A crowd gathered around, cheering out loud, and all of them were supporting only one man on the course. Reading this, you would think we were talking about a professional event where someone like a Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, or Bryson DeChambeau has caught everyone’s attention. As enigmatic and magnetic as they are, in this particular scenario, it was the amateur golfer, Niall Shiels Donegan, in San Francisco, California, who was getting this kind of a reaction.

Yes, you might as well consider him the modern age Bobby Jones. Not because he has won many majors as an amateur. He’s not there yet. But Donegan has certainly got the fans excited as they follow him around, even though he’s only a teenager playing in amateur events. What made him so popular? To know that, we will need to get a better understanding of his humble beginnings in golf. So let’s understand where Niall Shiels Donegan has come from before we get to how he got where he is today.

Niall Shiels Donegan’s journey to fame

On the cold, windy morning at St. Andrews, Tiger Woods teed off to start his battle for his second victory at The Open on July 14, 2005. 73.1 miles South West of the Old Course, in Glasgow, Lawrence Donegan and Maggie Shiels had Niall Shiels Donegan. While the connection with Woods might have been a long shot when it came to a sign that he was connected to golf, Niall was always inclined to the sport thanks to his parents’ profession. His father, Lawrence, worked as a golf columnist for The Guardian, and his mother worked for the BBC before joining Google.

Coming back to the 20-year-old star, he and his family moved to Mill Valley in the Bay Area of California when he was just three. Donegan attended Tamalpais High School there and played quite a few sports, like volleyball, soccer, baseball, and lacrosse. However, he was only introduced to golf when he joined the Mill Valley Golf Club. He played the nine-hole course there, and that helped him gain an honorary membership in the Meadow Club. That’s where Donegan spent most of his youth and developed his skills as a junior and amateur golfer.

While he had moved to California, Niall hadn’t forgotten his English roots. He went back to the U.K. in 2021 to finish as a semi-finalist Boys Amateur Championship. In 2022, he finished as a runner-up in the Carris Cup, which is an English Under-18s Championship. Donegan claimed his first victory in the 2022 Hawaii State Amateur Championship by 4 strokes against the field with a score of 7-under 209 in a 54-hole contest. He was only 1 of the 4 golfers who managed to score under par in the tournament. Donegan won a $750 paycheck for winning his first tournament.

Over the years, he has reached many highs and lows in his amateur career. He is currently ranked 91st in the World Amateur Golf Ranking with 5 top-10 finishes over the last 2 years. Donegan is also preparing to battle Jackson Herrington in the Semi-Finals of the 2025 U.S. Amateur. If he gets through, then he might face either a high-school sensation and Ryan Lavner’s favorite, Miles Russell, or Eric Lee in the Final.

Whomever he faces, Niall Shiels Donegan will certainly have an edge in the competition. That’s because of his popularity among the fans in California. Let’s see how everyone reacted when he was being interviewed after the conclusion of the Round of 16 at The Olympic Club.

Fans go wild watching the local boy rise to the occasion

Being brought up in California, Niall Shiels Donegan has gained a lot of popularity within the state. As he rose through the ranks as an amateur golfer, he built a great fanbase of devoted followers to cheered him on from the stands and supported him on social media as well. Despite being an amateur golfer, he still has more than 2,000 followers on Instagram. His posts often receive a lot of encouraging comments and love from his followers and fans, who motivate him to keep pushing harder to achieve his dream for the top of the mountain.

The world and the media got to witness his fan following in California when he was asked for an interview after the Round of 16 of the 2025 U.S. Amateur. As he approached the reporter, a large crowd gathered around the two as they cheered for Danegan. This left the journalist speechless as he had never seen an amateur golfer receiving such strong support; unless his last name was Woods, of course. Either way, it was a joy to watch as Niall Shiels Donegan also seemed a bit overwhelmed with joy with all the support and love he was receiving. Perhaps that helped him perform better in the Semi-Finals as well. Maybe it could also be the driving force behind the Scottish player winning the 2025 U.S. Amateur in the end.