U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 12, 2026

Michael Lugiano

Merion Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Michael, it took you 18 holes but you got it done. Talk to me about the day.

MICHAEL LUGIANO: It was a grind out there. Chase went really well, and he made me work for it. But just kind of tried to play consistent golf all day, and I was able to do that for the most part. I think I only made two bogeys. I think when you do that in a match, it's kind of going to be tough for the other guy to be able to not get frustrated and beat you. So I just stayed with that mindset all day.

Q. You're from about 30 minutes away from here, Jackson Township. I saw on 18 one of your buddies was yelling, come on, let's go. He was super excited. Talk to me about who he is and what it's like having so many friends and family here this week?

MICHAEL LUGIANO: Yeah, it's really nice. His name is Logan. He's a buddy from back home. We play at the same home club together, played high school golf against each other growing up. He's one of my biggest supporters, and he's also one of my biggest haters. It's just that love/hate relationship that best friends kind of have. But it's really nice to have the support out here.

Q. Is there any added pressure, this being a home game, a lot of people here?

MICHAEL LUGIANO: Yeah, not necessarily. I think I'm just out there kind of trying to play my own game and pretend like it's just me and my brother out there trying to play some good golf.

Q. Tomorrow is a long day, could be up to 36 holes. What do you do tonight to prepare and how do you keep this going?

MICHAEL LUGIANO: I'll get a good amount of rest tonight. I'll go back to my buddy's house tonight and hopefully get a nice dinner from his mom, some nice cooking, which is nice to get a household meal at these events. It's not common, so it's nice to get that, get some rest in a good bed and wake up tomorrow morning.

Q. It seems like Liberty has really had this emergence this summer, really maybe the last few weeks, obviously Josh medaling and Noah won the Junior. What do people not know about Liberty golf, or what are we going to keep learning about Liberty golf? It's headlines now, but not a program a lot of people talk about on the national scale.

MICHAEL LUGIANO: I think the last couple years, we haven't really been playing up to our potential. I know we could be a really great team, especially now with Noah coming in. He won the Junior. Josh is obviously playing some good golf right now, as well. It's nice to have that.

We're all brothers, basically. We all get along so well with each other. I think people should maybe start to watch out for us if they don't know who we are because I think we have the potential to be a top-10, -20 team in the country if we put it together.

Q. How would you describe the culture of the team? Are you practicing together a lot? Do you have roommates, stuff like that? What's it like on and off the course?

MICHAEL LUGIANO: Yeah, it's great. We usually practice as a team almost every day, and then when we're not practicing as a team, there's still 90 percent of the guys there doing their own thing. Off the course, it's fun with the guys, whether it's going out to dinner or playing pickleball or going to see a movie. It's good to spend time with them.