United States Amateur Championship (golf)

U.S. Amateur

Tournament information
Location	Plum, Pennsylvania (2021)
Established	1895
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club (2021)
Par	71 (2021)
Length	7,254 yd (6,633 m) (2021)
Organized by	USGA
Format	Stroke play and match play
Month played	August
Current champion
James Piot

The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August over a 7-day period.

In 1894 there were two tournaments called the "National Amateur Championship". One of them was played at Newport Country Club and was won by William G. Lawrence, and the other took place at Saint Andrew's Golf Club and was won by Laurence B. Stottard. This state of affairs prompted Charles B. Macdonald of the Chicago Golf Club to call for the creation of a national governing body to authorize an official national championship, and the Amateur Golf Association of the United States, which was soon to be renamed the United States Golf Association, was formed on December 22 of that year. In 1895 it organized both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S. Open, both of which were played at Newport Country Club.

There are no age or gender restrictions on entry, but players must have a handicap index of 2.4 or less. Originally, entry was restricted to members of USGA-affiliated private clubs (and, presumably, international players who were members of private clubs affiliated with their nations' golf governing bodies), a restriction that was not lifted until 1979.^[1] The tournament consists of two days of stroke play, with the leading 64 competitors then playing a knockout competition held at match play to decide the champion. All knockout matches are over 18 holes except for the final, which consists of 36 holes, separated into morning and afternoon 18-hole rounds. Nowadays it is usually won by players in their late teens or early twenties who are working towards a career as a tournament professional. Before World War II more top-level golfers chose to remain amateur, and the average age of U.S. Amateur champions was higher.

Many of the leading figures in the history of golf have been U.S. Amateur Champion, including Bobby Jones five times, Jerome Travers four times, Jack Nicklaus twice and Tiger Woods three times (all consecutive; the only player to win three in a row). Woods' first win, as an 18-year-old in 1994, made him the youngest winner of the event, breaking the previous record of 19 years 5 months set by Robert Gardner in 1909. In 2008, New Zealander Danny Lee became the youngest ever winner, only to be eclipsed by 17-year-old An Byeong-hun the following year. Before the professional game became dominant, the event was regarded as one of the majors. This is no longer the case, but the champion still receives an automatic invitation to play in all of the majors except the PGA Championship. In addition, the runner-up also receives an invitation to play in the Masters and the U.S. Open. The golfers must maintain their amateur status at the time the events are held (unless they qualify for the tournaments by other means), however the USGA removed this rule for the U.S. Open starting in 2020.

With the growth in professional golf through the latter half of the 20th century, the U.S. Amateur has become dominated by younger players destined to soon become professionals. In 1981 the USGA established a new championship called the U.S. Mid-Amateur for amateurs aged at least 25 years old in order to give players who had not joined the professional ranks, and those who had regained their amateur status, a chance to play against each other for a national title.

Field[]

While most players at the U.S. Amateur advance through sectional qualifying, many players are exempt each year. Below are the exemptions:

1. Winners of the U.S. Amateur each of the last ten years.
2. Runner-up of the U.S. Amateur each of the last three years.
3. Semi-finalists of the U.S. Amateur each of the last two years.
4. Quarter-finalists of the U.S. Amateur the previous year.
5. Any player who qualified for the current year's U.S. Open.
6. Those returning 72 hole scores from the previous year's U.S. Open.
7. The amateur with the lowest score from the current year's U.S. Senior Open.
8. From the U.S. Mid-Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
9. From the U.S. Amateur Public Links: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year. Because the Amateur Public Links was discontinued after its 2014 edition, the runner-up exemption disappeared after the 2015 U.S. Amateur, and the winner's exemption disappeared after 2016.
10. From the U.S. Junior Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
11. From the U.S. Senior Amateur: winner each of the last two years and runner-up from the previous year.
12. Playing members of the two most recent Walker Cup teams.
13. Playing members of the two most recent U.S. Eisenhower Trophy teams.
14. Playing members of the current year's U.S. Men's Copa de las Américas team.
15. Winner of the current year's individual NCAA Division I Championship.
16. Winner of the British Amateur Championship each of the last five years.
17. Top fifty golfers in World Amateur Golf Ranking.
18. Winner of the current year Latin America Amateur Championship.^[2]

In all cases, the exemptions only apply if the player has not turned professional as of the tournament date.

