With Sunday’s victory by Daniel Berger, competitors in 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and CommonGround have now won 50 times on PGA Tour
By Gary Baines – 2/15/2021
Fields for the U.S. Amateur are always impressive. That pretty much goes with the territory given that it’s arguably the most prestigious amateur golf tournament in the world — and that it normally features 312 players.
But some U.S. Amateurs are more outstanding than others. And the field that competed in the only such championship held in Colorado in the 21st century has established itself among the best — at least in retrospect.
It’s not that the 2012 U.S. Amateur — conducted at Cherry Hills Country Club with CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora being the second course for the stroke-play portion of the event — produced one of the all-time great champions. It didn’t. Obviously, Steven Fox won’t ever be confused with Phil Mickelson, who won the 1990 U.S. Am at Cherry Hills. (It should be noted here that it’s just 2 1/2 years until Cherry Hills will host the national amateur championship again. In between the two most recent Colorado-based U.S. Ams, the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship came to Cherry Hills in 2014.)
What does makes the 2012 U.S. Amateur impressive is the number of competitors who have gone to significant accomplishments as players.
That hit home once again on Sunday as Daniel Berger won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in spectacular fashion, making an eagle on the picturesque 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links to prevail by two. Berger, who ironically, failed to make the 64-man match-play portion of the 2012 U.S. Am, has now won four times on the PGA Tour.
In fact, three players who finished in the top seven at Pebble Beach competed at Cherry Hills and CommonGround nine years ago — Berger (victory on Sunday), Jordan Spieth (third) and Max Homa (seventh).
By our count, Berger’s victory makes it 50 PGA Tour victories in the last 8 1/2 years for players who competed in the 2012 U.S. Am, including five major championships. Here’s the rundown — and please let us know if we missed anyone:
— Justin Thomas: 13 PGA Tour wins, including one major
— Jordan Spieth: 11 wins, including three majors
— Bryson DeChambeau: 7 wins, including one major
— Hideki Matsuyama: 5 wins
— Xander Schauffele: 4 wins
— Daniel Berger: 4 wins
— Carlos Ortiz: 1 win
— Corey Conners: 1 win
— Max Homa: 1 win
— Aaron Wise: 1 win
— C.T. Pan: 1 win
— Cody Gribble: 1 win
And that list doesn’t even include those from the 2012 U.S. Am who have gone on to win multiple European Tour events, including Thomas Pieters (4 victories) and Sam Horsfield (2).
And for those more into the World Golf Rankings, we’ve got you covered there. Four of the current top 13 in the world competed in the 2012 at Cherry Hills and CommonGround — and a dozen of the current top 100:
3. Justin Thomas
4. Xander Schauffele
10. Bryson DeChambeau
13. Daniel Berger
22. Hideki Matsuyama
45. Carlos Ortiz
59. Corey Conners
62. Jordan Spieth
71. Thomas Pieters
91. Max Homa
92. Talor Gooch
100. Sam Horsfield
It should be noted that five of the current top 10 players in the world — Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Webb Simpson — were pros by the time the 2012 U.S. Am rolled round. And two of the world’s current top 10 would have been on the youngish side for the U.S. Am in 2012 — Jon Rahm (17 years old the time) and Collin Morikawa (15). In any case, none of those seven played in the event nine years ago.
Looking back on what has transpired, 2012 U.S. Am runner-up Michael Weaver had a particularly impressive run that week in Colorado. En route to the finals — where Weaver lost in 37 holes to Fox — he beat Zac Blair, Patrick Rodgers and Thomas, all of whom have now competed in more than 140 PGA Tour events.
Here’s a rundown on some of the 2012 U.S. Amateur competitors who have gone on to make it big as players, plus selected others:
JUSTIN THOMAS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play semifinals, where he lost to Michael Weaver, 3 and 2.
Current World Ranking: Third.
PGA Tour Victories: 13, including 2017 PGA Championship.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 80-69 — at Cherry Hills and CommonGround, respectively — and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: Fourth.
PGA Tour Victories: 4.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 64, where he lost to Andrew Presley in 19 holes.
