Samuel John Acer Bairstow (born 12 August 1998) is an English

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

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 ...

. He won the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Farmfoods Scottish Challenge The Scottish Challenge is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's pro ...

on the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

Early life

Bairstow was born in

Sheffield, England Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its southe ...

, and started playing golf at the age of 12. He plays left-handed and came to represent Hallowes Golf Club, located in

Dronfield Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park i ...

between Sheffield and Chesterfield.

Amateur career

In 2021, Bairstow won the English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the

Brabazon Trophy The English Men's Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is the national amateur stroke play golf championship in England (although entry is open to overseas golfers). It has been played annually since 1947 and is organised ...

. On June 28, 2022, at St Annes Old Links, Bairstow made it through the final qualifying for The 150th Open Championship at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, his second Open Championship. He eventually made the 36-hole cut and, after a closing round of 69, finished the championship tied 81st, three strokes behind the low amateur of the tournament. Bairstow reached the final of The 2022

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

Royal Lytham & St Annes Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being designated a major ...

, losing 3 and 2 in the 36-hole match to South African Aldrich Potgieter. His merits helped him to be selected to represent England at the 2022 European Amateur Team Championship at

Royal St George's Golf Club The Royal St George's Golf Club is a golf club located in Sandwich, Kent, England. It is one of the courses on The Open Championship rota, and the only one in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it b ...

in his home country and at the

2022 Eisenhower Trophy The 2022 Eisenhower Trophy took place 31 August – 3 September at Le Golf National and Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche south-west of Paris, France. It was the 32nd World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. Defending champion was ...

, at

Le Golf National The Albatros course at Le Golf National is an 18-hole golf course in France, southwest of central Paris. Designed by architects Hubert Chesneau and Robert von Hagge, in collaboration with Pierre Thevenin, it is located in Guyancourt. Facilitie ...

in France, as well as being on the winning side for Great Britain and Ireland against the Continental Europe team at the 2022

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 19 ...

in Slovakia. In 2022, Bairstow reached a career best of 7th in the

World Amateur Golf Ranking The World Amateur Golf Ranking for men was introduced by The R&A, the governing body of the sport of golf outside the United States and Mexico, on 23 January 2007. It is based on the results of over 2,600 amateur tournaments per year (and amateurs ...

Professional career

Bairstow turned professional in September 2022, and made his pro debut at the

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is a golf tournament on the European Tour. It is played in September or October, on three different links courses, centered on the "home of golf", St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The tournament is a pro-am, ...

on the European Tour. After winning the

at Newmachar Golf Club in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in August 2023, Bairstow finished the

2023 Challenge Tour The 2023 Challenge Tour was the 35th season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour. Schedule The following table lists official events during the 2023 season. Rankings The rankings were titled as the Road ...

season 18th on the Order-of-Merit, earning an exemption category for the

2024 European Tour The 2024 European Tour, titled as the 2024 DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, was the 53rd season of the European Tour, the main professional golf tour in Europe since its inaugural season in 1972. It was the third season of the tour under ...

. In March 2024, Bairstow finished third at the Porsche Singapore Classic, after scoring four equal rounds of 68 for a 16-under-par-score of 272, one shot from a playoff with the leaders, earning his biggest prize-check so far with €145,420.

Amateur wins

*2019 North of England Open Amateur Championship, Hampshire Salver *2021

Sources:

Professional wins (1)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing England):

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 2022 (winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...