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Former PGA Tour golfer and current U.S. Senior Amateur champion Mike Sposa
Mike Sposa is a 57-year-old golfer from Teaneck, NJ who has had a lengthy career on the course. He played collegiate golf for the University of Tennessee, winning the SEC Championship in 1990 and being named an All-American in 1990 and 1991. Sposa played in the 1991 Walker Cup before turning pro and playing on the Nationwide Tour (now known as the Korn Ferry Tour) and the PGA Tour from 1994 to 2007.
During his career, Mike Sposa played in 174 PGA Tour events and made 90/174 cuts. He finished T-4 at the 2002 Compaq Classic of New Orleans, a tournament won by K.J. Choi who became the first-ever South Korean to win on the PGA Tour during that event. Mike Sposa earned $1,905,075 in tournament winnings on the PGA Tour. On the Korn Ferry Tour (then Nationwide Tour), Sposa competed in 160 events and made 86/160 cuts for a total of $338,840 in earnings.
Former PGA Tour Pro Mike Sposa Wis 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur
This week, Mike Sposa won the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur at Baltimore Country Club’s East Course after beating Todd White 3 and 2. Sposa jumped out to an early lead and was 4 up through 7 and it was smooth sailing for him after that.
Sposa is no stranger to going deep in the U.S. Senior Amateur. He made it to the semi-finals in 2025 where he ultimately lost 1-down to Michael McCoy who would go on to win it all 3 and 2. Sposa was able redeem that semi-final finish last year and hoist the trophy in 2026:
After winning the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur, Mike Sposa has earned a spot to play in the 2027 U.S. Senior Open Championship at Oak Tree National in Oklahoma.
There is a process for PGA Tour pros and other professionals to apply and have their amateur status reinstated by the USGA. Justin Hueber discussed the process here on the No Laying Up podcast last year and it sheds some light on what goes on behind the scenes.
Is Everyone Okay With This?
A quick perusal of this thread on Reddit or the comments of that Instagram post above show that much of the golf community doesn’t buy into the idea that someone who many 100+ starts on the PGA Tour should be able get reclassified as an amateur and then win the most prestigious amateur tournament in their age group. Comments range from “He should enroll at LSU” to “He’s not Sposa be there.”
On Instagram, people wrote “This dude’s a legend. 174 pga starts, nationwide winner, got his amateur status back at 55. Congrats USGA for ruining it” and “PGA Tour pro wins US Senior Am.”
To be perfectly clear, he did not break the rules. He was reclassified as an amateur by the USGA. However, the prevailing sentiment seems to be that just because something is not against the rules doesn’t automatically make it right and something you should do.
What do you all think? Fair or foul for someone like Mike Sposa to be reclassified as an amateur after over 300 professional starts and a win on the Nike Tour. Let me know what you think down below in the comments.