Past SW champion J.T. Poston wins his 3rd PGA Tour event (10/21/2024)
J.T. Poston, who won the Southwestern Amateur in 2013, held off a charging Doug Ghim for a one-shot victory at the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
It was the third career PGA Tour title for Poston, who won his last event at the 2022 John Deere Classic.
The nine-year pro from North Carolina again showed his ability to avoid making bogeys, recording only three for the week. In winning his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Classic in 2019, he became the first player since 1974 to win a tournament without making a single bogey, a feat no one has since replicated.
With the win, Poston has earned an exemption into the 2025 Masters, where he will compete for the fourth time.
Past SW Am player Ken Tanigawa wins 3rd Champions Tour title (8/19/2024)
Ken Tanigawa won the Rogers Charity Classic on Sunday for his third career PGA Tour Champions victory, closing with a 6-under 64 to beat Richard Green by two shots.
Two strokes behind Green after matching the Canyon Meadows record with a career-best 61 on Saturday, the 56-year-old Tanigawa birdied the par-5 15th and 17th holes to pull away.
Tanigawa finished at 17-under 193. On Saturday, he made a hole-in-one in the 210-yard 16th with a 5-iron. The victory was his first since the 2019 Senior PGA Championship.
Tanigawa, who played in several Southwestern Amateurs, was the rare amateur to make it to the Champions Tour via qualifying school, turning pro in 2018.
DeChambeau adds to major tally for Southwestern Amateur past participants (6/17/2024)
The SWGA would like to congratulate Bryson DeChambeau for his thrilling U.S. Open win at Pinehurst #2. We first got to know Bryson at the 2012 Southwestern Amateur when he finished in a tie for 9th, and have enjoyed his rise to amateur and then professional stardom.
This is the second U.S. Open championship for DeChambeau and his third USGA title overall. He joins another Southwestern Amateur alum, Collin Morikawa, as a two-time winner of professional majors.
Past SW Am contestants contend at the 2024 Masters (4/18/2024)
Collin Morikawa and Max Homa, who both played their college golf at University of California, Berkeley, and who both played in the Southwestern Amateur, got themselves into serious contention at the 2024 Masters, each taking a share of the lead before ultimately finishing in a tie for third.
We first got to see Max play in the 2010 Southwestern Amateur, and met Collin five years later at the 2015 event.
Southwestern Am alum Collin Morikawa wins the PGA Tour ZOZO Championship (10/23/2023)
The SWGA would like to congratulate Collin Morikawa on his victory in the PGA Tour ZOZO Championship in Japan this past weekend. Morikawa broke through Sunday with a 7-under 63 for a six-shot victory at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club just outside Tokyo.
“It feels so good, I can’t even explain it,” Morikawa said. “I knew I was going to get here at some point. It’s like getting your first win, your first major.”
The two-time major champion first played in the Southwestern Amateur in 2015 at the age of 18.
Past participant Sahith Theegala gets first PGA Tour victory (9/19/2023)
The SWGA would like to congratulate Sahith Theegala for winning the PGA Tour Fortinet Championship, his first PGA Tour victory in just his second year on tour. The 25-year-old shot 68-64-67-68 for a 21-under 267 total and to tie the tournament record and win by two shots.
Theegala played in the Southwestern Amateur in 2015 and 2016 amidst an amateur career that saw him become a three-time NCAA All-American at Pepperdine University.
Kurt Kitayama is the latest former SW Am player to win on tour (3/6/2023)
The Southwestern Golf Association would like to congratulate Kurt Kitayama for his breakthrough victory in the PGA TOUR Arnold Palmer Invitational. Kitayama is the latest former Southwestern Amateur participant to win on tour; he played in the 2012 SW Am and finished in a tie for 12th.
Three former SW Am players finish in top 4 of PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines (2/1/2023)
Max Homa took the next step in his PGA Tour career on Sunday, erasing a five-shot deficit on the final day to win the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.
Homa, who we got to know when he played in the Southwestern Amateur as an am, closed with a 6-under 66 to finish at 13-under 275 and a two-shot win. He looks poised to represent the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the first time, and has risen to 5th in the standings following his win in San Diego.
Two other former Southwestern Amateur players finished in the top 4 at Torrey Pines. Collin Morikawa, who will likely also be on Team USA this fall, finished solo third at 10 under and Sahith Theegala was fourth, another shot back.
2013 SW Am champ J.T. Poston wins again on the PGA Tour (7/3/2022)
J.T. Poston, the Southwestern Amateur champion in 2013, won his second career PGA Tour event, going wire-to-wire at the John Deere Classic and posting a 72-hole total of 21-under 263. A week after tying for second at the Travelers Championship, Poston continued his stellar play, becoming the first player on record to open consecutive Tour events with a 62 or better.
In addition to his victory, Poston earned a place in the upcoming British Open at St. Andrews.
“I’ve always wanted to play in one of those in any of the venues, but for my first one to be at St. Andrews, at the 150th, I can’t wait to get there,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what it’s like.”
Max Homa ascends to next level with win at Wells Fargo Championship (5/10/2022)
“Life’s good” says Max Homa, who has just picked up his 4th PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship. The win is his second at this event, although at two different venues as this year’s tournament was moved to TPC Potomac near Washington, DC as Quail Hollow in Charlotte prepares to host the Presidents Cup this fall.
Homa hopes to be on the U.S. team for that event and appears to be on his way.
With four PGA Tour wins, Homa is ascending to a new level where his name will start to be mentioned when majors and major international team competitions come around.
It was our privilege to see his potential when he played in the Southwestern Amateur as an amateur.
