Opening Golf to the World
Walker Cup
Walker Cup players who went on to win The Open
01 Sep 26
8 mins
Competing in the Walker Cup is a huge achievement for any amateur player, and for some it formed part of a journey that would ultimately lead to golfing greatness.
A select group of players who represented their country in the amateur contest have gone on to win The Open, etching their names into the history of golf's original championship. A prestigious match in its own right, the Walker Cup has also long offered a glimpse of the future, providing a chance to see some of the world's finest young players in action. While some competitors enjoyed a rapid ascent, reaching the top of the game and claiming the Claret Jug shortly after their Walker Cup appearance, others bided their time before their defining moment arrived. What links them all, however, is a place in the history of two of the game's most celebrated traditions. Here we look at the 14 players who made the journey from Walker Cup to Champion Golfer.Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler's dominant performance at The 153rd Open came eight years after he helped the USA to victory in the Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club. Scheffler underlined his position as the world's dominant player with a four-stroke victory to claim the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush in 2025. This was the fourth major title of a career which has seen the American pick up some of the game's most sought after silverware, including the Walker Cup.
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In 2017 Scheffler, then aged 21, was part of the USA side which recorded a 19-7 triumph over GB&I, tying the record for the most points recorded in the history of the match.
He contributed one point to the effort, defeating Connor Syme 1-up in the Sunday singles.
Brian Harman
Brian Harman was just 18 when he put in an undefeated performance at the Walker Cup in 2005. The Georgia native, at the time the youngest American ever selected for the match, was a key part of the USA side which claimed a tight 12½-11½ victory at Chicago Golf Club. In a fruitful partnership with Anthony Kim he picked up 1½ points before securing a 6&5 win over Rhys Davies in the concluding singles.
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Four years later at Merion he was excellent once again, contributing 2½ points to another American success.
Harman turned professional shortly after that contest and his major breakthrough came at The 151st Open in 2023. The left-hander became Champion Golfer of the Year with a sensational showing, winning by six strokes at Royal Liverpool.
Collin Morikawa
Like Scheffler, Collin Morikawa was a key part of the record-equalling 2017 USA Walker Cup team. The Californian was a top performer in the victory, recording a maximum haul of four points during the 19-7 triumph in Los Angeles. His singles victories came over Paul McBride on Saturday and Harry Ellis on Sunday, while he won twice in foursomes while paired with Norman Xiong.
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Morikawa's supreme talent helped him win his first major title less than three years later, at the 2020 PGA Championship, and the following summer he got his hands on the Claret Jug with a stunning display at The 149th Open at Royal St George's.
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth was one of the world's top ranked amateurs when he featured as part of a star-studded USA team at the 2011 Walker Cup. The Texan, aged just 18 at the time, earned 2½ points from his three matches but was on the losing side as Great Britain and Ireland overcame the USA to win 14-12 at Royal Aberdeen. Spieth, whose team-mates that year included Harris English, Russell Henley and Patrick Cantlay, turned professional the following year and made a blistering start to his career in the paid ranks.
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By 2015 he was a two-time major champion and world number one, and two years after that he produced a finish for the ages to win The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale.
Spieth was then runner-up to Morikawa, his fellow Walker Cupper, at The 149th Open.
Rory McIlroy
Having already claimed the Silver Medal for low amateur at The 136th Open in 2007, Rory McIlroy then competed in the Walker Cup later that year. Already one of the most promising young players in the game, McIlroy won his Sunday singles contest against Billy Horschel, avenging his defeat from the day prior, but was ultimately on the losing side at Royal County Down. An excellent US side containing future major winners Webb Simpson and Dustin Johnson ultimately won 12½-11½ in what was a tight match.
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McIlroy's triumph at The 143rd Open in 2014 was his third of his six major titles to date, with the Irishman completing the grand slam with victory at the Masters in 2025.
McIlroy, Johnson and Simpson weren't the only future major winners competing in the 2007 Walker Cup. 2016 Masters Champion Danny Willett was also involved in the match, earning a point for Great Britain and Ireland.
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson was a key part of the victorious USA team at Portmarnock in 1991. As a 21-year-old he helped his country to a 14-10 success, two years after being on the losing side at Peachtree Golf Club. Also in the 1991 US team was David Duval, who like Mickelson would go on to capture the Claret Jug.
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Mickelson’s Open victory at Muirfield in 2013 was one of six major championships he has captured.
Despite starting the day five strokes behind Lee Westwood, the left-hander managed a final-round surge to claim victory by three strokes, carding birdies on four of his final six holes for a Sunday 66.
The Californian also went close at Royal Troon in 2004 where he finished third, and managed second-place results at Royal St George’s in 2011 and Royal Troon in 2016.
Padraig Harrington
While Mickelson and his fellow Americans were celebrating victory in 1991, Padraig Harrington was part of the disappointed Great Britain and Ireland side. Another defeat followed in 1993, but Harrington finally had his moment in 1995 when he was part of the GB&I team to defeat the USA 14-10 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. Harrington was on fine form that week, contributing three points to the victory over a side which included a young Tiger Woods.
