Back on August 17th, 2025, 18-year-old Mason Howell won the U.S. Amateur. The soon-to-be senior in high school won only two short months after competing in his first U.S. Open.
Howell has offered plenty of praise to golfers who have seen success before him. Thanks to his win, Howell receives an exemption to tee up alongside some of his idols at the 2026 U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the Masters. All he has to do is maintain his amateur status. With these exemptions comes a full circle moment for the amateur.
Mason Howell’s Win
The Georgia teenager turned 18 in June of 2025, just one month and 21 days months prior to his victory. He became the third-youngest U.S. Amateur winner. Byeong Hun An came out on top at just 17 years old back in 2009 and Danny Lee was only 21 days shy of Howell’s age when he took home his win. When asked about how he was feeling after the win, Howell stated,
“It’s all jumbled together, it’s been such a great week. To have my name next to these other names on this trophy is unbelievable. To be next to somebody named Tiger is an unreal feeling.”
“I felt like I always had it. It’s self-belief. I knew it was in me. I just needed to walk with some confidence, and I think that would translate to good golf and staying positive.”
Howell surpassed Tiger Woods, who won his first U.S. Amateur at 18 years, 7 months, and 29 days old.
After missing the cut earlier in the year at Oakmont, Howell used that experience to grow, showing maturity throughout the round. He maintained his composure, and ultimately beat Jackson Herrington to the trophy.
“That’s one thing we really wanted to start off with today was get the lead through nine,” Said Howell. “We got off to such a good start. I wanted to keep my foot on the gas, but I didn’t want to do anything dumb. I knew if I hit it to a lot of the center of the greens and two-putted that would be good enough.”
Full Circle Moment
Traditionally, the U.S. Amateur finds themselves paired up with the previous year’s winner for the first two rounds. As we all remember, Rory McIlroy triumphantly took home the win at the 2025 Masters, and finished a career grand slam in the process, only the 6th ever male golfer to do so.
Now, Howell is looking forward to the moment he gets to tee up beside McIlroy. In an interview with Subpar, Howell explained why the pairing means so much to him.
“I have one of his golf balls sitting in my room right now from the [2016] Tour championship up in Atlanta,” Howell said. “I went to watch and he gave me his golf ball on like the 4th hole, and I’ve kept it ever since, so it’ll be kind of a full-circle moment. He was like my favorite player growing up. Some people say, like, who do they look up to? Like Tiger and people like that,” Howell said. “Rory was my guy because he was the best golfer for me growing up.”
The Masters Tournament is scheduled August 6th through the 12th, 2026. Here Rory McIlroy will look to defend his win, while playing alongside 18-year-old Mason Howell for, at least, the first two rounds.
Full Circle Moment for Mason Howell at Upcoming Masters Tournament