The Youngest Golfers to Win Professional Tournaments

Is it just me or do golfers, like policemen, seem to be getting younger? That certainly seems to be the case when it comes to winners of professional tournaments.

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin won the Porsche European Open in Germany at the age of 20. What was most impressive about McKibbin’s performance was that he played like a veteran.

But even at 20, he is nowhere near being the youngest ever winner on the DP World Tour.

Here are just a few teenagers who beat him to it.

Matteo Manassero

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

At just 17 years old, Matteo Manassero played his way into the record books with his impressive four-stroke win at the 2010 Castello Masters to become the youngest ever winner on the European Tour. Manassero had started the final day two shots behind Gary Boyd, but the Italian shot a sparkling final round of of 67, that saw him finish at 16 under, four clear of Ignacio Garrido.

The Italian teenager already had a string of records to his name. He became the youngest Amateur Championship winner in history as a 16-year-old in 2009, finished as the youngest winner of the silver medal for the leading amateur at The Open at Turnberry, and was the youngest player to make the cut at The Masters. The latter record was beaten by Tianlang Gun, who was 14 years old when he made the cut at Augusta National in 2013.

And Manassero is also the second youngest winner in DP World Tour history. He was 17 years and 363 days old when he won again at the 2011 Maybank Malaysian Open.

It was a dramatic final day that saw the leaders having to play 27 holes due to six hours of weather delays earlier in the week, and Rory McIlroy looked to be in early control of the contest before he was passed by both Manassero and Alex Noren after the end of the third round.

A fast start put Gregory Bourdy out in front, and he recovered from two mid-round mistakes to post the clubhouse target at 15-under. Undeterred, Manassero birdied the second, and soon joined Bourdy at the top of the leaderboard after holing his approach at the tenth for eagle. He gained the lead just one hole later, and although he dropped a shot at the 12th, a ten foot downhill putt for birdie on the 14th moved him in front once more, and this time he kept his composure to par his way in for his second Tour win.

"I couldn’t imagine anything better - going back home to celebrate my 18th birthday and my second victory on The European Tour," he said, after climbing to 33rd on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Danny Lee

At the age of 18 years and 213 days, Lee became the youngest winner and only the second amateur after 2007 Estoril Open de Portugal champion Pablo Martin to win on Tour.

The teenager, who had become the youngest U.S Amateur winner in August 2008, birdied his final hole for a closing five under par 67 at The Vines Resort & Country Club to finish one shot ahead of Ross McGowan, Hiroyuki Fujita and Felipe Aguilar on 17 under par.

"I was dreaming about winning but my goal was to make the cut after two rounds and to try to get into the top 20 or top ten,” Lee said afterwards. "You know winning a European Tour event, it's pretty amazing what I've done."

The New Zealander, who was born in South Korea, turned professional shortly after. He has one other professional victory, which came at in 2015 at The Greenbrier Classic, and reached a high of 34th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Rasmus Hojgaard

In just his fifth event on Tour, Hojgaard captured his maiden tour title with an eagle on the third play-off at the 2019 AfraAsia Mauritius Bank Open.

The 18-year-old Dane had played on the Challenge Tour in 2019 but narrowly missed out on earning one of the 15 Tour cards after finishing 21st in the Race to Mallorca standings.

Hojgaard went on to become the first player born in the 21st century to graduate from European Tour Qualifying School, overcoming a first round 74 to share fifth place in the standings.

His win was almost immediate, following a tie for 49th place at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with victory in just his second tournament of the season in Mauritius.

He stayed aggressive during a final round 68, hitting a 360 yard drive on the 18th hole and making birdie to earn a spot in a play-off with Renato Paratore and Antoine Rozner

He kept that strategy for the remainder of the play-off, going birdie-birdie before hitting his approach on the third play-off hole to just a few feet and rolling in his eagle putt for victory.

Hojgaard’s victory made him the fastest Dane to win on Tour, beating 15 time winner and 2018 Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn's record of 24 events.

Sergio Garcia

The Spaniard’s breakthrough came as no surprise to anybody who had been following his progress. He had made the cut at the Turrespana Open in 1995 at the age of just 15 and became the youngest ever winner of the European Amateur the same year. And in only his sixth start as a professional he won the Irish Open. The following month, aged 19 years and seven months he nearly won the US PGA, narrowly losing out to Tiger Woods. And he completed a memorable year by becoming the youngest player ever to compete at the Ryder Cup - and all before his 20th birthday.

Rory McIlroy

McIlroy was still three months short of his 20th birthday when he won the Dubai Desert Classic, beating Justin Rose by a shot. The 19-year-old carded a final round two under par 70 to finish at 19 under and to seal a wire to wire victory, as Rose fell just short after a five under par round of 67 at Emirates Golf Club.

McIlroy had led by six strokes with six holes left to play after reeling off four straight birdies from the ninth, but three bogeys in three holes saw Rose move to within one of his playing partner standing on the final tee.

McIlroy admitted that the pressure had made it difficult, saying: “You see guys coming down the stretch with a four or five shot lead, and you think it’s easy - but it’s not. You still have to play the shots, and you still have to hole the putts.”

There have also been plenty of young winners on the PGA Tour...

Jordan Spieth

You may feel like Jordan Spieth has been around for years, and that is precisely because he has. He is the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in recent times. He was still 12 days short of his 20th birthday when he announced himself on the scene by winning the John Deere Classic in 2013.

Joohyung Kim

Joohyung Kim, or Tom as he is known on the PGA Tour, is a breath of fresh air and had barely turned 20 when he won the Wyndham Championship. And barely two months later, he added the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open at the age of 20 years three months and 18 days, to become the youngest two-time champion.

Matthew Wolff

The big-hitting Wolff has always done things his own way. He hits the ball a country mile with a technique that can, at best, be described as idiosyncratic. But nobody expected him to make such an early impact, winning his first PGA Tour title barely two months after turning 20.

Lydia Ko

But all of the above is nothing when compared with what Lydia Ko achieved on the LPGA Tour. She was still only 15 years, four months and three days old when she beat a star-studded cast to win the Canadian Women’s Open.