The World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) showcases the top amateur golfers across the globe. Widely regarded as one of the premier amateur golf tournaments, teams of three represent their country and battle for the Eisenhower’s Trophy (men’s competition) and Espirito Santo Trophy (women’s competition).
Most importantly, the WATC serves as a stepping stone for future professional golfers and a host of top golfing stars have passed through the ranks of the competition such as reigning Olympic gold medallist Lydia Ko who competed in the 2010 and 2012 editions and 2014 champion Minjee Lee who is the proud owner of two major titles.
Golfing legend Tiger Woods also took home the championship in 1994 while Scottie Scheffler also played in the 2016 edition – a prelude to an illustrious pro career that sees him sitting pretty at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings.
We look back at some of the top talents that have graced the WATC over the years.
Tiger Woods (USA)
WATC Appearance: 1994
Team Result: 1st (1994)
Though still an amateur, the then-18-year-old Tiger Woods was already making waves in the amateur scene with a US Amateur Championship to his name. His 72-hole score of 284 helped Team USA clinch the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy in his only WATC appearance. Woods quickly rose to international stardom, turning professional in 1996 and has since amassed virtually every top title on offer in the golfing sphere. Though injuries have plagued him towards the tail-end of his career, he continues to contribute actively to the sport of golf.
Scottie Scheffler (USA)
WATC Appearance: 2016
Team Result: T6 (2016)
Current World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has cemented himself as a household name in golf and has been the man in form in recent years. The Olympic gold medallist featured at the WATC in 2016 but was unable to snag a third consecutive Eisenhower Trophy win for his team in Mexico, finishing sixth in the standings.
However, Scheffler has seen his career blossom with a standout 2024 where he secured back-to-back victories at The Players Championship, a second Masters title and a third-consecutive Jack Nicklaus Award for his exploits.
Collin Morikawa (USA)
WATC Appearance: 2018
Team Result: 2nd (2018)
Just two years after Scheffler, Collin Morikawa headlined the US Team at the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy, where they finished behind eventual winners Denmark by the slimmest of margins – a single stroke. The narrow loss did little to deter the upstart who turned professional a year later with one of the most impressive PGA debuts to date, where he racked up 22 consecutive made cuts, second only to Woods’ 25-cut streak.
Since then, the American has secured six PGA Tour wins. His rapid rise was highlighted by his two major championship victories—winning the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship on his debut in both majors.
Justin Thomas (USA)
WATC Appearance: 2012
Team Result: 1st (2012)
Another American to make the list is two-time major champion Justin Thomas. Thomas was part of a historic US trio that ended an eight-year drought at the WATC and did so in style, with all three players finishing in the top ten of the individual rankings.
Thomas turned professional four years later and quickly established himself on the PGA tour with a PGA Championship victory in 2017, capping off the season with a PGA Tour Player of the Year award. Despite bagging a series of wins in his early professional career, the 2019 FedEx Cup champion has been struggling to end a niggling title drought in recent seasons, amid multiple top-ten finishes.
Joshua Ho (SGP)
WATC Appearance: 2016, 2018
Team Result: 23 (2016), T25 (2018)
Joshua Ho’s 10-year tenure in the Singapore national team was highlighted by two appearances at the prestigious Eisenhower trophy, where the team achieved a then-record highest 23rd-place finish with Ho part of the three-man team in the individual rankings with a tied-53rd finish.
Ho’s WATC appearances bookended an emphatic team triumph over favourites Thailand at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Ho transitioned to golf management where he joined the Singapore Golf Association (SGA) as its High-Performance Manager in 2019, before rising through the ranks and is currently the association’s general manager.
Mardan Mamat (SGP)
WATC Appearance: 1992
Team Result: T36
Singapore’s first golfer to win on the European Tour, Mardan Mamat has been recognised as a trailblazer in local golf who continues to be feted for advancing the stature of Singaporean golf on the international stage with his achievements. Most notably the first Singaporean to play in The Open Championship when he qualified and made the cut in 1997, Mardan started his impressive career as a promising amateur with his sole appearance in the WATC in 1992 where the Singapore team finished tied 36th.
Mardan went on to make his mark in international tournaments with five wins on the Asian Tour and making his second appearance at The Open Championship in 2005, where he once again made the cut.
