Longtime golf writer Stan Awtrey lists the college resumes for five of the PGA Tour's top players.
1. Tiger Woods
He established himself as the game’s top young player by winning U.S. Junior Amateur from 1991-93. He signed with Stanford and played for the Cardinal from 1994-96. Woods won 11 college tournaments, including the 1998 NCAA Championship. Woods won the U.S. Amateur from 1994-96 and left school after his sophomore year to turn professional.
2. Phil Mickelson
Mickelson may have assembled the greatest college resume. While at Arizona State, he became one of only four players to be named first-team All-American for four seasons. Mickelson won 16 college tournaments and won the NCAA Championship in 1989, 1990 and 1992. As a junior he won the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open. Mickelson graduated with a degree in psychology in 1992.
3. Brandt Snedeker
Snedeker grew up playing municipal courses in Nashville, Tenn., and was a two-time all-state player and two-time Tennessee junior of the year. Snedeker played at Vanderbilt, where he became a two-time All-American and SEC player of the year. He won the 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and turned pro in 2004.
4. Dustin Johnson
Johnson opted to stick close to his Myrtle Beach, S.C., home and attended Coastal Carolina, where he was a three-time Big South Player of the Year. Even though he didn’t play in a power conference, Johnson was a two-time All-American and was selected to play on the 2007 Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams. He won seven tournaments in college and finished as the school’s all-time scoring leader.
5. Graeme McDowell
McDowell was among the early wave of Europeans to come to school in America. The native of Northern Ireland ended up at UAB because of the facilities and the moderate climate. He became a two-time All-American and won the 2002 Fred Haskins Award as player of the year. Three of his nine collegiate victories came at the Atlanta Intercollegiate.
