Southern California has been home to some of golf’s biggest phenoms. The likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim all hail from the Southland. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest talents to come out of SoCal:
Anthony Kim
Kim hails from Los Angeles and attended the heralded Campbell Hall Prep in the San Fernando Valley. Soon after, Kim found himself at the University of Oklahoma on a golf scholarship. The SoCal native had a lot to look forward to following his third PGA Tour win in 2010, but has since disappeared completely from the golf world.
Kim won a Ryder Cup in 2008, a Presidents Cup in 2009 and even set a Masters record for the most birdies in a single round. There is no doubt about Kim’s talent, but the off-course issues seemed to get the better of him. Still only 30-years old, we would love to see Anthony make a comeback.
Phil Mickelson
Lefty is one of the greatest golfers of all time and perhaps the best left-handed player ever. Mickelson has 42 career wins, good for 9th all time, and five major championships.
Mickelson was born in San Diego and spent most of his childhood on courses in the SoCal area. Most notably, Torrey Pines is one of his favorite courses. Phil attended Arizona State University before beginning his hall of fame career on the PGA Tour.
Jamie Lovemark
Lovemark was born in Rancho Santa Fe and was the number one ranked amateur golfer in 2007. Jamie attended the University of Southern California, where he won the NCAA Individual title in his sophomore season.
His professional career has been somewhat of a disappointment. Lovemark only has two wins on the Web.com Tour and has only played in one of the four major championships. Lovemark also has a 0-2 playoff record.
Craig Stadler
The “Walrus” hails from San Diego and attended the University of Southern California. Stadler won the 1973 U.S. Amateur and was an All-American for four years while at USC.
Stadler ended up winning 13 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1982 Masters. Stadler still plays today on the Champions Tour.
Tiger Woods
No words are needed to describe Eldrick’s career. He was born in Cypress and has turned into arguably the greatest golfer of all time. 14 major championships and an unprecedented junior career has made SoCal natives proud to call Tiger won of their own.