Many players we nowadays consider the greats of the game flourished in their college careers with a string of victories before becoming household names.
For example, in the men’s game, Tiger Woods won 11 times in his Stanford career. That was impressive considering he only attended the university for two years before turning professional, although honorable mentions to Patrick Rodgers and Maverick McNealy, who had the same number of wins during their – admittedly longer – Stanford careers.
Decades after Woods’ heroics, Jon Rahm was another player who achieved 11 collegiate wins, this time at Arizona State University, while others on that number include Furman’s Brad Faxon between 1980 and 1983 and UCLA’s Corey Pavin from 1977 to 1982.
Mexican superstar Lorena Ochoa, who would eventually claim 27 LPGA Tour wins including two Major titles, surpassed even that total, with 12 wins in her spell at the University of Arizona.
While that feat was impressive, it was equaled by Stanford’s Rose Zhang, who did it in style by becoming the first woman to win the NCAA Division I Golf Championship twice in 2023, while Ingrid Lindblad of LSU also managed it between 2020 and 2024.
Before then, another player who would go onto a successful professional career, Arkansas’s Stacy Lewis, won the same number between 2005 and 2008.
Stacy Lewis won 13 collegiate titles
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Phil Mickelson had a legendary college golf career, with 16 wins including a record-equalling three NCAA Division I Championship titles. Mary Moan of Princeton also collected 16 collegiate wins between 1994 and 1997, along with Renee Heiken Illinois between 1990 and 1993. Even they don’t hold the record for most collegiate wins, though, although there are just three ahead of them.
Phil Mickelson won 16 times while at Arizona State
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Juli Inkster won 17 times during her career at San Jose State between 1978 and 1982, but ahead of her is Keith Fergus, who holds the distinction of the man with the most collegiate wins at 19, which he achieved during his time at Houston between 1973 and 1976. He then embarked on a PGA Tour career that included three titles.
However, even his extraordinary achievement was eclipsed decades later by North Dakota State’s Amy Anderson between 2009…
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