Winners[]

Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue
2021	James Piot	2 & 1		Oakmont Country Club
2020	Tyler Strafaci	1 up		Bandon Dunes Golf Resort
2019	Andy Ogletree	2 & 1	John Augenstein	Pinehurst Resort
2018	Viktor Hovland	6 & 5		Pebble Beach Golf Links
2017	Doc Redman	37th hole	Doug Ghim	Riviera Country Club
2016	Curtis Luck	6 & 4	Brad Dalke	Oakland Hills Country Club
2015	Bryson DeChambeau	7 & 6	Derek Bard	Olympia Fields Country Club
2014	Gunn Yang	2 & 1	Corey Conners	Atlanta Athletic Club
2013	Matthew Fitzpatrick	4 & 3	Oliver Goss	The Country Club
2012	Steven Fox	37th hole	Michael Weaver	Cherry Hills Country Club
2011	Kelly Kraft	2 up	Patrick Cantlay	Erin Hills
2010	Peter Uihlein	4 & 2	David Chung	Chambers Bay
2009	An Byeong-hun	7 & 5	Ben Martin	Southern Hills Country Club
2008	Danny Lee	5 & 4	Drew Kittleson	Pinehurst Resort
2007	Colt Knost	2 & 1	Michael Thompson	Olympic Club
2006	Richie Ramsay	4 & 2	John Kelly	Hazeltine National Golf Club
2005	Edoardo Molinari	4 & 3		Merion Golf Club
2004	Ryan Moore	2 up	Luke List	Winged Foot Golf Club
2003	Nick Flanagan	37th hole	Casey Wittenberg	Oakmont Country Club
2002	Ricky Barnes	2 & 1	Hunter Mahan	Oakland Hills Country Club
2001	Bubba Dickerson	1 up		East Lake Golf Club
2000	Jeff Quinney	39th hole	James Driscoll	Baltusrol Golf Club
1999	David Gossett	9 & 8	Kim Sung-yoon	Pebble Beach Golf Links
1998	Hank Kuehne	2 & 1		Oak Hill Country Club
1997	Matt Kuchar	2 & 1	Joel Kribel	Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
1996	Tiger Woods (3)	38th hole		Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club
1995	Tiger Woods (2)	2 up	Buddy Marucci	Newport Country Club
1994	Tiger Woods	2 up	Trip Kuehne	TPC at Sawgrass
1993	John Harris	5 & 3		Champions Golf Club
1992	Justin Leonard	8 & 7	Tom Scherrer	Muirfield Village
1991	Mitch Voges	7 & 6		Honors Course
1990	Phil Mickelson	5 & 4		Cherry Hills Country Club
1989	Chris Patton	3 & 1		Merion Golf Club
1988	Eric Meeks	7 & 6		The Homestead
1987	Billy Mayfair	4 & 3
1986	Buddy Alexander	5 & 3		Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club
1985	Sam Randolph	1 up	Peter Persons
1984	Scott Verplank	4 & 3	Sam Randolph	Oak Tree Golf Club
1983	Jay Sigel (2)	8 & 7	Chris Perry	North Shore Country Club
1982	Jay Sigel	8 & 7		The Country Club
1981	Nathaniel Crosby	1 up		Olympic Club
1980	Hal Sutton	9 & 8	Bob Lewis	The Country Club of North Carolina
1979	Mark O'Meara	8 & 7	John Cook	Canterbury Golf Club
1978	John Cook	5 & 4	Scott Hoch	Plainfield Country Club
1977	John Fought	9 & 8		Aronimink Golf Club
1976	Bill Sander	8 & 6		Bel-Air Country Club
1975	Fred Ridley	2 up	Keith Fergus	Country Club of Virginia
1974	Jerry Pate	2 & 1		Ridgewood Country Club
1973	Craig Stadler	6 & 5		Inverness Club
1965–1972: Stroke play
1972	Vinny Giles	285	Mark Hayes, Ben Crenshaw
1971	Gary Cowan (2)	280	Eddie Pearce	Wilmington Country Club
1970	Lanny Wadkins	279	Tom Kite	Waverley Country Club
1969	Steve Melnyk	286	Vinny Giles	Oakmont Country Club
1968	Bruce Fleisher	284	Vinny Giles	Scioto Country Club
1967	Bob Dickson	285	Vinny Giles	Broadmoor Golf Club
1966	Gary Cowan	285	Deane Beman	Merion Golf Club
1965	Bob Murphy	291	Bob Dickson	Southern Hills Country Club
1895–1964: Match play
1964	William C. Campbell	1 up	Ed Tutwiler	Canterbury Golf Club
1963	Deane Beman (2)	2 & 1	R. H. Sikes
1962	Labron Harris Jr.	1 up	Downing Gray	Pinehurst Resort
