Preston Stout's Perfect Finish: Almost as Planned at the 2025 Northeast Amateur

EAST PROVIDENCE — Preston Stout didn’t come in with a game plan, but the one he executed at the 2025 Northeast Amateur Invitational couldn’t have gone any better.

Stout battled through swing issues on Day 1, torched Wannamoiset Country Club on Day 2 and survived the windstorm that hit on Day 3.

His final round was execution at its finest. Stout executed shot after shot, built himself a three-shot lead heading into the back nine and, with no competitors offering chase, kept his foot on the gas. Stout came up with three birdies on the last five holes to shoot a 4-under 65, giving him a 69-61-72-65 — 267 to win the Northeast Amateur by eight shots.

“I’m just really proud of myself,” said Stout, who will be a junior at Oklahoma State University in the fall. “[Friday] was a really hard day for everybody and I felt like I kind of lost my swing a little bit, and to come back today and strike it nice was really good.

“There’s just a lot of great players to come through here and win this even, so to put my name up there is awesome.”

Stout might have finished the tournament on Saturday but he won the tournament on Thursday. After shooting an even-par round on Day 1, he tied the course and tournament record with a 61 on the second day of play.

Any game plans players had of making moves Friday went out the window once wind gusts blew at a steady 20 mph, with 30-plus mph gusts, all day. Stout wasn’t happy with his 3-over 72 but didn’t let it change his thinking heading into the final day on Saturday, June 21, with a one-shot lead over John Daly II and a two-stroke lead on teenage prodigy Miles Russell.

“Just day by day,” Stout said of his plans. “I just try to act like its another round of golf every day and reset your mind, just see where it takes you.”

Stout made a statement early on the final day of play with a birdie on the second hole. With Russell making a bogey on No. 3 and Daly making a bogey on No. 4, Stout was building momentum, even if he wasn’t paying attention to the scores.

When Stout reached the turn after shooting 2-under on the front, he checked the leaderboard to see where he stood and saw himself with a three-shot lead with nine to play.

Once again, he didn’t let that change his game plan.

“I wanted to keep my foot on the gas,” Stout said. “And that’s what I did.”

A bogey on the long par-3 12th hole was a temporary setback. Still up three shots, Stout made a decision on No. 14 that all but sealed the tournament there. Some players attack the short par 4 with a driver to leave a half-wedge into the green, but Stout played it shorter off the tee to take the water on the right completely out of play.

The decision proved to be wise as he stuffed a wedge to tap-in range for birdie.

“I just didn’t see the benefit of hitting driver,” Stout said. “You’re not going to get to the green, so just tried to give myself the best wedge number I could.

“I was able to get a good number, hit a sawed-off pitching wedge and hit it tight. The game plan worked on that one — but it doesn’t always work like that.”

A two-putt par on 15 teamed with a bogey made it pretty obvious how the tournament was going to end. If there were any questions left, Stout answered them quickly with a terrific birdie on No. 16, where he showed his first sign of emotion with half a fist pump to celebrate the putt.

“After making birdie on 14, I thought that was huge. I saw Miles was the closest one to me and he hit it right on 17,” Stout said. “To make that putt [on 16], I knew that if I didn’t absolutely let the wheels fall off, I had it.”

The wheels weren’t falling off. Stout reached the par-5 17th hole in two shots and settled for a two-putt par, then knocked it to 20 feet on No. 18. He could have six-putted from that distance and still safely won the tournament, but the tidy two-putt wasn’t a bad finish either.

“That’s what you dream about and think about when you’re playing the practice round,” Stout said. “That’s what you want — you want a pretty big lead coming into the 72nd hole. It’s pretty stress-free.”

Russell, the 16-year-old from Florida, took second with a four-day total of 63-68-73-71 — 275. Daly, the son of PGA Tour legend John Daly, was third with 64-68-71-73 — 268.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The final day of the 2025 Northeast Amateur went just as Preston Stout planned — sort of