So should ex-professionals be able to compete in amateur tournaments? Tom Irwin and Steve Carroll debated this on The NCG Golf Podcast<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n NOW LISTEN TO THE NCG GOLF PODCAST<\/p>\n ALSO AVAILABLE ON:<\/p>\n Apple Podcasts:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n Spotify:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n Amazon Music:\u00a0Listen Now<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a million miles from the ethos of amateur sport,\u201d says Tom Irwin<\/p>\n I thought it was an interesting thing, and I don\u2019t know where you sit with it and what I think about it \u2013 an ex-professional winning amateur golf\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n Amateur golf has changed a lot, hasn\u2019t it? It used to be the space for working people to compete at the highest level without being paid for it. If you go back to the 60s and 70s we were almost still in the era of the gentleman amateur and we\u2019ve moved a long way from that.<\/p>\n I think almost everybody who is winning this type of event would be better described as a semi-professional \u2013 they\u2019re on their way up the ladder.<\/p>\n Mr Grehan has a job as a financial advisor so he\u2019s fulfilling the brief of a bona fide amateur but he is someone who has played the game for money in the reasonably recent past and I think it\u2019s a million miles away from the ethos of amateur sport.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always had this niggle about why we need to have the concept of amateur and professional status, and perhaps this speaks to that and I wonder if the real cut off is between the handicap and the non-handicap golfer. <\/p>\n \u201cThese events are only amateur in name. Now it\u2019s just a different sport\u201d, says Steve Carroll<\/p>\n![\"Golf](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1258861751-1024x681.jpg\")
Golf clubs at the Walker Cup | Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n