The Western Amateur is annually one of the best amateur golf tournaments in the world. It has been a prestigious national championship since 1899 and many great players have etched their names on the George R. Thorne Trophy.
The field features 156 of the best amateur golfers from across the world. Contestants play 36 holes of stroke play over the first two days to determine the low 44 players that play a final 18-hole round of stroke play to determine the low 16 golfers. The “Sweet Sixteen” compete in match play over the final two days to decide a champion.
Past competitors in the Western Amateur’s Sweet Sixteen are responsible for 95 major championships, 23 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Awards, 10 FedEx Cup titles, 14 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Awards, as well as 11of the 24 participants in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
It took University of Florida teammates Ian Gilligan and Jack Turner 29 holes to determine a champion at Moraine Country Club. Gilligan finally hoisted the trophy after the 11th playoff hole, the longest match in Western Amateur history.
“After hours and hours of a grind of a match, I couldn’t be happier to have pulled it out in the end,” Gilligan said. “It was a battle of energy levels and so hard to stay focused all day, but it ended up being an unbelievable day. I can’t even put it into words.”
After 154 holes of play, Gilligan’s name was etched on the trophy beside the names of former Western Amateur champions, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Weiskopf, Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus.
The victory further cements Gilligan’s status as one of the world’s top amateurs. Currently No. 14 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Gilligan will enter his senior season at No. 8 in the PGA TOUR University Preseason Rankings. He’s also earned an exemption into the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank on the Korn Ferry Tour.
First played at Glen View Club in 1899, the Western Amateur is the world’s third-oldest amateur championship, behind only the British Amateur (1885) and the U.S. Amateur (1895) and attracts the top players from across the country and around the world.
