The ‘switch’ that has hometown hero charging into U.S. Amateur semifinals
Niall Shiels Donegan celebrates winning his match on the 19th hole.
Chris Keane
SAN FRANCISCO — This week in the U.S. Amateur, Niall Shiels Donegan is having the most fun he has ever had on the course. Well, of course he is. Playing in front of an energetic crowd of his closest friends and family just 30 minutes from his Mill Valley, Calif., home, Shiels Donegan won in dramatic fashion for the second consecutive day at The Olympic Club, beating Notre Dame standout Jacob Modleski in 19 holes to advance to the semifinals.
The fun that Shiels Donegan is having, however, isn’t just because he is playing well. It’s the other way around, he says; the great play this week is the result of a recent change in his mental approach.
“I’ve had a mindset switch over the past couple weeks, just trying to get out of this outcome stuff,” said Shiels Donegan, who after two years at Northwestern has transferred to the University of North Carolina. “It gets me so negative, gets me so emotional and so I’m just enjoying the journey, enjoying the process, and always keeping a smile. That's the goal.”
The change in attitude was prompted by a disappointing finish in the Western Amateur, where Shiels Donegan not only failed to advance to match play, but he recognized that his turbulent on-course emotions were counterproductive. That’s when he turned to his caddie and former Little League coach, Todd Moutafian.
“We were like, ‘You can’t do anything if your brain is going like that throughout the day. Just down and out of it. Nothing good is going to come of it,'" Shiels Donegan said. That conversation sparked the shift, and reading books by renowned sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella further instilled a new approach.
That approach has worked through two rounds of stroke play and four victories in match play that has Shiels Donegan one win away from a likely invitation to the Masters and just two wins from the most coveted trophy in amateur golf.
Niall Shiels Donegan watches his putt on the 19th hole during the quarterfinals of the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club.
Chris Keane
Though Shiels Donegan was born in Glasgow and plays under the Scottish flag, he grew up in the Bay Area, just over the Golden Gate bridge from The Olympic Club. His father, Lawrence Donegan, has long been around the game as a well-known columnist for The Guardian. Shiels Donegan did not specialize in golf growing up. In fact, it wasn’t necessarily one of his main sports, as he competed in baseball, soccer, volleyball and lacrosse, before ultimately turning more full time to golf in high school. The result is a natural athleticism evident in his swing which in some ways resembles a longer version of Jon Rahm’s. Perhaps most apparent from his experience in other sports, however, is his willingness to embrace the moment.
“With this crowd, it just feels very natural to me, and I’m just trying to enjoy the moment,” said Shiels Donegan, who is currently ranked No. 91 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and with this strong week will be in a good position to earn a pick for the GB&I team for next month’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point. “I was texting with [UNC head coach Andrew] DiBitetto yesterday, and I was saying that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the U.S. Am at Olympic Club, 30 minutes from where I live.”
The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity continues for Shiels Donegan on Saturday, when he will play 19-year-old Tennessee rising sophomore Jackson Herrington, who is also having success this week with a new mental approach. Herrington has a bit more experience in USGA championships than Shiels Donegan, having finished runner-up in the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with teen star Blades Brown.
Jackson Herrington watches his putt on the sixth hole during the quarterfinals of the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club.
Chris Keane
Also advancing to the semifinals at the Lake Course are Oklahoma State standout Eric Lee and 18-year-old Georgian Mason Howell, who qualified for the U.S. Open earlier this year and was the medalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur. Interestingly, both Shiels Donegan and Howell barely made it to match play this week after shooting three over in stroke play. They needed to survive a 20-for-17 playoff early Wednesday morning.
Who prevails on Saturday to advance to the championship match remains to be seen, but if the boisterous support of a hometown crowd is worth anything, then Shiels Donegan already has a 1-up lead.
“We've got some good organizers in that crowd,” Shiels Donegan said about whether there will be even more supporters in the crowd on Saturday. “They'll definitely be on their phones tonight, e-mailing, and I know we've got a [KNBR] radio host in Brian Murphy out there. He was talking it up as well. Who knows?”