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Harrington turned professional later that year, and went on to enjoy a stellar career which included three major triumphs, two of which came at The Open.
The Irishman claimed his first Open victory at Carnoustie in 2007 before winning again at Royal Birkdale 12 months later. This made him the first European player to successfully defend the title since James Braid in 1906.
He also added the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in Michigan.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods was already a force to be reckoned with when he arrived at Royal Porthcawl for the 1995 Walker Cup as a 19-year-old. In the opening foursomes session he won alongside John Harris and, despite losing in his next two contests and ending the week on the losing side, he left Wales with a Sunday singles success over Gary Wolstenholme. The Walker Cup came amid a run of three successive US Amateur victories, with the teenager tipped for big things, and a remarkable career followed.
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Woods has gone on to rack up 15 major titles, including three Open victories, in 2000, 2005 and 2006.
The first of those, at St Andrews, is widely considered one of the greatest performances in the history of the Championship. His eight-stroke winning margin remains the largest of any post-war Open.
David Duval
David Duval was also a teenager when he won two foursomes matches alongside Mike Sposa at the 1991 Walker Cup. A key contributor to the USA’s 14-10 victory at Portmarnock, Duval was tipped for a bright future having won the US Junior Amateur two years prior. The Floridian turned professional in 1993, and his finest hour came a decade after his Walker Cup appearance.
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In 2001 Duval claimed the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham & St Annes at The 130th Open.
Despite being seven shots behind heading into the weekend, he managed rounds of 65 and 67 to surge to the top of the leaderboard, eventually winning by three shots from Niclas Fasth.
Justin Leonard
In 1993 Justin Leonard was part of the USA Walker Cup team which recorded an astonishing 19 points at Interlachen. Leonard won both of his singles matches in convincing fashion, defeating Raymond Burns and Matthew Stanford en route to a dominant victory over GB&I. The US points tally is the joint most ever recorded in the match, later equalled by Scheffler, Morikawa and their 2017 team mates in Los Angeles.
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Leonard turned professional the following year and quickly went about becoming one of the best players in the world.
His Open triumph at Royal Troon in 1997 saw him rally from five strokes behind to finish three clear of Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik.
The 25-year-old’s final-round 65 was enough to see him claim the Claret Jug on 12-under-par.
Sandy Lyle
Sandy Lyle made his Open debut as a 16-year-old, three years before he represented Great Britain and Ireland in the 1977 Walker Cup. The match, at Shinnecock Hills, ended in a 16-8 defeat for GB&I with Lyle turning professional later that season. Eight years later the Scot enjoyed his crowning moment at Royal St George’s.
Lyle won the first of his two major titles at The 114th Open in 1985, finishing one stroke ahead of Payne Stewart after a dramatic final day on the Kent coast.
He became the first British winner since Tony Jacklin in 1969, and the first Scot to become Champion Golfer since Tommy Armour in 1931.
Bill Rogers
Four years before Sandy Lyle made his Walker Cup debut, Bill Rogers was on the winning side as the United States of America defeated GB&I 14-10 at Brookline. The Texan won a point alongside Michael Killian in the Saturday foursomes as the USA recovered from their loss at St Andrews two years earlier. It was also four years before Lyle’s Open triumph, and at the same venue in Royal St George’s, that Rogers won the Championship.
His victory, by four strokes, at The 110th Open came two years after his success at the World Match Play at Wentworth.
Rogers only decided to play after being persuaded to come over by his friend Ben Crenshaw, and he almost missed his tee time for the opening round after mis-reading the start list.
He made it just in time, and the rest was history.
Jack Nicklaus
Perhaps the greatest to have ever played the game, Jack Nicklaus is among the biggest stars to have represented his country at the Walker Cup. Nicklaus was a key contributor to winning United States of America teams in 1959 at Muirfield and 1961 in Seattle, with both matches coming amid a sensational amateur career which saw him win the US Amateur twice. He joined the professional ranks shortly after his second Walker Cup showing and went on to win a record 18 major championships, including three Open titles.
The first of those Open triumphs came at Muirfield, seven years after helping his country win the Walker Cup at the same venue.
His total of 282 at The 95th Open saw him finish one clear of Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas to win the Championship and claim the career grand slam.
Nicklaus would also go on to win the Claret Jug a further two times in Scotland, at St Andrews in 1970 and 1978.
Bobby Jones
It’s fitting that Bobby Jones, widely regarded as the finest golfer to never turn professional, left a considerable mark on both the Walker Cup and The Open. Jones competed in the amateur match five times and helped the United States of America to victory each time, in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928 and 1930. He was the playing captain in his final two matches, in Chicago and at Royal St George’s, as the USA won convincingly.
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Jones was also Champion Golfer of the Year three times, winning The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1926, at St Andrews the following year and at Royal Liverpool in 1930.
The only time he played in The Open and did not win was at the home of golf in 1921 where he withdrew in the third round.
He more than made up for this disappointment, however, claiming both the Claret Jug and winning The Amateur Championship at the Old Course within the next decade.