How many amateur golfers have won a major championship?

Francis Ouimet is one of the amateur golfers who have won a major championship after he stunned the world by beating two of the games biggest stars – Ted Ray and Harry Vardon – in a playoff at the 1913 US Open.

It seems impossible to think that players in the unpaid ranks have been victorious in the game’s biggest events, but it has happened. Here’s the full list of amateur golfers to have won a major….

As history has shown, Goliath doesn’t always beat David. Golf is no exception.

Shock victories are what makes the sport so unpredictable, but how many times has an amateur gone toe-to-toe with the pros and come out on top to claim one of the biggest prizes?

As we approach a century since our last amateur major champion in the men’s game, there have been some close calls in the sport’s more recent history.

Paul Dunne springs to mind. The Irish amateur shared the lead with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen going into the fourth round of the 2015 Open at St Andrews and was in the final group on Sunday at the Home of Golf. A historic triumph was just 18 holes away, but Dunne faded out of contention with a closing 78 that dropped him back into a tie for 30th.

Justin Rose was another to go close at The Open before turning pro. The Englishman vaulted onto the scene in 1998 at Royal Birkdale, holing his second shot at the 72nd hole to finish in a tie for 4th, just two back of the playoff.

A fresh-faced Rory McIlroy looked like he could contend for the Claret Jug as an amateur at Carnoustie in 2007 when he opened with a 3-under 68 that was the only bogey-free round of the day. It wasn’t to be but the Northern Irishman left Angus with the Silver Medal for low amateur.

And what of Tiger Woods, did he ever come close as an amateur? His best result in a major before joining the pro ranks was a tie for 22nd at the 1996 Open at Royal Lytham, while he also finished in a tie for 41st at the 1995 Masters.

Male amateur golfers who have won a major championship

The most notable was when Francis Ouimet got the better of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray to win the 1913 US Open at Brookline. At the time, Vardon and Ray were the two biggest names in the sport – the tournament had even been moved so they could play – and it was such a captivating underdog story that it was made into a movie titled The Greatest Game Ever Played in 2005.

Bobby Jones’ prowess as an amateur is also legendary. Of the current majors on the men’s rota, Jones won seven of them – four US Opens and three Open Championships – all as an amateur between 1923 and 1930.

As well as this, Jones actually holds a unique record that will almost certainly never be matched. In his time, the four majors consisted of The Open, the British Amateur, the US Open and the US Amateur. He scooped all of them in 1930, making him the only man in history to achieve that feat and complete a calendar Grand Slam.

He retired from competitive golf later that year at the age of 28, although he did return in 1934 to play in the first edition of the Masters in 1934 after co-designing Augusta National with Dr Alister MacKenzie.

In total, there have been seven amateurs who have won one of the men’s majors as they are today, although the last to do it was Johnny Goodman at the 1933 US Open.

No amateur has ever won the Masters – Frank Stranahan (1947), Ken Venturi (1956) and Charlie Coe (1961) all finished runner-up – or the PGA Championship, for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

Female amateur golfers who have won a major championship

In the women’s game, eight tournaments have been granted major championship status at one time or another in LPGA history.

Of the current five, none have been won by amateurs, though Jenny Lee Smith, Janet Melville and Marta Figueras-Dotti all won the Women’s British Open as amateurs before the tournament was a major.

The following is a list of amateur golfers who won tournaments while they had major championship status…

Patty Berg went on to become the LPGA’s winningest major champion in history, with 15, while Louise Suggs ended her career in third with 11.

In a tie for 4th with Annika Sorenstam with 10 is Babe Zaharias, who turned to golf after a successful Olympics career that saw her win two golds and a silver in track and field events at the 1932 Games in LA.

While we’re here, the De Maurier Classic was never won by an amateur while it was a major, but Lydia Ko’s first two LPGA titles came at this tournament – now known as the Canadian Women’s Open – in 2012 and ’13 before turning pro.