Phillip Reedy won the 2026 Nevada State Amateur title. Reedy won the crown in a playoff, beating Ralph ‘RJ’ Arone on the first playoff hole. The three-day tournament was held July 6-8, 2026, at TPC Summerlin.–Story by Bill Bowman
It is Reedy’s first state title but it didn’t come easy. Along with the win, he earned an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club to be played in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Aug. 11-16.
“The exemption is very exciting because I’ve never played in the U.S. Amateur, and that spot being on the line for the champion really added to the pressure for all of us,” he said. “To win at TPC Summerlin is very special because this used to be my home course, but I have not had many chances to play here in a meaningful tournament.
“Plus, I caddied for Scott Piercy in the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open here several times, so to actually play and win here after those experiences is something I will never forget.”
Reedy entered the final day with a three-stroke lead but failed to put a birdie on the scorecard in regulation and was run down by Arone who birdied two of the final three holes to force the playoff. The final birdie cam via a chip-on on the difficult 18th hole where so many PGA Tour events have been decided.
Then came the playoff and Reedy’s only birdie of the day when he rolled in his own shot from off the green in dramatic fashion.
“I definitely made it harder on myself than I should have,” Reedy said. “I wish I had a better excuse than it’s hard to win golf tournaments. I did just enough not to lose.”
Reedy said he the final round was a battle.
“It’s easy to wake up and say you’re going to play the same as you played the first two days,” he said. “But sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you’ve got to fight your way around. In a perfect world I would have turned a three-shot lead into an eight-shot lead like Tiger Woods in 2000. But that didn’t happen.”
The playoff was decided early on the 18th hole.
“RJ tugged one left and we didn’t find it,” Reedy said. “Then he was in a bunker and didn’t have a good lie. I hit my second shot short and right of the green and thought that even a bogey would probably win. I putted from off the green and, wouldn’t you know it, that’s the one that goes in for a birdie. It looked cool. I’ll take it.”
Reedy caddies at Shadow Creek as well as part-time on the PGA Tour and said his day-job has helped his mindset while he’s playing. He is also the captain of the Las Vegas Action in the Grass League Series.
“Any time you’re out there, you see that golf is a crazy game,” he said. “You’ve just got to go out and shoot the best score you can. It’s that simple. You just can’t spiral out of control if things aren’t going your way. It’s just not that easy to finish a tournament.”
Reedy brought up another Tiger Woods tale to emphasize his point about it being a challenge to win.
“Nobody is immune from blowing a golf tournament,” he said. “Tiger had one of the most impressive shots ever…his chip-in at No. 16 at Augusta in the 2005 Masters. You see it all the time and it was a great shot. But people don’t remember that he went on to bogey 17 and 18 and that put him into a playoff with Chris DiMarco. Tiger won the playoff but that just proves that winning golf tournaments is hard.”
2026 Nevada State Amateur
x-Phillip Reedy, 69-66-77—212
Ralph ‘RJ’ Arone, 70-68-74—212
Michael Edwards, 68-75-70—213
x-Won on first playoff hole
