Mike McCoy made USGA history last Thursday when he won the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, becoming the first player to win that title and a U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. McCoy defeated Greg Sanders, 3 and 2, in the final at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.
“I putted pretty solid, and again, drove it in play,” said McCoy, 62, of Des Moines, Iowa. “There’s a lot of little trees around here, and these trees can get in your way. I avoided those most of the week, and I didn't beat myself. I didn’t just give [Sanders] any holes. I made him stay in there and fight to the end. I think that was the key, just not throwing any holes away.
“I feel great,” added McCoy, who won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2013, played on the 2015 U.S. Walker Cup team and captained that squad to victory at St. Andrews in 2023. “I’m so honored to win a USGA championship. I love the USGA. A lot of my golfing history has sort of been built upon their championships and trying to get to them and advance and someday win one, and I finally did, and, of course, I never dreamed I’d win another one ... so it’s been a dream come true.”
By prevailing for a second time in his 62nd USGA championship start, McCoy received the Frederick L. Dold Trophy and a gold medal, and he will have his name inscribed on the 2025 USGA Champions’ plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions at the USGA Museum & Library in Liberty Corner, N.J. He earned exemptions into the 2026 U.S. Senior Open, the next 10 U.S. Senior Amateurs, the next two U.S. Mid-Amateurs and the next two U.S. Amateurs. He will also be exempt from local qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Open.
John Kemp of England is no stranger to collecting hardware on American soil. After sharing medalist honors with Roger Newsome in last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, he took home another medal in this year’s championship, shooting 7-under-par 135.
The solo leader after the first round, Kemp backed up his play with six birdies against three bogeys in shooting a 3-under 68 in the second round. Kemp was the first player to earn medalist honors in consecutive years at this championship since Paul Simson (2008-09).
The cut for match play came at 7-over 149, with a 12-for-5 playoff for the final match-play spots taking place last Monday morning. It was the fifth-largest playoff in championship history.
The most compelling match from the round of 64 involved two Spartanburg, South Carolina, neighbors: Todd White, the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur champion, and Mike Sposa, a former tour player who was recently reinstated as an amateur. White played well, hitting all 17 greens in regulation and making two birdies, but Sposa played better, making seven birdies on the way to a 2-and-1 victory. Sposa, 56, made 174 PGA Tour starts and 160 starts on what’s now the Korn Ferry Tour, winning once on the developmental circuit.
Sposa was the breakout player of the championship. Making his U.S. Senior Amateur debut, he qualified for match play by posting 5-over-par 147. After defeating White, he slipped past Ireland’s Jody Fanagan, 1 up, and then took down medalist Kemp, 2 and 1, to reach the quarterfinals. He won another close match, 1 up over Bob Royak, before losing in the semifinals to McCoy, 1 down.
“Fortunately, he’s one of my great friends and now we'll have something to talk about for years,” Sposa said of McCoy. “I’m going to have to get payback at some point, otherwise this is going to get pretty one-sided. But he’s as tough as a two-dollar steak.”.
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Staff reports