Byungho Lee wins 124th PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship
Pullman, Wash. – Byungho Lee of Plano, Texas defeated Nilay Naik of Lake Oswego, Ore., 3 & 1 in the final match to win the 124th PNGA Men’s Amateur, held this week at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash.
This is the first PNGA title for Lee, who was the No. 8 seed of the championship following stroke play qualifying. He is a rising junior at Pepperdine University.
Championship Links:
Lee’s win breaks the two-year title run of Sam Renner and thus is the first new champion of the event since Joshua Koo in 2023.
In his match against Naik today, Lee displayed a strong and consistent level of play. In the morning 18, both players exchanged back-and-forth hole wins; hole 5 was the first that halved. After Naik and Lee swapped birdies on 7 and 8, respectively, they made the turn tied. Naik subsequently birdied the 628-yard par-5 10th and took advantage of Lee bogeying the 11th to go 2-up as they reached the 12th tee. Five halved holes followed until Lee gained momentum, going par-eagle on 17 and 18 to tie the match at the break of the scheduled 36-hole match.
The afternoon round was similarly competitive to start. Lee birdied the first, and Naik the second. Lee then won holes 4 and 5 to go 2-up, only for Naik to win 6 and 7, and the match was soon tied again by the time they made the turn.
Neither player reached the par-5 10th green in two strokes, but Lee assumed the 1-up lead again after birdieing that hole, which became 2-up after Naik missed a short par putt on the 12th. Naik narrowed his deficit back to one at 13, but an eventual 3-putt on the 16th hole gave Lee a 2-up lead with two holes remaining. Lee subsequently reached the 17th green in regulation. Naik found a greenside hill, and after a wayward chip, conceded the match to Lee.
After nearly being eliminated in the Round of 64, where his match went to 20 holes, Lee kept his opponents at bay. En route to the championship, he won his matches 4&3, 2&1, a win by concession in the quarterfinal, and 4&2 in the semifinal.
“It’s awesome,” said Lee on his win. “My head coach, Michael Beard, won this championship and I’m really glad I can have my name up with him on the trophy.”
Indeed, Beard won the 1999 championship at Inglewood Golf Club.
Lee played without a caddie and carried his clubs through the 160-plus hole week-long marathon.
“I don’t really have a secret,” he said on his strategy for such an event. “On the days where we played 36 holes, I was just trying to restart on the second 18, and I think that helped me refresh everything.”
Lee is a rising junior at Pepperdine and won the 2026 Texas Amateur in his home state, and also won the Bill Cullum invitational in 2024. He is ranked No. 527 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Naik finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row. He recently completed his first season at the University of Michigan after one season with Pomona College. He is a product of Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego. He finished runner-up in the 2025 PNGA Men’s Amateur, losing to two-time champion Renner in the final match. He is a past Oregon Junior Amateur champion, and this year he finished second in the Royal Oaks Invitational
Conditions were sunny with moderate winds, similar to previous days of the championship. Heat was very high, in the high 80s and low 90s, typical of East Washington in the summer.
First held in 1899, the PNGA Men’s Amateur is among the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Players will compete for the Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course architect A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in 1913.
The PNGA Men’s Amateur was last held at Palouse Ridge in 2014 and won by James Beale. A design of Northwest native John Harbottle III, Palouse Ridge opened in 2008, replacing the old 9-hole WSU Golf Course that had previously existed on the land since 1925. The course is owned by Washington State University and is managed by CourseCo. A public course, it serves as the home of the WSU men’s and women’s golf teams. The layout has a grand and epic scale, flowing over the Palouse hills, and has long since been a regular destination for NCAA and AJGA championships, the men’s and women’s Pac-12 Championships, in addition to those of the PNGA and WA Golf.
The PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship is one of the 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About the Pacific Northwest Golf Association
The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its member associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. The PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and support to its member associations throughout the Northwest. For more information visit thepnga.org.
