Amateur Winners on the European Tour
The European Tour's inaugural season was 1972. Since 1972, only three golfers who had not yet turned professional have won a tournament on this pro circuit. But it took until 2007 before it happened. And it hasn't happened since 2009.
These are the three golfers so far who've won on the European Tour as amateurs:
1. Pablo Martin, 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal
At the time he became the European Tour's first amateur winner, Martin was on the golf team at Oklahoma State University. He had won the Boys Amateur Championship in 2001, and in 2006 won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the best collegiate golfer.The Spaniard opened the 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal with a 73, followed by a 70. A 66 in the third round put him in contention, and he closed with a 68 to win by one stroke over runner-up Raphael Jacquelin.
Martin missed the cut one week prior in the Euro Tour's Madeira Island Open. But his victory in the 2007 Portugal Open wasn't the first time he'd been in contention on the tour. In 2003, at the age of 17, Martin was the third-round leader of the 2003 Open de Espana (Spanish Open) before finishing 22nd.
Prior to Martin's 2007 victory, the best finish by any amateur in an official European Tour tournament had been tied third by Nick Flanagan in the 2004 ANZ Championship.
2. Danny Lee, 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic
By the time Lee became the Euro Tour's second amateur winner at the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2009, he had already set a record: He won the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship at age 18 years, 1 month, making him that tournament's youngest-ever winner at the time. And he set another record at the 2009 Johnnie Walker: He was, to that point, the youngest-ever winner on the European Tour (a record since broken) — still just 18. Lee won that Johnnie Walker Classic title by one stroke over the threesome of Felipe Aguilar, Hiroyuki Fujita and Ross McGowan.
3. Shane Lowry, 2009 Irish Open
A few months after Lee's victory, Lowry won the 2009 Irish Open, becoming, to date, the last amateur winner on the European Tour. Lowry won his home country's national open in a playoff against Robert Rock, winning on the third sudden-death hole. Lowry, 22 at the time, went on to win the 2019 British Open.Related articles:
- Have any amateurs won on the PGA Tour?
- Amateur winners on the LPGA Tour
- Most career wins on the European Tour
EuropeanTour.com. "Amateurs who have won on Tour," April 2, 2020, https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/amateurs-who-have-won-on-the-european-tour/.
EuropeanTour.com. "Did You Know — Estoril Open de Portugal," June 3, 2010, https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/did-you-know-estoril-open-de-portugal/.
Tulsa World. "OSU golfer makes history," April 2, 2007.
