
After 30 holes were completed, Howell held the advantage with 11 hole wins while shooting 117 before it ended. He shot a 69 on the morning 18 holes, followed by a 48 through 12 holes on the back end. Herrington shot a 126 for the day, going for a 74 the first time and a 52 on the remaining holes after the break.
“I just played terrible,” Herrington said. “Can’t lie. I hit some good shots like this one that didn’t even end up close. I thought I flagged it, and it flew 10 yards too far. I didn’t even know what I was doing, and I couldn’t figure it out.”
Herrington’s eyes will shift to the upcoming collegiate season now, where the Vols golf team begins fall action with the Visit Knoxville Collegiate on Sept. 5.
