The Cibola High School product and Sun Country Junior Tour alum is among the final 64 at historic Merion Golf Club.
Albuquerque’s Aiden Krafft Advances to Match Play at the 126th U.S. Amateur
Sun Country Amateur Golf Association · August 12, 2026
ARDMORE, Pa. – Aiden Krafft of Albuquerque, N.M. has advanced to match play at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship, surviving a 36-hole stroke-play test at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club that trimmed a starting field of 312 of the world’s best amateurs to the low 64.
Krafft opened the championship Monday with a 3-under 67 at Merion, one of the low rounds of the day on the famed East Course, which is hosting its 20th USGA championship this week. He followed with a 2-over 72 Tuesday at stroke-play co-host Philadelphia Country Club to post a 36-hole total of 1-under 139, good for a tie for 16th and the No. 22 seed in the match play bracket.
Krafft faces No. 43 seed Evan Liu of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. in Wednesday’s Round of 64 at Merion, with the match teeing off at 12:50 p.m. EDT. Round of 64 coverage airs on Peacock and NBCSN from 3-6 p.m. EDT, and live scoring is available at championships.usga.org.
Sun Country Roots
Krafft’s path to the biggest stage in amateur golf runs directly through New Mexico. He competed on the Sun Country Junior Tour growing up in Albuquerque, then starred at Cibola High School, where he won two state individual championships. In the final round of the 2022 Class 5A state tournament, he shot a state-record 12-under 60 and won the title by 12 strokes.
He went on to a four-year career at the University of Oregon, graduating in 2026 after a senior season that included All-Big Ten Second Team honors, medalist honors at The Prestige in February, and a team-best 71.41 scoring average. He also captured medalist honors at the 2023 Pacific Northwest Amateur at Chambers Bay.
This week marks Krafft’s second consecutive U.S. Amateur appearance after competing in the 2025 championship at The Olympic Club.
What’s at Stake
Six rounds of match play will decide the championship, concluding with a 36-hole final on Sunday, Aug. 16. The U.S. Amateur champion receives custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for one year, a 10-year exemption from U.S. Amateur qualifying, and exemptions into the 2027 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links and the 2027 Open Championship at St Andrews.
The Sun Country Amateur Golf Association congratulates Aiden on reaching match play and will be following every hole this week. Go get ’em, Aiden.