1961	Jack Nicklaus (2)	8 & 6	Dudley Wysong	Pebble Beach Golf Links
1960	Deane Beman	6 & 4		St. Louis Country Club
1959	Jack Nicklaus	1 up	Charles Coe	Broadmoor Golf Club
1958	Charles Coe (2)	5 & 4	Tommy Aaron	Olympic Club
1957	Hillman Robbins	5 & 4	Bud Taylor	The Country Club
1956	Harvie Ward (2)	5 & 4	Chuck Kocsis	Knollwood Club
1955	Harvie Ward	9 & 8	Bill Hyndman	Country Club of Virginia
1954	Arnold Palmer	1 up		Country Club of Detroit
1953	Gene Littler	1 up	Dale Morey	Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club
1952	Jack Westland	3 & 2	Al Mengert
1951	Billy Maxwell	4 & 3		Saucon Valley Country Club
1950	Sam Urzetta	39th hole	Frank Stranahan	Minneapolis Golf Club
1949	Charles Coe	11 & 10		Oak Hill Country Club
1948	Willie Turnesa (2)	2 & 1
1947	Skee Riegel	2 & 1	Johnny Dawson	Pebble Beach Golf Links
1946	Ted Bishop	37th hole	Smiley Quick	Baltusrol Golf Club
1942–1945: No championships due to World War II
1941	Bud Ward (2)	4 & 3	Pat Abbott	Omaha Field Club
1940	Dick Chapman	11 & 9		Winged Foot Golf Club
1939	Bud Ward	7 & 5		North Shore Country Club
1938	Willie Turnesa	8 & 7	Pat Abbott	Oakmont Country Club
1937	Johnny Goodman	2 up
1936	Johnny Fischer	37th hole		Garden City Golf Club
1935	Lawson Little (2)	4 & 2
1934	Lawson Little	8 & 7		The Country Club
1933	George Dunlap	6 & 5	Max Marston
1932	Ross Somerville	2 & 1	Johnny Goodman	Baltimore Country Club
1931	Francis Ouimet (2)	6 & 5	Jack Westland	Beverly Country Club
1930	Bobby Jones (5)	8 & 7		Merion Golf Club
1929	Jimmy Johnston	4 & 3	Oscar Willing	Pebble Beach Golf Links
1928	Bobby Jones (4)	10 & 9	Philip Perkins	Brae Burn Country Club
1927	Bobby Jones (3)	8 & 7	Chick Evans	Minikahda Club
1926	George Von Elm	2 & 1	Bobby Jones	Baltusrol Golf Club
1925	Bobby Jones (2)	8 & 7	Watts Gunn	Oakmont Country Club
1924	Bobby Jones	9 & 8	George Von Elm	Merion Golf Club
1923	Max Marston	38th hole	Jess Sweetser	Flossmoor Country Club
1922	Jess Sweetser	3 & 2	Chick Evans	The Country Club
1921	Jesse Guilford	7 & 6	Robert Gardner	St. Louis Country Club
1920	Chick Evans (2)	7 & 6	Francis Ouimet	Engineers Country Club
1919	Davidson Herron	5 & 4	Bobby Jones	Oakmont Country Club
1917–1918: No championships due to World War I
1916	Chick Evans	4 & 3	Robert Gardner	Merion Golf Club
1915	Robert Gardner (2)	5 & 4		Country Club of Detroit
1914	Francis Ouimet	6 & 5	Jerome Travers	Ekwanok Country Club
1913	Jerome Travers (4)	5 & 4		Garden City Golf Club
1912	Jerome Travers (3)	7 & 6	Chick Evans	Chicago Golf Club
1911	Harold Hilton	37th hole	Fred Herreshoff	The Apawamis Club
1910	William C. Fownes Jr.	4 & 3	Warren Wood	The Country Club
1909	Robert Gardner	4 & 3	Chandler Egan	Chicago Golf Club
1908	Jerome Travers (2)	8 & 7		Garden City Golf Club
1907	Jerome Travers	6 & 5
1906	Eben Byers	2 up	George Lyon	Englewood Golf Club
1905	Chandler Egan (2)	6 & 5	Daniel Sawyer	Chicago Golf Club
1904	Chandler Egan	8 & 6	Fred Herreshoff	Baltusrol Golf Club
1903	Walter Travis (3)	5 & 4	Eben Byers
1902	Louis N. James	4 & 2	Eben Byers	Glen View Club
1901	Walter Travis (2)	5 & 4	Walter Egan	Atlantic City Country Club
1900	Walter Travis	2 up	Findlay S. Douglas	Garden City Golf Club
1899	Herbert M. Harriman	3 & 2	Findlay S. Douglas	Onwentsia Club
1898	Findlay S. Douglas	5 & 3		Morris County Golf Club
1897	H. J. Whigham (2)	8 & 6		Chicago Golf Club
1896	H. J. Whigham	8 & 7		Shinnecock Hills Golf Club
1895	Charles B. Macdonald	12 & 11	Charles Sands	Newport Country Club

