Even the very best professionals are fully aware that they are as good as certain to lose more tournaments than they win throughout the course of their career. Therefore, it’s no surprise that getting a professional career off to a winning start is an incredibly rare feat.
Nevertheless, there have been a few notable examples of players winning on their professional debuts through the years. Here are some of the standout occasions.
Cary Middlecoff
Cary Middlecoff won the 1947 Charlotte Open
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The American graduated as a dentist, but it was his prowess on the golf course that made his name, with three Major titles among his career highlights.
Middlecoff declined the chance to captain the US Walker Cup team in 1947, opting to turn professional instead. Per the Sports Illustrated Vault, his first professional start came at that year’s Charlotte Open, which he won for a $2,000 first prize.
Beverly Hanson
Beverly Hanson won on her pro debut in 1951
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Hanson had a glittering amateur career, including winning the Texas Open in 1949, while the following the year she represented the US in the Curtis Cup as well as winning the US Women’s Amateur.
However, she wrote her name into the history books in 1951 at the Eastern Open, when she beat Babe Didrikson Zaharias in her first event as a professional.
She went on to win 17 times on the LPGA Tour and claimed three Major titles.
Marty Fleckman
Marty Fleckman’s win at the 1967 Cajun Classic Open was his one PGA Tour title
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Marty Fleckman was a standout college golfer at the University of Houston, and won the NCAA Championship in 1965. What’s more, while still an amateur, he led the 1967 US Open after the third round, before finishing T18.
Therefore, after turning professional, there was plenty of expectation on his shoulders – not that it showed.
Per Sports Illustrated Vault, his first official tournament as a pro came at the PGA Tour’s Cajun Classic Open Invitational in 1967, which he won in a playoff for his one and only title on the circuit.
Rose Zhang
Rose Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open in her pro debut
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As if to accentuate the rarity of winning on a professional debut, Hanson’s achievement wasn’t matched in…
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