Sahith Theegala becomes a household name at the WM Phoenix Open (2/14/2022)
Sahith Theegala, who we got to know during his two Southwestern Amateur appearances in 2015 and 2016, was the star of the WM Phoenix Open, taking advantage of a sponsor exemption and leading the tournament for three days before finishing one shot back in a tie for third.
Congrats to Sahith for his performance and for making many new fans this week!
Morikawa caps off a dream year with Race to Dubai title and GGP POY honor (11/22/2021)
Just over six years after his debut in the Southwestern Amateur, Collin Morikawa has ascended to the top of the golf world, winning two majors, becoming a Ryder Cup star, and becoming the first American to win the Race to Dubai as the No. 1 player on the European Tour.
The 24-year-old Californian demonstrated patience after a slow start and then world-class iron play down the stretch in making five birdies in his last seven holes to overhaul a fading Rory McIlroy and win the DP World Tour Championship with a final-round 6-under 66 on Sunday.
“It’s an honor to be the first American to do that, to put my name against many, many greats and Hall of Famers,” Morikawa said.
3 more Southwestern Amateur alumni make it to the PGA Tour (9/7/2021)
Congratulations to three former Southwestern Amateur participants for obtaining their PGA tour cards for next season.
Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine) played in 2015 and 2016. Max McGreevy (Oklahoma) played in 2013 and 2014, finishing as the runner-up. Brandon Wu (Stanford) played in 2015 and 2016. Good luck to all of them!
Congratulations to British Open champion Collin Morikawa (7/19/2021)
The Southwestern Golf Association would like to congratulate Collin Morikawa for winning the 2021 British Open at Royal St. George’s in England, his second major championship in just over two years as a professional.
We enjoyed getting to know the future “Champion Golfer of the Year” in 2015 when he first played in the Southwestern Amateur Championship, finishing T18 as an 18-year-old.
DeChambeau powers his way to win at Arnold Palmer Invitational (3/8/2021)
Bryson DeChambeau made a run at the 2012 Southwestern Amateur before coming up short. But nothing about DeChambeau’s game is short these days, as we saw at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. From his 320-yard carry over the lake at the par-5 6th, to mighty thrashes out of the thick rough on 9 and 15, he powered his way to a one-shot win, his 8th on the PGA Tour. The tournament’s namesake would have been impressed.
The Southwestern has been a stepping stone for many successful PGA professionals, and this is the third straight week a PGA Tour event has been won by a former Southwestern Amateur participant. Max Homa (Genesis Invitational) and Collin Morikawa (WGC Workday Championship) were the others.
Morikawa makes history at the WGC Workday Championship (3/1/2021)
Collin Morikawa continued his meteoric rise through the professional golf ranks with a win in the WGC Workday Championship played at The Concession Golf Club. In so doing, he joins his idol Tiger Woods as the only players to win a major and a WGC title before the age of 25.
Just five years removed from playing in the Southwestern Amateur, 23-year-old Collin Morikawa stunned the golfing world in hoisting the Wannamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship held at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. With the victory, Morikawa joined Jack Nicklaus (1963), Tiger Woods (1999) and Rory McIlroy (2012) as Wanamaker Trophy holders at age 23 and joined an elite group of Southwestern Amateur players who have gone on and won one of professional golf’s major tournaments.
Max Homa gets dream win at Riviera (2/22/2021)
Max Homa, who last competed in the Southwestern Amateur eleven years ago, picked up his second PGA Tour victory in dramatic fashion, defeating Tony Finau on the second playoff hole at Riviera Country Club after missing a three-footer for the win on the final hole of regulation.
It was an emotional win for the L.A. native who grew up close to Riviera and for whom the Genesis Invitational win was a childhood dream come true.
With the win, Homa becomes just the latest Southwestern Amateur alum to go on to win a PGA Tour event.
McGreevy’s 1st Win on Korn Ferry Tour (7/27/2020)
Max McGreevy came from five shots down entering the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Missouri, to take home his first professional title. Read more….
McGreevy, an ex-Oklahoma Sooner, was co-runnerup in the 2013 Southwestern Amateur and T23 in the 2014.
Morikawa Prevails at PGA Workday Charity Open (7/13/2020)
23-year-old Collin Morikawa, one of the young guns on the PGA tour, prevailed on the third playoff hole to win the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village in Dublin OH. It was his second PGA win in his young professional career. Collin played in the 2015 Southwestern Amateur finishing T-18. Read more about his PGA victory…
Kyle Jones Wins Utah Championship in Playoff (7/4/2020)
Kyle Jones won his first professional tournament by capturing the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship played at the Oakridge CC in Farmington, Utah, a three-man playoff. The 2014 Southwestern Amateur Champion outlasted his two fellow competitors with a birdie on the second playoff hole. The victory moves Jones to eighth on The 25, as he chases a PGA TOUR return. Read more…
2013 Champion J.T. Poston goes Bogeyless to Win Wyndham (8/9/2019)
2013 Southwestern Amateur champion J.T. Poston goes bogeyless over 72 holes to capture his 1st PGA win at the Wyndham Championship at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC. Poston hails from nearby Hickory, NC, and is the first professional to complete a 72 hole tournament without a bogey since 1974. Just another one of our former players making a splash on the PGA Tour. Read more…..
Young Guns Wolff and Morikawa Prevail at 3M Open (7/15/2019)
Matthew Wolff won in his fourth start on the PGA Tour by one stoke in dramatic fashion over another rookie Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau at the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. All three played in the Southwestern Amateur; Wolff as recently as 2017, Morikawa in 2015 and DeChambeau in 2012. Read more of Wolff win…..