10 US and British Amateur Champions who flourished in the big time and five for the future from 2025

Matt Cooper 22 Jun 2025

The 2025 British Amateur Championship took place last week at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.

The tournament was played out beneath clear blue skies and a burning hot sun.

The linksland ran fast and true.

And the American Ethan Fang eventually defeated the Irishman Gavin Tiernan in a thrilling 36-hole final.

To succeed in the championship requires not only great skill but also stamina – the winner played two practice rounds, two strokeplay qualifiers and five rounds of match play before the extended finale.

But to what extent are the two greatest championship in the amateur game a good guide of future professional success?

Let’s take a look at 10 winners of the US and British Amateur Championship who did make it.

And then our man on the ground at Royal St. George’s picks five players from this year’s British Amateur field who might make it in the future.

10 Stars Who Made it

1. Tiger Woods

The great Tiger Woods didn’t win the US Amateur once. He didn’t win it twice. Tiger won it three times. In a row.

His successes were claimed at TPC Sawgrass, Newport CC and Pumpkin Ridge in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

Less than a year after the last of them he won his first major championship – the 1997 Masters – and eventually won 15 of them.

2. Jack Nicklaus

If Tiger Woods isn’t the GOAT than Jack Nicklaus definitely is. He won the US Amateur in 1959 and 1961 ahead of claiming 18 major championships as a professional.

3. Phil Mickelson

How many majors would Phil Mickelson have won if Tiger Woods had not played golf?! It’s pure guesswork but it’s worth considering – Mickelson’s reputation is justifiably strong but it would be even better but for the great Woods. Mickelson won the US Amateur in 1990.

4. Bryson DeChambeau

The 2015 winner of the US Amateur has backed up his quality by winning the US Open in both 2020 and 2024.

5. Matt Fitzpatrick

The Englishman has also competed the US Amateur/US Open double. In his case the former success came in 2013 and the latter came nine years later. And guess what? It was on the same course – The Country Club in Brookline.

6. Nick Dunlap

The winner of the 2023 US Amateur he then won The 2024 American Express on the PGA Tour when still an amateur. Five months later, having turned pro, he won again on the PGA Tour. What a start to a career.

7. Viktor Hovland

The Norwegian landed the US Amateur in 2018 and has been a star in his professional career. In 2023 he not only won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup he also starred for Europe in the Ryder Cup.

8. Jose Maria Olazabal

Let’s turn our attention to the British Amateur. The Spaniard won it in 1984 at Formby, defeating Colin Montgomerie in the final. It was some year for Spanish golf – Severiano Ballesteros won the Open the same year.

Olazabal won the Masters on two occasions and was a Ryder Cup hero for Europe.

9. Sergio Garcia

In 1998 there was more Spanish joy at the seaside. Garcia won at Muirfield but he would never quite complete the Amateur/Open double – losing out to Padraig Harrington in extra holes at the 2007 Open. He did win one green jacket and was another Spanish Ryder Cup star.

10. Matteo Manassero

The Italian was just 16 years old when he won the British Amateur in 2009 and within a few weeks he was playing the first and second round of the Open with Tom Watson as he attempted to lift the Claret Jug close to his 60th birthday. Manassero has won the BMW PGA Championship and is back from a career slump.

Who Could Make It From The Class Of 2025?

1. Ethan Fang

Sounds like a Bond villain, plays like a PGA Tour star. The American was sensational all week in Sandwich, driving the ball low, fashioning iron from fairways and rough, exhibiting short game skills, and holing putts from all distances.

2. Gavin Tiernan

Little known before the week, the County Louth golfer was superb, displaying high class links pedigree. He’s spent one year at US college and his family and friends all say that the changes in his game have been profound.

3. Kris Kim

The English 17-year-old is in a rush to hit the heights but his management team are preaching patience. He made the cut on the PGA Tour last year, his mother (and coach) was a Korean LPGA performer, and he already has a wealth of sponsors. Superb tee to green, he’s working on his short game and is the first ever Wentworth elite scholar.

4. Connor Graham

The young Scotsman is a little hot headed but he has led the British Amateur Stroke Play section in both of the last two years and was only knocked out this year by Fang.

5. Richard Teder

The 20-year-old Estonian looks a little like a cross between Harry Potter and Shaggy from Scooby Doo. He has an exceptional long game and is one of six Estonian youngsters who learned the game by crossing on ferries to Helsinki to play at an indoor school in Baltic dark winters. He might not become a great, but if makes the DP World Tour it will be the completion of a longer journey than most have to take to the top level.