As far as summer highs go, Jack Whaley has more than one thing to feel good about. Having won the U.S. Amateur at Merion by defeating Jay Leng Jr. 4 and 3, Whaley secured his spot in the next season’s three of the four majors, excluding the PGA Championship. It’s a reason to celebrate, especially now that Tiger Woods has made a note of not only him but also multiple young champions.

Woods, the nine-time USGA champion, began his Instagram post with a message to Whaley: “Congrats to @jackwhaley_golf on winning the U.S. Am at Merion. An incredible accomplishment and a special place to make history.”

Indeed, Whaley made plenty of records, including becoming only the third Englishman to lift the U.S. Amateur trophy and Merion’s first USGA champion since Justin Rose’s U.S. Open win in 2013. He is also the first Englishman since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013 to lift the Havemeyer Trophy.

And it was worth it.

“It just felt like home,” Whaley said after winning the title, as per Golf Channel. He had his dad, Andy, who worked in construction, on the bag for the week.

Aside from that, Whaley became the inaugural champion of the Tiger Woods Gold Medal and earned an automatic spot on the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team with the win. But it would be foolish to think this appreciation and acknowledgement doesn’t go both ways.

After his U.S. Amateur win, Whaley confessed that he had met Charlie Woods, adding, “He’s very, very talented… just think that a lot of the media kind of… it makes it hard for him to be able to just progress.” Interestingly, Tiger’s post did not mention his son at all.

It makes sense, however. The 17-year-old failed to qualify for the U.S. Amateur last month, having posted five-over in the qualifier. It was a huge miss, given that Tiger has won the U.S. Amateur three consecutive times (1994-1996).

Regardless, Tiger Woods continued his praise for the other champions over the week, including the U.S. Junior Amateur champion, Noah Maclauchlan, and Jay Leng Jr.

Tiger Woods gives his best wishes to multiple players

Talking about Jay Leng Jr., the kid who won the Western Amateur, Tiger Woods wrote, “@jaylengjr put together an impressive run of his own, winning the @wgachampionships just a few weeks ago and following it up with a great week at the Am. Always good to see a fellow Cardinal competing on this stage.”

A Stanford University commit, Leng Jr., defeated Miles Russell in the semifinals before taking down Michael Riebe in the afternoon for the Western Amateur win. Not only that, with that win, he also earned a spot on the Walker Cup team.

Leng carried that momentum into the U.S. Amateur final, where Jack Whaley erased a two-hole deficit from the morning round and closed him out 4 and 3.

Finally, Woods extended the wishes to Noah Maclauchlan. “And finally, a big congrats to @noahmaclauchlan07 on winning the U.S. Junior Amateur over @milesrussellgolf.”

After Maclauchlan won the event, earning a spot in the U.S. Open, he could barely believe it. He had, after all, won the event that Woods had once won three times in a row (1991-1993).

Not only that, he mentioned Woods in his winning speech, too. As per ESPN, he said, “It’s pretty surreal, pretty unbelievable to call myself a United States Junior champion. To have my name next to all the legends that have won this, including Tiger [Woods] and so many more, is so special.”

Maclauchlan earned the U.S. Junior Amateur win the hard way. He entered the 78th U.S. Junior Amateur as an alternate, ranked No. 2,047 in the world amateur standings, and only got into the field after another qualifier withdrew.

He beat Russell 6 and 5 in the 36-hole final, sealing the win with a birdie on the 31st hole for his 13th birdie of the day. The result marked the first all-left-handed individual final in USGA history. He also joined Brian Harman (2003) and Cory Whitsett (2007) as one of the three left-handed winners of the tournament.

The fate awaiting everyone

Miles Russell is set to join Charlie Woods at Florida State in 2027. The two already share history on a golf course, with the 17-year-old caddying for Russell at a U.S. Open qualifier in June. Russell, however, experienced his most recent heartbreak at the hands of Ryder Cowan.

Tiger Woods ended his post with, “Great to see the next generation competing for these championships. Humbled to have my name connected to these honors. What an incredible summer for amateur golf @usga.”

He noted the Tiger Woods Medal now belongs to Whaley and the newly renamed Tiger Woods Trophy sits with Maclauchlan. The USGA changed the names of the respective trophies in Woods’s honor, the only player to have won three consecutive U.S. Juniors and three straight U.S. Amateurs.

It remains unmatched.

Meanwhile, Russell now heads toward his final amateur season before Tallahassee with two straight finals losses on his résumé and a Florida State teammate who understands the sting of a summer that ends without a trophy. Whaley, Leng and Maclauchlan all move into September with Walker Cup ties of their own. The next measuring stick for that group, and for Russell, arrives at Lahinch.