13 Golfers Who Won Both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open
In the history of the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open golf tournaments, which began at the same time in 1895, how many golfers have managed to win both of them? A total of 13 — so far.
The first to do it was Francis Ouimet, and the most recent is Matt Fitzpatrick. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods all make the list, too. But the golfer who did it most often was Bobby Jones, who won the Amateur five times and the Open four times.
Here's the list of golfers who've won both the USGA's highest national championships for men, the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open:
1. Francis Ouimet: Ouimet won the Open first, his historic victory in the 1913 U.S. Open at The Country Club at Brookline, Mass., where he caddied. That's the one where he beat Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff.
When Ouimet won the U.S. Amateur the following year (1914), he became the first golfer to achieve the American Amateur-Open double. He added another amateur title in 1931.
2. Jerome Travers: Jerry Travers followed Ouimet by one year. He won the U.S. Amateurs of 1907, 1908, 1912 and 1913 Amateur. Then, in the 1915 U.S. Open, he won by a single stroke over Tom McNamara to complete the double. Travers then retired from competitive golf.
3. Chick Evans: One year later, a third golfer completed the U.S. Amateur/U.S. Open twofer. But Chick Evans (pictured above) did it in the same year. He won the 1916 U.S. Open in June, carrying only seven clubs, but leading wire-to-wire and winning by two strokes.
Then, in September, Evans added the Amateur title. He was the first to win both in the same year, and remains one of only two golfers who have done that. Evans later added the 1920 U.S. Amateur crown, and eventually played in 50 consecutive U.S. Amateur tournaments.
4. Bobby Jones: Jones is the second of the two golfers who won both tournaments in the same year. For Jones, that year was 1930, his Grand Slam year in which he also won the British Amateur and British Open titles.
But Jones had already completed the Amateur-Open double in America by that point. He won the U.S. Amateur five times, the other years being 1924, 1925, 1927 and 1928. And he won the Open four times, the other three years being 1923, 1926 and 1929.
5. Johnny Goodman: Johnny Goodman is the last amateur golfer to win any of the four major championships of men's professional golf, something he accomplished in the 1933 U.S. Open. Four years later, in 1937, Goodman added the Amateur crown, as well.
6. Lawson Little: In 1934, Little won the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur. In 1935, he did the same thing. He is the most-recent golfer who won both of those amateur championships in the same year, and he is the only golfer who did it more than once. After turning pro, Little won the 1940 U.S. Open, which puts him on this list of American Amateur/Open champs.
7. Arnold Palmer: Palmer wasn't yet "the King" when he won the 1954 U.S. Amateur, beating Robert Sweeny Jr. in the title match, 1-up. But by the time he won the 1960 U.S. Open, "Arnie's Army" was marching in full force. Palmer made up a seven-stroke deficit to win that year, beating the runner-up, an amateur named Jack Nicklaus, by two strokes.
8. Gene Littler: Littler won the U.S. Amateur in 1953, and then added the 1961 U.S. Open title. His amateur championship was via a 1-up title match win over Dale Morey. In his Open win, Littler shot 68 in the final round to win by one stroke over runners-up Bob Goalby and Doug Sanders.
9. Jack Nicklaus: Nicklaus won the U.S. Amateur twice and the U.S. Open four times. He got his name on this list as of 1962, the year of his first U.S. Open victory. That came in his rookie year as a pro golfer, after he won the Amateur in 1959 and 1961. Nicklaus later added the U.S. Open titles of 1967, 1972 and 1980.
10. Jerry Pate: Pate won the 1974 U.S. Amateur, and two years later the 1976 U.S. Open. Pate was a PGA Tour rookie when he joined this list in 1976, and his Open victory was by two strokes over Al Geiberger and Tom Weiskopf.
11. Tiger Woods: Woods won the Amateur three times and, so far, the Open three times. His championship years in the Am were 1994, 1995 and 1996. And his U.S. Open wins are in 2000, 2002 and 2008.
12. Bryson DeChambeau: DeChambeau joined when he won the 2020 U.S. Open by six strokes. His U.S. Amateur win was in 2015. He added another U.S. Open title in 2024.
13. Matt Fitzpatrick: In the 2013 U.S. Amateur, on the 100th anniversary of Ouimet's 1913 U.S. Open win at The Country Club at Brookline, Fitzpatrick won at ... The Country Club at Brookline. And then, when the U.S. Open returned to Brookline in 2022, Fitzpatrick won again to add his name to this list.
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Photo credit: Image of Chick Evans is public domain, via the George Grantham Bain Collection/Library of Congress.