A college golf career is a tried and trusted way for many players to hone their skills in a competitive environment and open doors via distinct pathways to the professional game. However, it is by no means the only way to lay the groundwork for a successful career.
Some of the world’s best players made their names without the benefit of a college golf career. Here are nine of the most notable.
Tommy Fleetwood
The Englishman had a glittering amateur career including victories in the 2009 Scottish Amateur Stroke Play Championship and the English Amateur the year after. He also finished runner-up in the 2008 Amateur before representing Great Britain and Ireland in the 2009 Walker Cup, all of which helped him reach third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
While a stint at a top US university would have appeared a natural step for Fleetwood, he instead opted to make the leap to the professional game at the age of just 19.
It’s hard to argue with his decision as he has since claimed multiple victories in his professional career. He had also finished in the top 10 of a Major eight times by the end of 2024 and has represented Europe in three editions of the Ryder Cup, including the 2023 win at Marco Simone.
Sergio Garcia
Spaniard Garcia’s transition from the amateur game to the professional ranks bears similarities with Fleetwood’s.
He had been earmarked as a potential star from a young age and won his first club championship when he was 12. Three years later, he became the youngest player to make the cut at a European tour event in the 1995 Turespana Open Mediterranea.
There were also team appearances in the Eisenhower Trophy and the Junior Ryder Cup, while he also won The Amateur at Muirfield in 1998. A year later, Garcia was The Masters low amateur and that was enough to persuade him to turn professional.
He has since enjoyed one of the best professional careers of his era, including becoming the record Ryder Cup points scorer and returning to the scene of his low amateur achievement for arguably his greatest moment as a golfer – winning The Masters at Augusta National in 2017.
Tyrrell Hatton
The Englishman rose through the ranks of European amateur golf to hone his skills, including a spell on the European Junior Golf Tour, However, a big breakthrough came when he qualified for the 2010 Open at the Old Course.
Hatton then opted against a college golf career by turning pro the year after and initially playing on the PGA EuroPro Tour and the Jamega Pro Golf Tour, collecting his first three wins in the professional game along the way.
He joined the Challenge Tour in 2012 before qualifying for the 2014 European Tour. Victories soon followed, and he then found a path to the PGA Tour and nowadays LIV Golf, while he has also represented Europe in three editions of the Ryder Cup.
Charley Hull
The LPGA Tour star had an impressive junior career, including wins in multiple amateur tournaments in her early years, while she also played for Great Britain and Ireland in the 2012 Curtis Cup.
After being home schooled so she could concentrate on her golf, she opted against joining an educational institution to further her career, instead turning professional in 2013 at the age of just 16.
She initially joined the LET, where she secured five successive runner-up finishes on her way to being named the 2013 Rookie of the Year.
By 2015, she was dividing her time between the LET and LPGA Tour and has not looked back since, with several professional victories, multiple top 10 finishes in Majors, and seven Solheim Cup appearances, the first of which came in her maiden professional season.
Lydia Ko
By almost any measure, Lydia Ko is one of the greatest players of all time, and her legacy was secured after her gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, which earned her a place in the LPGA Hall of Fame. She managed it all without the grounding of a college career, too.
The New Zealander was a child prodigy and became the youngest player to win a professional tour event in the 2012 Women's NSW Open on the ALPG Tour when she was 14.
By the time she was 15, she’d broken another record, this time as the youngest winner of an LPGA Tour event at the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Open.
There was little doubt Ko was on a fast track to a professional career, and after finishing runner-up at the 2013 Evian Championship, she left her amateur career behind later that year, and she has since claimed three Major titles among many other achievements.
Jessica And Nelly Korda
The Korda sisters come from a strong sporting background, with father Petr a former Grand Slam tennis champion and mother Regina also a former tennis professional, but their abilities shone early on the golf course.
Jessica, at five years older than her sister, was the first to make it to the professional game following an amateur career that included Junior Solheim Cup and Curtis Cup appearances for the US as well as making cuts at the 2008 and 2009 US Women’s Opens.
She then entered LPGA Q-school in 2010 at the age of 17, which gave her eligibility for full membership for the 2011 season. She took the option up, and has since claimed six LPGA Tour wins.
For Nelly, it was a similar story, with an appearance at the 2015 Junior Solheim Cup before making the cut at the US Women’s Open at the age of 14.
She also bypassed college to turn professional at a young age, at 18, but unlike her sister, she began it on the Symetra Tour.
Nelly won the 2016 Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge in her maiden season as a professional on her way to becoming one of the best players of her era, with achievements including a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics and two Major titles.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy was introduced to golf at a young age by his father, Gerry, and he soon gained a love for the game as Gerry took out several jobs to fund his son’s development as he continued to coach him in his early years.
After many notable successes as a teenager, including becoming the youngest-ever winner of both the West of Ireland Championship and the Irish Close Championship, McIlroy had seemed set for a college golf career at East Tennessee State University, even signing a letter of intent to enroll.
However, that plan was shelved so that he could continue to play golf in Europe and develop his game.
Further success followed, including topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He was also a member of the 2007 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team, and made his first European Tour appearance shortly after turning 16.
By that time, any thoughts of pursuing a college career were likely firmly behind him, and on 18 September 2007, he turned professional and within four years had his first Major win on his way to becoming one of the greatest and most respected players of his generation.
Lexi Thompson
US player Lexi Thompson was a golf prodigy and, aged 12, she became the youngest player to qualify for the US Women’s Open.
In 2009, by the age of 14, Thompson had qualified for the Major for the third time, and on that occasion she made the cut with a T34.
That didn’t persuade her to turn professional at that time. Instead, she retained her amateur status and competed in events including the 2010 Women’s Australian Open.
Thompson then went undefeated playing for the US in the 2010 Curtis Cup, and the lure of the professional game finally proved too great. She left her amateur career behind the following week, and declared that she believed her game was ready to make the jump.
She was right to back her abilities, as a string of achievements in the professional game followed. They included the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship title among 11 LPGA Tour victories and seven US Solheim Cup appearances on her way to earning a reputation as one of the women’s game’s most iconic players of all time.
