By: Max Bechtoldt
The story of the week in golf is of course amateur Nick Dunlap winning on the PGA Tour, as it should be. This is the first time since 1991 that an amateur grabbed a title on tour. But how rare is it on the LPGA Tour?
The first time an amateur won on the LPGA Tour was actually Polly Riley in the first ever event played. Polly Riley, a well-known amateur at the time, defeated LPGA legend Louise Suggs by five strokes in 1950 to become the first ever champion on the tour.
The wait for another amateur didn’t take long, as the next year Pat O’Sullivan won the Titleholders Championship, a major championship at the time. She became the first amateur LPGA Tour major champion.
Jump ahead 16 years to the first and only amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open, Catherine Lacoste, who at the time was the youngest (22) winner of the event and the first international winner. Just two years later, LPGA legend JoAnne Carner captured her first of 44 victories while still a 29-year-old amateur.
Of course, the most recent amateur winner on tour is a bit ironic, as she just won on the same day as Dunlap, Lydia Ko. But Lydia Ko didn’t just win once as an amateur, she won twice. Both at the Canadian Women’s open, Ko became the youngest LPGA Tour winner of all time in 2012 at just 15-years-old. The next year she won the event again, this time by five strokes to become the second youngest winner in tour history.
The most prominent close call since Ko’s second win was probably Megha Ganne. Ganne nearly won the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open, being tied for third going into the final round. She ended the tournament in 14th place.
