Tag: Alistair Docherty

This week’s feel-good PGA Tour story Alistair Docherty has Barstool Sports’ Riggs to thank for his chance to chase his dream and he’s taking advantage

He’s taking advantage of the opportunity.

Alistair Docherty won’t soon forget his 30th birthday and the chain of events that led to the Canadian native earning a spot in this week’s RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

On March 20, Docherty was playing in the Saturday game at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, when his friends huddled around him as he faced a 5-6-foot putt to win the 11th hole.

“We’re not playing for much, but we’re having a great time,” Docherty said. “They stopped me and they’re like, ‘Hey, we’ve got a surprise for you.’ ”

That’s when they broke the news that he had been granted a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic.

RBC Canadian Open: Leaderboard | Photos

“It was the best surprise, greatest 30th birthday I could ever ask for,” Docherty said.

He went on to finish in a tie for second in the opposite-field event, which was taking place while most of the stars were cashing guaranteed money at the limited-field, no-cut Wells Fargo Championship.

“Life Changing Week!” Docherty posted on his Instagram page.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C66vFxnuOMw/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Docherty was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and moved with his family to Vancouver as a young child. At age seven, the family moved to Washington state.

Since graduating from Chico State in 2016, Docherty has been chasing his dream on lower-level tours such as the Mackenzie Tour in Canada. But after missing at second stage after the wraparound year, he was at a crossroads until he met Sam “Riggs” Bozoian of Barstool Sports.

“I didn’t know where I was going to play, and I went back to caddying at Silverleaf in Scottsdale. Met a few people, and a lot of people helped me out. I hung the clubs up for a little bit, but I ran into Riggs at the right time, played my ass off in front of him, and I impressed him enough that he’s been helping me ever since,” Docherty said.

Speaking on Barstool’s Fore Play podcast, Riggs recounts how he wrote Docherty a personal check for $50,000 and told him to go play.

“If I didn’t run into Riggs at the right time, I don’t know if I’d still be playing or standing right here,” he said at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

Success for Docherty has been hard to come by on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he has just one top-10 finish in 40 starts. He finished 86th on the Korn Ferry Tour last year and this year he has made just four of eight cuts, earning $26,751. The eighth-year pro entered the Myrtle Beach event with earnings of $152,978 across PGA Tour-sanctioned competitions.

After bogeying the 14th hole of the final round at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Docherty parlayed birdies on three of the last four holes to shoot 64 and tie for second, six shots behind winner Chris Gotterup. He earned $356,000 for the runner-up showing, more than double his career earnings.

Alistair Docherty plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic at Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

“This is what we always want, just a chance. Just a chance and take advantage, and I did it,” Docherty said after the Myrtle Beach Classic. “There’s been times where who knows if I was going to keep playing, who knows if I was going to be able to financially be able to do it let alone get status in order to do it, and to receive the sponsor exemption and take advantage is unbelievable.”

Asked to name what he’d proven in Myrtle Beach, he said, “That I can be here. I can be here, and I can play with the best of them. I can do it.”

Playing for just the second time in his career on the PGA Tour, Docherty earned a spot in the RBC Canadian Open in Hamilton by virtue of his top-10 finish.

“What better way to go back to Canada? I haven’t been back in a long time, and maybe some of my family from back east will be able to come over,” he said.

Asked what he’s most looking forward to about playing a Tour event in his native Canada, he said, “Going to Toronto and wearing my Canucks jersey.”

New coach, change of scenery boosted Alistair Docherty for Korn Ferry Q-School run

Sometimes it takes a few years to find the right formula for success, particularly at Q-School. Alistair Docherty can attest to that.

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – Sometimes it takes a few years to find the right formula for success, particularly where Q-School is concerned. Alistair Docherty can attest to that.

Docherty, 25, fizzled out in the first stage of two previous attempts at earning Korn Ferry Tour status. On Thursday, he ended the opening round of final stage one shot off the lead. The Pacific Northwest native posted a 6-under 65 on a soggy day on Orange County National’s Panther Lakes course. He had five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 14th that he set up with a “perfect 2-iron.”

“Caddie had a good read on it because I would have missed it,” Docherty said of the resulting 12-footer. “Give that one to the caddie.”

Docherty should get plenty of credit – for preparation and maturity, if nothing else. Since graduating from Chico State, an NCAA Division II program that finished as the national runner-up in 2015 when Docherty was a senior, the bulk of Docherty’s competitive experience has come on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada.

KORN FERRY TOUR: Q-school leaderboard

For a young professional just starting out, cost-saving measures are understandably in play. Docherty took that route in choosing a pre-qualifying start for Korn Ferry Tour Q-School. He went to St. George, Utah, to stay with a friend while competing at SunRiver Golf Club.

In retrospect, a high-altitude venue like SunRiver downplayed his advantage as a big hitter.

“Every time I got there, it just wasn’t my week,” Docherty said. “I like playing golf courses that are a little more difficult. Kind of eliminates some of the field. My length usually is to my advantage and that course just didn’t suit me.”

Docherty had been wintering in La Quinta, California, but this year moved to the Phoenix area and began work on his swing with Andy Patnou. A roommate introduced the two. Slowly, Docherty’s game began falling into place.

Docherty advanced through first stage at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, in September. He was third at the second-stage qualifier at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, California, a course he was familiar with from playing rounds with a host family member when he first turned professional.

A change in scenery seems to have done it for Docherty, but for 45-year-old Tag Ridings, the secret to an opening 7-under 64 on the Panther Lakes course was a new putter. Ridings, who guesses he’s played Q-School (through several iterations) 14 times over the span of his 22-year career, put a Piretti putter with a new shaft in his bag before the first round.

“I’d actually been putting really nicely,” Ridings said. “In fact, I only built it because I felt I had been putting so well, I didn’t feel like I had been searching. Just kind of a see-what-happens type of thing.”

Ridings had seven birdies and an eagle in his opening round.

Braden Thornberry played the Crooked Cat course in 7-under 65 and tied Ridings for the lead. There is no cut this week’s event, and every player will play two rounds on each of Orange County National’s two courses.

Thornberry advanced to final stage as an amateur last year, halfway through his senior season at Ole Miss. After finishing T-72, which didn’t earn him any guaranteed starts for the 2019 season, Thornberry ultimately turned professional for the spring. He made 14 Korn Ferry Tour starts but played the weekend only six times.

Now that he’s established as a professional, Thornberry thinks Q-School might even be a little easier to attack mentally. Either way, you’re playing for your living.

“I wouldn’t say there was less pressure last year, obviously there was another option,” he said. “Honestly, that probably made it a little bit tougher. You weren’t fully making up your mind either way, there’s that little it of doubt – if I finish here what am I going to do. This year, it’s pretty clear cut.”

After three more rounds, the top 40 finishers and ties will receive a number of guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2020 relative to their position on the leaderboard. The medalist (and ties) receives fully exempt status for the upcoming season.

[opinary poll=”does-purse-size-make-a-professional-even” customer=”golfweek”]

[lawrence-related id=778016142]