Golfers Who Were U.S. Open Low Amateurs and Later Won It

Being the low amateur in the U.S. Open is a great achievement in itself. Winning the U.S. Open is one of the greatest achievements in golf. But how many golfers have earned low amateur honors and also won the tournament at some point?

So far, 13 golfers have been both a U.S. Open low amateur and a U.S. Open champion. Five of them even did it at the same time, winning the Open while an amateur. (See our article on amateur winners of the U.S. Open that goes into that more in-depth.) But the last one to pull off the low amateur/champion feat in the same tournament did so in 1933.

Since then, eight other golfers earned low amateur honors, and then later won the U.S. Open.

Related: Full list of U.S. Open low amateurs

The List: Low Amateur and then U.S. Open Winners

Note that the first five golfers on the list all won the tournament as amateurs:

• Francis Ouimet — Low amateur in the 1913 U.S. Open and also won that same year.
• Jerome Travers — Low amateur in 1907 and 1915, and also won in 1915.
• Chick Evans — Low amateur in 1914, 1916, 1919, 1920 and 1921. Winner of the 1916 U.S. Open.
• Bobby Jones — Low amateur in 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Also won the U.S. Opens of 1923, 1926, 1929 and 1930.
• Johnny Goodman — Low amateur in 1932, 1933 and 1937; also the champion in 1933, the last time an amateur won the tournament.
• Lawson Little — Low amateur in 1934, winner in 1940.
• Jack Nicklaus — Low amateur in 1960 and 1961; winner in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1980.
• Ken Venturi — Low amateur in 1956, winner in 1964.
• Johnny Miller — Low amateur in 1966, winner in 1973.
• Jerry Pate — Low amateur in 1975, winner in 1976.
• Jordan Spieth — Low amateur in 2012, winner in 2015.
• Jon Rahm — Low amateur in 2016, winnner in 2021.
• Matt Fitzpatrick — Low amateur in 2014, winner in 2022.

There is one name missing that is probably the biggest surprise omission: Tiger Woods. Woods, a 3-time winner of the U.S. Open, played the tournament twice as an amateur without earning low am honors. He withdrew from the 1995 U.S. Open (no amateur made the cut that year), and finished 82nd in the 1996 U.S. Open (Randy Leen was low am that year).

Note that Bobby Jones was the low amateur nine times, and, yes, that is the tournament record. And those low am honors were in nine consecutive Opens. He won four of those U.S. Opens, tied for the tournament record with Willie Anderson, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus just missed becoming an amateur winner in this major, finishing runner-up as an amateur in the 1960 U.S. Open.

Related articles:

• Golfers who won NCAA championship, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open
• Golfers who won both U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open
• Golfers who won U.S. Open and British Open in same year