Page 35 - 2021 Western Amateur Championship at Glen View Club Program Book

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Tradition Rich Western Amateur
Showcases Golf’s Future Stars

When Tiger Woods won the Western Danny Lee (2008 champion), Ryan remained through 2008. The Point
Amateur in 1994, he called the event Moore (2004 champion), Camilo Villegas O’ Woods era produced such champions
“the Masters of amateur golf.” and Kevin Stadler (2002 co-medalists), as Woods, Mickelson, Sutton, Strange
Andres Gonzales (2005 medalist) and and Crenshaw.
It’s an apt description.
Arron Oberholser (1997 medalist). The Western Amateur returned to
Founded in 1899, the Western Amateur
is the world’s third-oldest amateur event, Early in its history, the Western Golf the Chicago area in 2009 when the
along with the British Amateur (1885) Association conducted the Western championship was conducted at
and the U.S. Amateur (1895). In Amateur at premier golf courses in the Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest,
addition to the purity of its golf tradition, Chicago area. The tournament soon site of the 2017 BMW Championship,
the Western Amateur continues to began moving to revered courses around also conducted by the WGA.
attract the best amateurs in the world the country while regularly rotating back No matter where it’s played, the
and showcases their skills in a format to the Chicago area. Western Amateur brings with it a
widely viewed as the most demanding In 1971, the Western Amateur moved to peerless tradition and unparalleled
in the game. Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club in competition.
Western Amateur champions have gone Benton Harbor, Michigan, an esteemed
on to win 54 major championships, with Robert Trent Jones course, where it
Jack Nicklaus (18 majors) and Tiger
Woods (15 majors) leading the way.
Other Western Amateur champions who
went on to win majors span the 20th
Century, from H.C. Egan in 1902 (four
U.S. Opens) to Charles “Chick” Evans
in 1909 (U.S. Open) to Nicklaus in 1961
to Phil Mickelson in 1991 (six majors,
including the 2021 PGA Championship)
and Woods in 1994. Evans, Nicklaus and
Woods are the only three golfers to have
won the Western Amateur, Western
Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open.
Francis Ouimet (1917), Tommy Aaron
(1960), Tom Weiskopf (1963), Lanny
Wadkins (1970), Ben Crenshaw (1973),
Curtis Strange (1974), Hal Sutton
(1979–80), and Justin Leonard (1992–93)
are the other esteemed Western Amateur
champions who have gone on to win
professional majors.
In addition, the Western Amateur’s
72-hole stroke play medalists include
such major champions as the legendary
Bobby Jones (1920), Tom Kite (1970),
Tom Watson (1971) and Mark
O’Meara (1980).

In recent years, a number of Western
Amateur champions and medalists have From left to right. Row 1: 1904 Western Amateur Exmoor CC, Chick Evans, Jack and Barbara Nicklaus
Row 2: Phil Mickelson and Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson
made it to the PGA TOUR, including Row 3: Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas

2021 Western Amateur Championship Western Amateur Championship History l 33