Even Tiger surprised by his latest comeback

DETROIT — The odds were in his favor to make his first PGA TOUR cut after Willie Mack III shot a second-round 73 to get to 3 under overall. He did his interviews, looked at his phone, talked with friends in front of the clubhouse. Wayne Birch, caddie for Troy Merritt (68, 9 under), joked that Mack just made the biggest four-foot putt of his life on 18, since it would likely propel him into the weekend rounds. Mack shook his head. The afternoon wave was just starting; he couldn’t accept congratulations just yet. “The last couple holes, I was (aware of the cut line),” he said. “I looked on the last, I knew I had to at least get up and down. Hopefully it stays, but if not, I still had a good time.” From just in front of the 18th green, Mack chipped to 4 1/2 feet and made the putt. Birch, who played for Southern University, held up his phone to capture the historic final moments. “I probably was more nervous than he was,” Birch said. “In the Black community in golf, we all knew, all of us who played at a high level, that Willie is next up. This is so big.” Mack, 32, hasn’t gotten much sleep. Darkness halted play with three holes remaining in his first round, so he woke up early and played 21 holes Friday. Among his sizeable gallery of friends and family a handful of supporters wore Willie Mack III T-shirts with an action shot of their hero on the front. Asked about the shirts, Mack smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I heard some of my friends,” he said. “I wasn’t looking, but I know their voices, so I heard them. It’s exciting to just be able to play in your hometown amongst friends and family. “It was a fun two days,” he added. And it could be more. Friday could mark a historic chapter in one of the game’s least likely origin stories. “I’m just so happy for him,” Birch said. “It’s so inspiring. My dream was to play on the PGA TOUR, but that’s over with. With Willie – it’s almost like I’m living through him. It just goes to show that if you keep grinding, stay the course, and believe in yourself, anything can happen.” The son of a social worker, Mack grew up in nearby Flint, a town that became synonymous with the loss of manufacturing jobs in America. He scrounged for equipment, and when his high school team discontinued its golf team midway through his four years, his dad moved them to Grand Blanc. With Mack, his new school won the 2004 state championship. Mack won the Flint City Amateur three times, and in 2011 was the first Black player to win the Michigan Amateur. He played for the only school to give him a full-ride scholarship, HBCU Bethune-Cookman. He won 11 times. Life as a pro, though, was no picnic. He lived in his car for a year and a half, slept in friends’ spare bedrooms. Insiders knew how good he was, but the full array of his talents remained mostly hidden from the wider golf world. Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner noted that the first time Mack worked with noted instructor Todd Anderson at TPC Sawgrass – part of the PGA TOUR’s commitment to the minority-focused APGA Tour – Anderson asked, “How are you not on TOUR yet?” Mack could only shrug and say he didn’t know, but a lack of funds didn’t help. When he qualified to play PGA TOUR Latinoamerica in 2018, Mack – the winner of more than 60 minitour titles – didn’t play the circuit because the cost was prohibitive. Last year, though, his career took a quantum leap when Farmers Insurance signed him and fellow APGA star Kamaiu Johnson to two-year deals as player ambassadors. Since then, Mack’s fortunes have been looking up. The 2019 Player of the Year on the APGA and the Florida Pro Golf Tour, he filled in for Johnson at the 11th hour at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. And although he missed the cut (74-75) he beat several TOUR winners. Mack also got into The Genesis Invitational in L.A. as the Charlie Sifford Exemption recipient. He again missed the cut (70-76) but finished ahead of Rory McIlroy, among others. It looked like he belonged. Even better: He had a leisurely lunch with tournament host Tiger Woods, his childhood idol. He estimates he has played Detroit Golf Club hundreds of times, although not always with such wet fairways and swirling winds. Although he got to 6 under and just three off the lead through six holes of his second round, three bogeys on holes 7, 11 and 16 made for some white-knuckle moments coming in. Mack, whose biggest career paycheck to date is $37,000, made the cut and tied for 62nd place at the Korn Ferry Tour’s recent BMW Charity Pro-Am. Whether or not he makes this cut, he’ll play in the John Deere Classic next week, another chance to secure a foothold on TOUR. Birch and Mack were part of a group that would be going to watch the Detroit Tigers on Friday night, and Birch felt increasingly optimistic that they would have something to celebrate. “There are eight guys still on the course at 3,” he said, eying the scores. “All eight would have to get to 4 under to knock him out.” Said Mack of potentially making the cut, “It would be good. Just having that experience and confidence going into next week, to be able to play on the weekend in my hometown would be amazing.”

