Cooper Edged Out in Nail-Biting Semi-Final

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States: New Zealand National Academy standout Cooper Moore’s US Junior Amateur adventure came to an end at the semi-final stage. 

Having ousted compatriot Ryan Xie 2&1 in a Friday morning quarter-final clash, 18-year-old Moore’s hopes of reaching the final were thwarted by American Noah Maclauchlan in a tense last four contest.

On the 18th green at Saucon Valley Country Club, Maclauchlan, who got into the field as a first alternate from his qualifying site, holed a knee-trembling 3½-foot par putt to halve the hole and clinch a one-up success.

In Saturday’s 36-hole final, Maclauchlan will take on fellow-American Miles Russell, the most decorated junior in the country. It will be the first time in an individual USGA championship that two left-handers have made a final.  

For his part, Moore will take pride from his performance during the week, underlining his standing as one of the Asia-Pacific’s leading amateur prospects.

Moore, who received a bronze medal for reaching the semi-finals, is now looking forward to two more big dates this year – the Junior Presidents Cup at Chicago’s Medinah Country Club in September when he’ll represent the International Team, and October’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in his home country. He is due to graduate from high school in December and then turn professional. 

Reflecting on his tussle with Moore, Maclauchlan, who made nine birdies, four pars, four bogeys and a double-bogey, said: “Cooper gave a heck of a fight. He gave me a lot of stress on the back nine. He kept on pouring [in] birdies, so we weren’t going to win holes unless the other one wasn’t making birdies. 

“I’m just so proud of myself on the way I handled it and got out of there alive.”  

A few weeks ago, Maclauchlan, an incoming Liberty University freshman, thought his chance to play at Saucon Valley was dashed when he earned first-alternate status from the Portsmouth, Virginia, qualifier. But then Rawlin Sutter, one of the Portsmouth qualifiers, claimed the Alabama State Boys Junior to become exempt, thus giving the spot to Maclauchlan. His younger brother, Liam, a 2027 University of Virginia verbal commit, was the medallist at that event, so both made the trek to the Lehigh Valley. 

When Liam missed the cut for match play, he jumped on his brother’s bag, and the siblings are enjoying quite a ride, especially since Noah barely advanced after stroke play rounds of 76-68. 

Maclauchlan came into the championship at number 2,047 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), 2,040 spots behind Russell.

Moore, last year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Junior Boys’ champion and runner-up in the 2026 Australian Boys’ Amateur, is 247th in the WAGR. 

Maclauchlan jumped out to a three-up lead against Moore with birdies at the first, second, fifth and sixth. His advantage could have been four-up after nine, but Moore holed a clutch par putt to tie.  

“That was like my first putt I holed of the afternoon and that sort of got the momentum,” said Moore. “It got me back into the match, so I was pretty happy with that.”  

Then Moore chipped away at the lead with winning pars at 10 and 11. But he never managed to tie as Maclauchlan made a four-foot birdie on the par-three 14th for a two-up lead.

Moore, however, would not go down without a fight. He matched his opponent with a birdie-four at 15, then got a break when Maclauchlan found the penalty area left of the 16th green, leading to a double-bogey. Both stuffed their approaches inside five feet on 17 for matching birdies.

On 18, Moore’s long bunker shot spun past the flagstick and down the slope, leaving him a 50-foot birdie putt. But Maclauchlan, who nearly reached the green, got too frisky with his pitch from the rough. Moore managed a two-putt par. Maclauchlan’s birdie from 25 feet above the hole went past the cup, but he calmly converted the return effort, touching off a celebration with Liam and his family.