Multiple winners[]

Eighteen players have won more than one U.S. Amateur, through 2021:

• 5 wins: Bobby Jones
• 4 wins: Jerome Travers
• 3 wins: Walter Travis, Tiger Woods
• 2 wins: H. J. Whigham, Chandler Egan, Robert Gardner, Chick Evans, Francis Ouimet, Lawson Little, Bud Ward, Willie Turnesa, Harvie Ward, Charles Coe, Jack Nicklaus, Deane Beman, Gary Cowan, Jay Sigel

Eleven players have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open Championships, through 2021:

• Jerome Travers: 1907, 1908, 1912, 1913 Amateurs; 1915 Open
• Francis Ouimet: 1914, 1931 Amateurs; 1913 Open
• Chick Evans:^ 1916, 1920 Amateurs; 1916 Open
• Bobby Jones:^ 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930 Amateurs; 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930 Opens
• Lawson Little: 1934, 1935 Amateurs; 1940 Open
• Johnny Goodman: 1937 Amateur; 1933 Open
• Gene Littler: 1953 Amateur; 1961 Open
• Arnold Palmer: 1954 Amateur; 1960 Open
• Jack Nicklaus: 1959, 1961 Amateurs; 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 Opens
• Jerry Pate: 1974 Amateur; 1976 Open
• Tiger Woods: 1994, 1995, 1996 Amateurs; 2000, 2002, 2008 Opens
• Bryson DeChambeau: 2015 Amateur; 2020 Open

Thirteen players have won both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateurs, through 2021:

• Walter Travis: 1900, 1901, 1903 U.S.; 1904 British
• Harold Hilton:^ 1911 U.S.; 1900, 1901, 1911, 1913 British
• Jess Sweetser: 1922 U.S.; 1926 British
• Bobby Jones:^ 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930 U.S.; 1930 British
• Lawson Little:^ 1934, 1935 U.S.; 1934, 1935 British
• Willie Turnesa: 1938, 1948 U.S.; 1947 British
• Dick Chapman: 1940 U.S.; 1951 British
• Harvie Ward: 1955, 1956 U.S.; 1952 British
• Deane Beman: 1960, 1963 U.S.; 1959 British
• Bob Dickson:^ 1967 U.S.; 1967 British
• Steve Melnyk: 1969 U.S.; 1971 British
• Vinny Giles: 1972 U.S.; 1975 British
• Jay Sigel: 1982, 1983 U.S.; 1979 British

Two players have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links in the same year, through 2021:

• Ryan Moore: 2004
• Colt Knost: 2007

^ Won both in same year. Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930, winning the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, British Amateur, and British Open.

Most times hosted[]

• Six
  • Merion Golf Club (1916, 1924, 1930, 1966, 1989, 2005)
  • The Country Club (1910, 1922, 1934, 1957, 1982, 2013)
  • Oakmont Country Club (1919, 1925, 1938, 1969, 2003, 2021)
• Five
  • Pebble Beach Golf Links (1929, 1947, 1961, 1999, 2018)
• Four
  • Chicago Golf Club (1897, 1905, 1909, 1912)
  • Garden City Golf Club (1900, 1908, 1913, 1936)
  • Baltusrol Golf Club (1904, 1926, 1946, 2000)

Future sites[]

Year	Edition	Course	Location	Dates
2021	121st	Oakmont Country Club	Plum, Pennsylvania	TBD
2022	122nd	Ridgewood Country Club	Paramus, New Jersey	TBD
2023	123rd	Cherry Hills Country Club	Cherry Hills Village, Colorado	TBD
2024	124th	Hazeltine National Golf Club	Chaska, Minnesota	TBD
2025	125th	The Olympic Club	San Francisco, California	TBD
2026	126th	Merion Golf Club	Ardmore, Pennsylvania	TBD
2027	127th	Oak Hill Country Club	Pittsford, New York	TBD

Source^[3]

Exemptions[]

The U.S. Amateur results lead to exemptions into other tournaments. In all cases, the exemption holds only if the golfer retains their amateur status. All the exemptions listed below pertain to only the winner of the U.S. Amateur, unless otherwise stated.

Here are the major exemptions:

• The next 10 years of the U.S. Amateur
• The next 3 years of the U.S. Amateur (runner-up)
• The next 2 years of the U.S. Amateur (semi-finalists)
• The following year's U.S. Amateur (quarter-finalists)
• The following year's U.S. Open (winner and runner-up)
• The following year's Masters Tournament (winner and runner-up)
• The following year's Open Championship^[4]
• The next 10 years of the Amateur Championship^[5]

Here are the other exemptions:

• The following year's Monroe Invitational (top 8 + top 20 stroke portion)^[6]
• The following year's Northeast Amateur (top 8)^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Official site - most of the information is in the archive sections