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TORONTO, Ont. – Mackenzie Hughes was a golf-obsessed youngster in when he watched Mike Weir win the 2003 Masters, and he thought he could do that one day too. The following year, Hughes caddied in the RBC Canadian Open pro-am and was drawn into the same group as his hero. He was thrilled. The only problem that day, he recalls, is that he latched a little too tightly to the green jacket winner. “I just did a horrendous job caddying that day because I was so intrigued by just being close to Mike and trying to ask him a question here and there and just kind of hearing the stories he was telling,” said Hughes. “Then my player would be over (in) the rough and I’m like, ‘Oh sorry.’ Just nowhere near him. “But it was a really cool day.” Eighteen years later, Hughes teed it up alongside Weir – and fellow countryman Adam Hadwin – for the first two rounds of their national open. “I think that any time you get to play with Mike, it’s an honor,” said Hughes. “He’s basically my biggest golfing hero. “I know playing with Mike you draw in a few extra people. It was a really fun day.” Hughes’ opening-round 66 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club had him near the lead through most of the day. He was also the top Canadian through the majority of Thursday. There are plenty of reasons why this week is important for Hughes – who played in front of dozens of friends and family Thursday, a number that is expected to increase exponentially through the weekend – including the extended face time with Weir, who is once again an assistant captain for this year’s International Presidents Cup team. Weir said Hughes, who sits 12th on the International Team standings, “had a great day.” Corey Conners, who shot a 1-over 71, is No. 8 in the standings. Hadwin, who has played in two Presidents Cups, is 16th. Hadwin shot 1 under while Weir was 2 over. The group was greeted by a good contingent of Canadians, even at 7 a.m. and in the rain. “It was fantastic,” said Hughes, “and you felt it all the way around.” Hughes had as solid a day as he could have asked for Thursday. He birdied his opening hole and then made an eagle on the par-5 11th. “I felt like I played well enough to maybe get one or two more, which selfishly, you always want a couple more,” said Hughes, who was near the top of the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee on Thursday. “With where I drove it … I drove the ball really nicely today, and that’s not normally a strength of mine, but today it was a strength. “When I do that, I feel like I give myself a lot of chances. The day feels a little more stress-free.” Hughes is from Dundas, Ontario, about 40 miles from St. George’s and has continued to embrace teeing it up in front of the hometown crowds. He made his PGA TOUR debut at the 2012 RBC Canadian Open in Hamilton and earned Low Canadian honors in 2017. His opening 66 was just two shots off the lowest first-round total by a Canadian in tournament history. A Canadian hasn’t won the Canadian Open since 1954. The closest a Canadian has come to winning their national open in the last half-century was Weir in 2004, when he lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh. “Someone said no one’s seen someone so disappointed to win a tournament than Vijay that week,” said RBC Canadian Open defending champion Rory McIlroy, who matched Hughes’ 4-under 66 Thursday, with a laugh. Hughes was, of course, there in 2004. He had a fun memory from before the tournament began, and a sour one come Sunday night like many of his countrymen. Now he’s keen to make his own exciting memory at the RBC Canadian Open, in front of a big-time group of enthusiastic supporters – including Weir. “Obviously every week you go on the PGA TOUR, you want to play well, but playing well in front of the home fans and your friends and family, it’s hard to describe how good that feels,” said Hughes. “When you’re out there and you’re making birdies and having a good round, it just feels that much better.”

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