Amateur Golf Legend Jay Sigel Dead At 81

Jay Sigel, who won the U.S. Amateur championship on two occasions and had the reputation of being one of the most decorated golfers in amateur history, passed away Saturday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old.

In 1982 and 1983, Sigel was victorious in back-to-back U.S. Amateurs, also claiming the 1983 U.S. Mid-Amateur. In the next three U.S. Mid-Amateurs, he won two of them, and another pretty piece on his resume is the 1979 British Amateur. (RELATED: This Is Truly One Of Wildest Brawls You’ll Ever See On A Golf Course)

“Best amateur since Bobby Jones hands down,” said USGA president-elect Kevin Hammer to USGA’s David Shefter.

Sigel was a nine-time member of the U.S. Walker Cup team, being the captain for two of those squads. A record, he participated in 33 Walker Cup matches, doing so in both singles and foursomes. Out of the 33, he won 18 matches, losing just five. The other 10 were ties.

All of us at the USGA are deeply saddened by the passing of Jay Sigel, a true legend of amateur golf and a cherished member of the USGA family.

— USGA (@USGA) April 20, 2025

A Philadelphia native, Sigel attended Wake Forest University to play college golf, doing so on an Arnold Palmer Scholarship. His aspirations to be in the PGA Tour came to an end due to a hand injury. Eventually getting into the insurance business, he still played amateur golf.

Sigel finally got into professional golf when he turned 50 years old, playing in what’s now known as the PGA Tour Champions. In 1994, Sigel won rookie of the year, winning the GTE West Classic earlier in the campaign. It was the first of what would be a total of eight senior wins on his resume, with one of those victories being the 1996 Senior Tour Championship.

Throughout his professional career, Sigel earned over $9 million in winnings.