Current World Ranking: 10th.
PGA Tour Victories: 7, including 2020 U.S. Open.
DANIEL BERGER
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 75-69 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 13th.
PGA Tour Victories: 4.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 73-72 and failed to make match play.
Current World Ranking: 22nd.
PGA Tour Victories: 5.
CARLOS ORTIZ
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 64, where he lost to Adams Stephenson, 1 up.
Current World Ranking: 45.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
COREY CONNERS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to the match play round of 64, where he lost to Max Homa, 5 and 4.
Current World Ranking: 59th.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
JORDAN SPIETH
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: The two-time U.S. Junior Amateur champion advanced to the match play round of 64, where he lost 1 up to 2012 NCAA champion Thomas Pieters.
Current World Ranking: 62nd.
PGA Tour Victories: 11, including 2015 Masters, 2015 U.S. Open, 2017 British Open.
THOMAS PIETERS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 32, where he lost to Albin Choi, 4 and 3.
Current World Ranking: 71.
European Tour Victories: 4.
MAX HOMA
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 32, where he lost to Justin Thomas, 3 and 1.
Current World Ranking: 91st.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
TALOR GOOCH
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 32, where he lost to Andrew Presley, 1 up.
Current World Ranking: 92.
SAM HORSFIELD
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 73-75 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 100th.
European Tour Victories: 2.
AARON WISE
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 68-79 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 135th.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
C.T. PAN
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play quarterfinals, where he lost to Brandon Hagy, 4 and 3.
Current World Ranking: 176th.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
GAVIN GREEN
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 32, where he lost to C.T. Pan, 3 and 1.
Current World Ranking: 210th.
PATRICK RODGERS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to the match play round of 32, where he lost 2 up to Michael Weaver, who would make it to the finals.
Current World Ranking: 248th.
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play round of 64, where he lost to Adam Schenk, 2 and 1.
Current World Ranking: 290th.
TREY MULLINAX
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 75-72 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 304th.
BEAU HOSSLER
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 72-72 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 316th.
ZAC BLAIR
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to the match play round of 64, where he lost 2 and 1 to Michael Weaver, who would make it to the finals. Blair competed in the U.S. Am a year after taking low-amateur honors in the Colorado Open.
Current World Ranking: 328th.
BRANDON HAGY
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play semifinals, where he lost 2 up to Steven Fox, who would to on to win the title.
Current World Ranking: 335th.
CODY GRIBBLE
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 75-69 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 1,146th.
PGA Tour Victories: 1.
STEWART HAGESTAD
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 69-78 and failed to advance to match play.
Currently in World Amateur Golf Rankings: 11th.
Note: Hagestad won the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur title and remains an amateur.
GARY NICKLAUS
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Shot 71-74 and failed to advance to match play.
Current World Ranking: 1,829th.
Note: Nicklaus, one of Jack Nicklaus’ sons, played in 123 events on the PGA Tour (best finish: second) before getting his amateur status back, then turning pro again.
MICHAEL WEAVER
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Advanced to match play final, where he lost in 37 holes to champion Steven Fox. En route to the title match, he beat Zac Blair, Patrick Rodgers, Albin Choi, Ricardo Gouveia and Justin Thomas.
Current World Ranking: 1,829th.
STEVEN FOX
How Fared in 2012 U.S. Amateur: Won the U.S. Amateur title, defeating Michael Weaver in the final in 37 holes. He won after being two down with two holes left in regulation. En route to the championship, Fox beat Jeff Osberg, Douglas Hanzel, Zak Munroe, Chris Williams and Brandon Hagy. Fox played his college golf at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Current World Ranking: 1,829th.
By the way, it should be noted that the 1990 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills attracted quite a field too, with Mickelson (44 PGA Tour wins, including five majors) being joined by current Coloradans David Duval (13 PGA Tour wins, one major) and Justin Leonard (12 PGA Tour wins, one major), along with Jim Furyk (17 PGA Tour victories, 1 major).
The way things are going for the 2012 U.S. Am competitors — and considering that many of them still are in their 20s — they may one day reach such lofty success totals.