Brothers in Christ, brothers in golf: Pa. stars from Liberty U. shine at U.S. Amateur
Josh Ryan, a senior last semester, helped sophomore Michael Lugiano find God and find his game. They're teammates, and they're roommates, and they've made waves at Merion in the Am.
His opponent dropped three straight birdies to end the front-nine and flip the match from 1-down to 1-up. A year ago, Michael Lugiano might have melted.
“I could have fallen apart after seven, eight, and nine,” Lugiano admitted. “I used to get pretty angry on the golf course. I’ve really worked on that.”
He was not alone. In 2024, when Lugiano left Jackson Township, which is west of Scranton, to play at Liberty University, he was not the same young man that he has become. Josh Ryan has been a big part of that.
Within weeks of Lugiano’s arrival at Liberty, which is a Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., he met Ryan, became fast friends, and accepted Christ as his savior. Ryan, then a junior, guided him through that year of change — intensely competitive golf, and intense work on controlling his emotions. They were roommates this past school year. They are housemates this week. Ryan lives in Norristown, 10 miles from Merion Golf Course.
» READ MORE: At the U.S. Amateur, Merion Golf Club caddies know the course like few others
Ryan had been the big story of the first two days at the U.S. Amateur Championship. The 312 qualifiers played 18 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday at Merion or Philadelphia Country Club, alternating courses, to winnow the field to 64. Ryan’s 8-under score of 131 won him medalist honors and was one shot shy of the tournament record. His 5-under 65 at Merion on Tuesday was one shot off the course record. All of which made him the feel-good No. 1 seed as the match play began Wednesday at Merion, where it will remain through Sunday. Lugiano finished 19th in stroke play, which was magnificent … but stroke play lacks the crushing intimacy of match play.
Could Lugiano hold it together?
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Lugiano never lost control Wednesday. He found peace. He tied the match on No. 12, regained the lead on No. 16, saw it disappear on No. 17, then won it with a long lag putt on No. 18 to beat Chase Hughes and advance to the Round of 32 on Thursday.
There was something slightly beatific about Lugiano when he recounted the last dozen holes. This was something he felt he would find at Liberty.
“I knew it would be a good spot where I could follow God’s path more and learn more about Him,” Lugiano said.
He’d battled five hours in 90-degree sun but his day was far from done. His older brother Bobby had caddied for him — they’re both COVID-19 converts from baseball to golf — but his spiritual brother was still on the course.
Lugiano spent the next three hours following Ryan’s match.
“I don’t know if I could’ve done that,” Ryan said later.
At 7:30 p.m., when, in dying daylight, Ryan forced extra holes by winning No. 18, Lugiano was right there, his soiled golf glove still hanging from his belt, his “Liberty” score book still stuffed in his left hip pocket.
A few minutes later, on No. 1, the first playoff hole, Ryan found Merion’s fiendish, six-inch rough one time too many, and his Am was over, upset by Taishi Moto. Ryan hugged his mother on the green, hugged his brother by the cart path, then plopped into the cart waiting to take him to the locker room.
Not so fast. Lugiano lumbered over, hopped in, and gave him a quick hug, too. They were happy.
» READ MORE: Norristown’s Joshua Ryan earns the top seed entering match play at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship
What might have been an awkward post-tournament dinner between players with a lesser bond would be a celebration Wednesday night at Ryan’s house.
“This is what we dream of, right?” Ryan said. “I want him to win this week. If I could be medalist and he wins it, that’s great. We’re both walking around with some hardware. That’d be fun. So, I’m excited to watch.”
They don’t look like brothers. Lugiano has big shoulders and big legs and big frames on his glasses. He brushes his dark hair onto his forehead like Sam the Sheepdog, the laconic Briard from Looney Tunes.
Ryan has a slighter build, curly, sandy hair, and an aura of leadership that belies his boyish looks. He qualified for the U.S. Am at the qualifier last month at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, but won the Pennsylvania Amateur two weeks ago to boot. He had a fine four years at Liberty, and he plans to return for a fifth year if the NCAA loses its appeal of a federal court ruling handed down last month. But Ryan knew as soon as Lugiano arrived in Lynchburg that Liberty had a star in the making.
“Michael’s golf game is a lot different than mine. He’s going to go out and just hit great golf shots,” Ryan said. “He’s one of the best tee ballplayers I’ve ever seen, so he never lacks confidence. So when he’s playing good golf, it’s just easy: Fairway, green. He’s getting around the course super easy. So it was never, never really a doubt if it was going to happen.”
It happened first last June, when Lugiano won Delaware’s Amateur and qualified for the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. There, he missed the playoff for the cut by one stroke. Fast-forward to the end of Lugiano’s sophomore season, when, in May, he won the NCAA Regional in Corvallis, Ore., which made him not only the first NCAA regional medalist in Liberty history, but the first in the history of Conference USA. He finished tied for fourth last month at Llanerch to make the field.
Now, he’s among the last 32 players trying to secure a title won by some of the giants of the game. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson each took home the Havemeyer Trophy. Tiger Woods won it three times, and Bobby Jones five, the last, in 1930, right here at Merion.
Even 18 months ago, taking home such a trophy would have been outrageous to Lugiano. But that was before he was saved, and before he found peace, and before he’d discovered a boundless work ethic and a well of talent he’d never known was there.
Golf used to be something he did for fun. Now?
“I want to do this as my career,” he said. “So, my goal now is to go out and win every tournament. I know I’m capable of it.”
His goal for Wednesday night was much less formidable. His goal Wednesday night was to get to bed early, because his next match was at 9:25 a.m. Thursday.
But first, dinner.
Ryan’s mom had white-bean chicken chili waiting at home in the crock pot.