A true competitor, Mardan competed in the first leg of the US Champions Senior Tour Qualifying School, aiming to break into the senior professional golf scene
Choo Tze Huang (SGP)
WATC Appearance: 2002, 2008, 2010
Team Result: 51st (2002), 26th (2008), T30 (2010)
The only player on the list with a hat trick of appearances at the WATC, 2005 Singapore Amateur Champion Choo Tze Huang was only a teenager when he made his debut in the Eisenhower Trophy. He saw his stocks soar soon after with an individual bronze at the 2005 Southeast Asia Games and just before his second appearance at the WATC, Choo jetted off to the US on a golf scholarship and entered the renowned college golf system at the University of Washington.
He joined the professional ranks after concluding his college and went on to claim victories at the Singapore Professional Golfers’ Association (SPGA) President’s Cup in 2012, Palm Springs-SPGA Golf Series in Batam in 2017 and the first leg of the Singapore Pro Series Invitational in 2021.
Gavin Green (MAS)
WATC Appearance: 2012, 2014
Team Result: T12 (2012), T35 (2014)
The 2012 Malaysian Amateur Open winner represented his country in the 2012 and 2014 editions of the Eisenhower Trophy, taking tied-12th in his debut – Malaysia’s second best-ever result in the tournament after a tied-eighth finish in 2004. A 35th-place finish followed two years later but Green went on to achieve remarkable success as a professional. The three-time Olympian topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2017 en route to a Players’ Player of the Year award. His sole win on the Tour came that same year, at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and he also competed at The Open Championship a year later where he was placed tied-61st.
Annika Sorenstam (SWE)
WATC Appearance: 1990, 1992
Team Result: 9th (1990), 4th (1992)
The first player on the list to make multiple WATC appearances, Annika Sorenstam, represented her country of birth, Sweden, in both editions.
Also known as Miss 59 for her remarkable feat of being the only female to break 60 in an official event, the LPGA Hall of Famer showed incredible class at a young age as she took the individual top spot in the 1992 edition.
That sparked the beginning of an illustrious career which saw the Swedish-born American notch a career grand slam, 72 LPGA Tour wins, a record eight Player of the Year Awards and a Presidential Medal of Freedom to boot. The golden ager has not let age stop her as she came out of retirement to claim an impressive win in the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Rose Zhang (USA)
WATC Appearance: 2022
Team Result: 2nd (after tiebreaker)
Born in 2003, more than a decade after Sorenstam’s last appearance at the Espirito Santo Trophy, early starter Rose Zhang competed at the 2022 edition of the WATC where she finished in a three-way tie for individual first. It was a heartbreaking miss in the team standings as Sweden edged out Zhang’s Team USA after a tie-breaker went in the Swedes’ favour.
But the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion’s dominance in the amateur golf scene was undeniable as she took home the Mark H. McCormack Medal, as the top-ranked women’s amateur golfer, for three consecutive years (2020 to 2022).
A year later, Zhang became the first woman in NCAA women’s golf history to win the individual national championship twice. The phenom turned professional in 2023 and showed maturity beyond her years when she won the Mizuho Americas Open on her professional debut by downing fellow American Jennifer Kupcho on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Lydia Ko (NZL)
WATC Appearance: 2010, 2012
Team Result: T8 (2010), T5 (2012)
Also boasting a three-year consecutive Mark H. McCormack Medal streak (from 2011 to 2013) is none other than three-time major champion Lydia Ko. The South Korean-born New Zealander took top honours in the 2012 edition as she finished heads and shoulders over the competition with a 14-under 274, six strokes ahead of her nearest challenger. The then top-ranked woman amateur golfer took the Espirito Santo Trophy by storm with a runaway victory at the tender age of 15.
A true teen sensation, Ko reached the summit of the Women’s World Golf Rankings in 2015 and became the youngest player ever to do so at the age of 17. Ko continued to break records as she was inducted into the Hall of Fame after her famous win at the Paris Olympics, becoming the youngest member at age 27. More recently, Ko won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore this March.
Minjee Lee (AUS)
WATC Appearance: 2012, 2014
Team Result: T3 (2012), 1st (2014)
Another top-ranked woman amateur golfer, Minjee Lee first shot to fame when she became the youngest-ever winner of the Western Australia Women’s Amateur in 2010 at age 14. A podium finish in the team rankings in the 2012 Espirito Santo Trophy was followed by a stellar 2014 campaign where Lee took home team honours while finishing second in the individual standings. She turned pro at the height of her powers after winning the Oates Victorian Open which solidified her number one spot in the amateur rankings. The Australian of Korean descent has since bagged 10 LPGA wins, including two majors – the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open.
