![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_GettyImages-2282517517.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMissing his family, under financial pressure and losing his love for the game, Grehan gave up his professional status 18 months ago and returned to the amateur ranks<\/p>\n
Stuart Grehan celebrates with members of County Louth GC and Royal Liverpool GC after winning The Amateur Championship(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
If Stuart Grehan ever had any doubts that he made the right decision in returning to the amateur game, they all disappeared at Royal Liverpool last month.<\/p>\n
Missing his family, under financial pressure and losing his love for the game, Grehan gave up his professional status 18 months ago and returned to the amateur ranks.<\/p>\n
But what could have been viewed as a backward step has instead led to the best golf of his career, and now he is looking forward to competing on the game’s biggest stages.<\/p>\n
A sensational victory in the Amateur Championship in June has earned him a place at next week’s Open Championship, as well as next year’s Masters and US Open.<\/p>\n
“It’s stuff you dream of,” Grehan told the Irish Mirror. “It was just an incredibly special week in Liverpool, and to be able to play in these major championships, well, it has only just started to sink in, to be honest.<\/p>\n
“I was playing pretty well all year. But I played really well in the stroke play to qualify for the match play, and I just started to create some momentum then. I played really well from there.”<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_GettyImages-2281971481-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Stuart Grehan is presented with the trophy after his victory at the 2026 Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Grehan grew up in Tullamore and, among the many congratulatory messages he received after winning the Amateur Championship, was one from former Open champion and fellow Offaly man Shane Lowry.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old is six years younger than Lowry, and the pair were on a similar trajectory through the amateur ranks. Like Lowry, Grehan was identified as a future star from a young age and looked set to represent GB&I in the Walker Cup in 2017 alongside Robert MacIntyre, Matthew Jordan and Connor Syme against an American side featuring Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris.<\/p>\n
Instead, disaster struck when Grehan injured his elbow during a game of foot tennis, costing him the chance to compete at Los Angeles Country Club.<\/p>\n
It would not be long before the likes of Scheffler, MacIntyre and Morikawa established themselves on the PGA Tour, enjoying all the riches and prestige that come with it. Grehan’s experience of the professional game, however, was a stark contrast.<\/p>\n
Between 2018 and 2023, he plied his trade primarily on the now-defunct EuroPro Tour, earning less than \u20ac20,000 in prize money despite claiming a victory in 2022. Faced with mounting financial pressure and long spells away from his young family, something eventually had to give.<\/p>\n
Grehan said: “It’s a hard lifestyle, and unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for me. The longer I did it, the more I kind of fell out of love with the game.<\/p>\n
“Then, I have a young family now at home as well, so when I looked at it on a deeper level, it was just one of those things that I didn’t want to do anymore.<\/p>\n
“It was pretty lonely. I found the transition quite difficult, and I also never got on any main tour. I only had status on mini tours, and I wasn’t really making any money out of it.<\/p>\n
“So when I did decide to get my amateur status back, a big factor was that, after studying for the QFA (Qualified Financial Adviser), I had the opportunity to work where I am now with DFP Pension Investments in Dundalk.”<\/p>\n
He added: “To have that financial security is very important because I lost a lot of money on mini tours. It’s a hard lifestyle, and I just didn’t want to do that to my family. I didn’t want to be away from my son.”<\/p>\n
The joyous scenes of Grehan celebrating with his family at Royal Liverpool, surrounded by an army of supporters from County Louth Golf Club, where the golfer has been a proud member for many years, were a far cry from those lonely days on the mini tours.<\/p>\n
There was no fluke about Grehan’s victory either. Since returning to the amateur ranks, he has quickly re-established himself as one of the world’s leading amateurs.<\/p>\n
Last year, victories in the Irish Amateur Open and Irish Amateur Close, along with a string of impressive performances across Europe, earned him selection for the GB&I team at the Walker Cup.<\/p>\n
This year he has kicked on again. Only a few weeks before his triumph at Hoylake, he celebrated victory on home soil by winning the East of Ireland Championship at Baltray, a success made all the more memorable by a spectacular hole-in-one at the 17th in his final round.<\/p>\n
County Louth Golf Club has become one of Ireland’s great nurseries of amateur talent. Twelve months before Grehan lifted the Amateur Championship trophy, fellow Baltray member Gavin Tiernan was narrowly beaten in the final of the same event.<\/p>\n
Grehan says training alongside so many elite players has helped drive him on, while he has also benefited from being able to pick the brains of club legend and former Ryder Cup star Des Smyth.<\/p>\n
“I know Des very well. We’ve spent a lot of time together on the practice ground over the years. He still goes out and plays a few holes and we have some conversations on some things. He’s been very good with his time.<\/p>\n
“It does help obviously playing with guys who are really good golfers. They’re playing international golf as well. You play with them every week and compete with them, so it does give you that competitive edge.”<\/p>\n
![\"Stuart](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_GettyImages-2281971530.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Stuart Grehan after winning the 2026 Amateur Championship (Image: Oisin Keniry\/R&A via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Following Grehan’s victory in the Amateur Championship, there has been some online criticism suggesting ex-professionals should not be allowed to compete in amateur events.<\/p>\n
But Grehan, whose wife Carla is pregnant with twins, believes that criticism is misplaced given the struggles he endured trying to make a living from the game.<\/p>\n
“My decision to go back amateur was a deeper one than wanting to play in amateur events. I wanted to focus on my family, and I wanted to take on a full-time job.<\/p>\n
“I don’t practise or play as much as these guys who are playing full time. I didn’t make any money as a pro. That’s another thing. It’s not like I made millions of euro or anything like that on tour. I struggled to make a living. And that was one of the main reasons why I turned back amateur.<\/p>\n
“I listened to the R&A, I spoke to them, I had my cooling-off period \u2014 it just so happened to be six months. I did everything by the book.<\/p>\n
“And obviously, some people don’t think that’s fair. But I feel the comments are a little unfair because I’m still working full time, I still have one child, and that family is about to become three.<\/p>\n
“So I’m just trying to play some nice golf. People are entitled to their opinion, and I respect that, but I just didn’t want the lifestyle of professional golf.”<\/p>\n
Grehan will be determined to make his mark at Royal Birkdale next week, but he is also already looking forward to representing GB&I at September’s Walker Cup in Lahinch.<\/p>\n
He added: “One of my big goals when getting my amateur status back was to make the team for Lahinch. So knowing I am going to be on that team is incredibly special.<\/p>\n
“But it’s going to be even more special because it’s on a links course in Ireland. I can’t wait for that. To win a home Walker Cup, that’s the biggest goal for me now this year.”<\/p>\n