Michael Alan Brannan (December 27, 1955 – January 8, 2013) was an American golfer.

Early life and amateur career

Brannan was born in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1971, beating Robert Steele in the final, 4 and 3, to become the tournament's youngest champion, at 15 years, 8 months. His record stood for 20 years until broken by

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

in 1991 (15 years, 6 months). He also played on the winning

1977 Walker Cup The 1977 Walker Cup, the 26th Walker Cup Match, was played on August 26 and 27, 1977, at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, New York. The event was won by the United States 16 to 8. The United States led 9–3 after the first day and 11– ...

team. He played college golf at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, where he was a four-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, graduating in 1978.

Professional career

In 1978, Brannan turned professional. He played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

from 1979 to 1983. His best finish on tour was second place at the 1979

Houston Open The Texas Children's Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in March. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the ...

, two strokes behind

Wayne Levi Wayne John Levi (born February 22, 1952) is an American professional golfer. Early life Levi was born in Little Falls (city), New York, Little Falls, New York and attended high school in Herkimer, New York. He enrolled at Oswego State University ...

. He won the 1979

Hassan II Golf Trophy The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament is currently played on PGA Tou ...

, which would later become a

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

event. Brannan quit the tour after the 1983 season and became an equipment rep for

Ping Ping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933 * Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom * Pingg, a ...

, a position he held until his death in 2013.

Reinstated amateur status

In the late 1980s, Brannan was reinstated as an amateur golfer. He won the Northern California Senior Championship in 2012.

Awards and honors

In 1989, Brannan was inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame

Amateur wins

*1970

Junior World Golf Championships The Uswing Mojing Junior World Golf Championships are held in San Diego, California, United States, each year, currently in July, and conducted by the San Diego Junior Golf Association. They include tournaments for six age groups ranging from unde ...

(Boys 13–14) *1971 U.S. Junior Amateur *1973

California State Amateur The California Amateur Championship or California Amateur is a golf championship held in California for the state's top amateur golfers. The tournament is run by the California Golf Association. The first event was held in 1912 at the Del Monte Gol ...

Pacific Coast Amateur The Pacific Coast Amateur is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 1967 and is organized by the Pacific Coast Golf Association. It is held in various locations in the United States and Canada. In December 2021, the Pacific Coa ...

, NCGA Junior, NGGA Four-Ball (with Jim Latham) *1976

, NCGA Amateur Match Play *2012 NCGA Senior Championship

Professional wins

*1973

California State Open The California State Open is the California state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Southern California section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1900 and has been played at a ...

(as an amateur) *1975

Utah Open The Utah Open is the Utah state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Utah section of the PGA of America. It was first played in 1926 and has been played at a variety of courses around the stat ...

*1979

*1981 Northern California Open

U.S. national team appearances

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brannan, Mike American male golfers BYU Cougars men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from California 1955 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen