With only one bogey in 72 holes, Lance Simpson went wire to wire to win the 121st Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship at the Pfau Course at Indiana University. The victory was the University of Tennessee redshirt senior’s first in a World Amateur Golf Ranking counting event since 2022 and earned him an exemption into next month’s U.S. Amateur.
Simpson, who made his professional tournament debut in the U.S. Open earlier this year, shot 17-under par with rounds of 64-67-67-69 and finished four strokes clear of Cooper Schultz.
In the first round, Simpson made seven birdies and no bogeys to open up a one-stroke lead over JP Odland and mid-amateur Connor Doyal. His 64 was tied for the tournament low.
Also in the first round, the threesome of Kaleb Wilson, Schultz and Tyler Sabo did something extremely rare: they played the par-5 first hole in eight strokes combined. Wilson made albatross from 260 yards with a 3-wood. Schultz hit his second shot to 4 feet and made eagle. Sabo holed out for eagle from the greenside bunker.
“I took 3-wood and tried to bunt-low cut it,” Wilson said. “I hit it perfect. It landed just in front of the green and rolled in. If you know me, I don’t cut it so that was really something.”
Two rain delays on Wednesday meant Simpson started his second round at around 5:30 pm local time. He made his first and only bogey of the tournament on the first hole before immediately bouncing back with a birdie on the second. Simpson played 13 holes 2-under before his day ended due to darkness.
Simpson came back Thursday morning and played his remaining five holes 2-under, getting to 11-under for the tournament. He held a four-shot lead after the second round before returning to the course hours later for his third.
“I went back to the hotel, took a nap for about an hour and came back out and played a little golf,” Simpson said.
And Simpson played solid golf, shooting a third-round 67. Going into the final day, he held a five-stroke lead over Noah Kent and Declan O’Donovan.
On Friday, the lead immediately became six after Simpson birdied the first hole and he cruised his way to victory.
At 2-under, former pro Michael Weaver finished as the low mid-amateur, one stroke ahead of Doyal.
“I like competing against college guys,” Weaver said. “I treat it with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder. I know they’re working hard on their game and are playing nearly full time. I work and I’m able to play a good amount so it’s satisfying to play well against college guys.”
The Trans-Mississippi Amateur was the fourth of seven events in the 2025 men’s Elite Amateur Series, with the fifth event, the Southern Amateur, slated for this week. Teenager Tyler Watts, the Sunnehanna Amateur winner, led the standings through the first three events.
RESULTS
Everett Munez