Amateur hour: Before Nick Dunlap in 2024, seven other amateurs had won on PGA Tour

The statistic echoed up and down the fairways of PGA West at the 2024 American Express: Nick Dunlap was the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour.

It wasn’t just that Dunlap had won as an amateur for his first PGA Tour victory. It was that amateurs just aren’t supposed to beat professionals in golf. So just how rare is an amateur win on the PGA Tour?

Before Dunlap, only seven amateurs had won PGA Tour titles. It might not be a surprise that three amateurs won in 1945, the last year of World War II when many pros were in action either in Europe or the Pacific. But it is important to note that each amateur who has won on tour, including Dunlap last January, has gone on to earn at least one more PGA Tour victory. And in some instances, those amateurs have gone on to be big winners on the tour.

Here’s a recap of those amateur winners and what happened to them after those first defining victories:

Cary Middlecoff, 1945 North and South Open

Middlecoff had won four Tennessee State Amateur titles from 1940-43, then won the 1945 North and South Open on the PGA Tour while in the U.S. Army Dental Corp. He didn’t turn professional until1947, but would finish a prolific career with 39 tour wins and three major titles.

Fred Haas, 1945 Memphis Invitational

This victory is noted not just for Haas winning as an amateur, but it is the win that snapped Byron Nelson’s record streak of 11 consecutive PGA Tour victories. Haas would turn pro in 1946 and go on to win four more PGA Tour events, including the 1954 Thunderbird Invitational in Rancho Mirage. He lost the Thunderbird tournament in 1955 in a three-man playoff.

Frank Stranahan, 1945 Durham War Bond Tournament, 1946 Fort Worth Invitational, Kansas City Invitational Victory Bond Tournament, 1948 Miami Open

The amateur with the most wins on the PGA Tour, Stranahan won more than 70 amateur events in his career as well as playing on three Walker Cups. He was able to remain an amateur because his family was quite wealthy. Also a bodybuilder and later a long-distance runner, Stranahan eventually turned pro in 1954 when he was 32 years old. He would go on to win two more tour events as a pro, giving him six tour wins in total.

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Gene Littler, 1954 San Diego Open

Littler was born in San Diego, so it was only fitting that, as an amateur, Littler won the PGA Tour’s San Diego Open, beating Dutch Harrison by four shots. A U.S. Amateur winner and Walker Cup player, Littler turned pro soon after the 1954 win and finished second in the U.S. Open that year. He finished his career with 29 PGA Tour wins, including the 1961 U.S. Open.

Doug Sanders, 1956 Canadian Open

Sanders’ amateur win is the only one in the history of the Canadian Open, and he did it after just one year in college at the University of Florida. In a familiar pattern, Sanders turned pro soon after his win. Overshadowed by his large personality and colorful clothes is Sanders’ record of 20 PGA Tour victories.

Scott Verplank, 1985 Western Open

A U.S. Amateur and NCAA individual champion while at Oklahoma State, Verplank became the first amateur to win on tour in 29 years. Verplank beat Jim Thorpe in a two-hole playoff to win the 1985 Western Open in Chicago. Verplank did not turn pro immediately, returning to Oklahoma State and graduating in 1986, when he turned pro. He won five tour events in total despite many medical issues.

Phil Mickelson, 1991, Northern Telecom Open

One of the most decorated amateur golfers in history, Mickelson was a three-time NCAA champion, a U.S. Amateur champion and a three-time Haskins Award winner. In 1991, just down the road from Arizona State University, Mickelson beat Tom Purtzer and Bob Tway by one shot to win the Northern Telecom Open in Tucson. Mickelson delayed turning pro until June of 1992 after graduating from Arizona State and went on to one of the finest professional careers in history, with 45 wins including six major titles.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Nick Dunlap’s American Express win made him the eighth amateur to win on PGA Tour