Top 10 Youngest Golf Prodigies
With just their junior golf resumes and with little or no adult accomplishments these golfers had already had some great achievements. After some research, RunRex has put together a list of those they found to be the finest golf prodigies. Read on to find out what these young and talented golfers had managed to achieve at such a tender age.
1. Tiger Woods
As early on as two years, it was obvious that Tiger Woods was going to become a great golfer. Although there have been many toddlers taunted to be the next Tiger Woods; most of them end up fizzling out. However, Tiger’s talent never fizzled. With his father Earl’s help, he went on to win Six Junior World Championships. His first junior championship was at the tender age of eight years. When Tiger was 15, he won the US Junior Amateur. He was the youngest to ever do that at his time. Besides that, he was the first ever multiple winner. He went on to win it three years in a row. I 1996, he turned pro and won two PGA events within three months. Shortly after, he went on to claim the Masters by 12 strokes in 1997.
2. Matteo Manassero
With drives that average over 290 yards, he definitely has a place in this list. He also has one of the finest sand and exceptional records in the championship. When playing against the like of Sergio Garcia and Tom Watson, he does not look out of place. However, what is surprising is that he is only 16. He is also the youngest British Amateur Champion at just 16. He shaved off two years from Bobby Cole’s record, which had held since 1966. Matteo, who was born in Verona, is quite tall for his age at six feet. He is undoubtedly going to grow even taller and better with time.
3. Tom “Young Tom” Morris
He was the son of “Old Tom” who proved himself to be as good if not better than his father. After winning an exhibition match at just 13 years, he took the title of the youngest Open Championship participant one year later. He took pat in his first pro tournament at 16 years. At 17, he still holds the record for the youngest winner of a Major. Over the course of his career, there was no stopping him. Sadly, he did not live long and died prematurely at 24 years.
4. Ryo Ishikawa
At just 18 years, he had already bagged seven Japan Tour wins. In 2015, he was the youngest player in the world to hit the top 50 mark in golf. He recently won the Crowns with a final round of 58. Although he has not won any tournament in America, it is quite safe to say that it will only be a matter of time before he does.
5. Rory McIlroy
Rory is one of the most talked about figures in golf today. He won his first tournament in 2016 at just 21 years. With that win, he joined the world top 10 golfers and has stayed there since. At the 2009 PGA Championship, Rory finished T3. He is so good that he has earned a spot in the EA Sports video game “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.”
6. Alexis Thompson
After winning the PGA Championship of 2007 at 12, she became the youngest female to qualify for the US Women’s Open. However, she did not make the cut. In 2008, she qualified again but did not make it to the weekend. In 2009, things were going better for her. She finished 21st at her first major when she was just 14. Alexis has been home schooled since she was 11. She comes from a golfing family and has a brother that has won over $3 million on the Nationwide and PGA tours.
7. Bobby Jones
Jones is considered by most to be the greatest player of all time. When he retired from golf at just 28, it sent shockwaves throughout the golfing world. Jones took up golfing at the young age of 5. He swept everyone aside in the south before he came onto the national scene in 1916. It was at that time that he competed in the US amateur aged just 14. Competing against some of the finest players of his time, his accomplishments generated endless columns in the newspapers of the time. He went on to win 13 majors in twenty attempts before giving up on golf at 28.
8. Ryo Ishikawa
Ryo won his first amateur tournament at the age of 15. After turning pro at 16, he went on to win three more. He considered the most marketable property of the Japan Tour. He is more than just a one-hit wonder. His achievements up to this day are still quite impressive.
9. Sergio Garcia
Sergio began playing golf at just three years. At the age of 12, he won at an adult tournament. At the age of 15, he became the youngest ever participant of the European Tour. The record stood until 2008. He turned pro in 1997 and became a star overnight.
10. Jordan Spieth
There are only five golfers younger than Spieth that have made the cut for the PGA tour. He is a two-time defending US Junior Amateur Champion.