Willie Mack III – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Ryan Alford builds on solid first day to win APGA tournament at TPC Scottsdale

Ryan Alford recorded the first professional win in his golf career on Tuesday, taking the APGA Tour Scottsdale at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Ryan Alford recorded the first professional win in his golf career on Tuesday, taking the APGA Tour Scottsdale at TPC Scottsdale Champions Course.

It’s the third APGA event in a row that someone new came out on top. Alford, of Shreveport, Louisiana, shot a three-under 68 for a two-day, nine-under 133 to beat Marcus Byrd of Knoxville by 3 strokes.

Alford, 24, said the key for his success was his renewed mental state. He was among the leaders last week in Las Vegas before blowing up with a six-over performance on the back nine.

“I changed my mindset,” Alford said. “Told myself to erase the bad and keep going with the good. Talent is not the issue. It’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Alford entered the second round just one stroke ahead of Byrd. But a tap-in birdie on the 17th hole provided a cushion, and he went on to claim the first-place prize of $7,500 from the $25,000 purse that the APGA offers at every event.

The two-day, 36-hole tournament Monday at the Champions Course was the sixth event on the APGA’s 10-tournament season. The tour’s mission is to bring greater diversity to the sport of golf.

The other first-time APGA winners this year are Jarred Garcia, who took the Black History Month Classic at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Rovonta Young, who won the APGA Tour at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida.

Tim O’Neal, the 2020 APGA Tour Player of the Year, was third at 5 under, with Tommy Schaff of Ridgeland, South Carolina another stroke back in fourth. Willie Mack III of Flint, Michigan, and Aaron Beverly of Fairfield, California, tied for fifth at 3-under. Mack is headed for Korn Ferry Tour’s Huntsville (Alabama) Championship next week.

Phoenix resident Doug Smith led a group of five players tied for seventh at even par. Kamaiu Johnson of Orlando finished in a tie for 12th (1 over) after winning in Las Vegas last week.

The next stop for the APGA Tour is Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, set for May 23-25.

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Willie Mack III posts five birdies, opens with 1-under 70 at Genesis Invitational

He’s in the field at Riviera on an exemption but Willie Mack III is in contention to make the weekend in his second PGA Tour start.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Last time out, Willie Mack III got little prep for Torrey Pines and didn’t make it to the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open.

On Thursday at the Genesis Invitational, where his PGA Tour debut was originally supposed to come, Mack made a pair of 20-footers for birdie and a pair of 10-footers for birdie en route to an opening 1-under 70 at Riviera Country Club. He walked off the course four shots back of clubhouse leader Matthew Fitzpatrick.

While he missed the cut in San Diego three weeks ago, Mack at least got those Tour debut jitters out of the way.

“I think it helped out a lot,” he said of his experience at the Farmers. “Other than that, I played good at Torrey, I just was in the rough probably 90 percent of the time. I think it helped out a lot.”

Genesis Invitational: Leaderboard | Tee times | Photos

Mack hit seven of 14 fairways on Thursday and had the putter working. He opened on the first hole with a putt from about 8 ½ feet for birdie to kick start his round. He drained another 8-footer for birdie on the fifth. His birdie on the ninth measured 19 feet, 11 inches. His final birdie of the day on the 13th was his longest, almost 21 feet.

He said the course was a little firmer on Thursday than it was earlier in the week.

“Other than that it was pretty much the same,” said the 2021 recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption. “You really got to keep the ball below the holes out here. I kind of managed to do that and got in with an under-par score.”

On Friday, he’ll be back at the Riv, aiming to at least make the cut in his second time out on Tour. He says the biggest check he’s ever won in a golf tournament was $37,000 but he has his eyes on a bigger prize.

“I’m out here trying to win like everybody else. I tee it up just like everybody else, so why not come out here and try to win?”

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Mini tours, McDonald’s Dollar Menu, sleeping in his car: Willie Mack III’s journey to Genesis Invitational

Mack has won 65 times on various mini-tours and at age 32, is finally getting some cracks at the PGA Tour.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Willie Mack III has taken the road less traveled in his pro golf career. And that’s an understatement.

Like others on the way up, he got familiar with the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s. Unlike others, he used to sleep in his car, sometimes getting shooed out of parking lots late at night by security guards. But more on his McDonald’s meals and his Mustang in a minute.

Mack has won 65 times on various mini-tours and at age 32, is finally getting some cracks at the PGA Tour.

Mack was supposed to make his PGA Tour debut at the Genesis Invitational, being held this week at Riviera Country Club, but he got his first Tour start three weeks earlier than expected after he became a last-minute replacement for fellow Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour golfer Kamaiu Johnson, who contracted COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open.

In stepped Mack, who hustled from his home in Orlando to San Diego to play Torrey Pines, a course he knew very little about and admits wasn’t all that prepared for. He had rounds of 74 and 75 and missed the cut by six shots.

Now he’s at Riviera, the recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption, which was extended by tournament host Tiger Woods. Here, he’s getting properly prepared for competition.

“I played 27 holes on the Sunday after missing the cut at Torrey,” Mack said on a Teams call with reporters on Tuesday. “I played 18 yesterday and nine today. I really like this course a lot better than Torrey,” he said with a laugh.

Willie Mack III gives an interview after finishing the first round of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in San Diego. (Photo: Gregory Bull/Associated Press)

So that’s the skimming-the-surface version of how Mack got here. The deeper story, first revealed in a compelling read by Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner, is one of perseverance, self-confidence and a never-give-up determination.

The low point came in 2012 when Mack, then driving a Kia, came close to serious injury, possibly even death. From Lavner’s story:

While driving back from a tournament on Interstate 95, the engine of his 2012 Kia Optima shut off unexpectedly, just days after it was replaced in a company recall. After Mack pulled over, two people began shouting at him to get out of the car. Mack thought he was being robbed.

“Your car is on fire!” they screamed.

Mack jumped out and saw the smoke billowing. Instinctively, he grabbed his clubs out of the trunk and threw them to the side of the road – believing, he said, “if I have my clubs, then I can make some money somehow.” He tried to get back inside through the driver’s side door, but it wouldn’t budge.

A few seconds later, his car exploded.

But Mack kept at it. In 2019, he was Player of the Year on the APGA. Here in 2021, he’ll make his second start on the PGA Tour.

“It was 7 ½ years ago,” he said of sleeping in his Mustang. “It was a tight squeeze.” Yet he kept eking out an existence, chasing his dream. “I was in and out of the car for maybe about a year and a half. Not many people knew. It was a tough time but like I said I’m glad I went through it.

“Everybody goes through tough times, I just went through a different one than most people, but I’m glad I got through it and hopefully the future will be a lot better than that.”

He said he really hadn’t spoken to anyone in depth about his travails and admits that “maybe at first it was embarrassing. … It was real life. I remember it like it was yesterday. But I’ve come a long way. I’m glad I’m not in that car. I’m going to work hard so I don’t have to go back.”

One thing that hasn’t changed?

“I still do eat the Dollar Menu from McDonald’s to this day.”

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Willie Mack III receives Charlie Sifford Memorial exemption for Genesis Invitational

Willie Mack III has earned his shot to play on the PGA Tour. Mack, a Flint, Michigan native, will participate in the Genesis Invitational thanks to a standout career and a shoutout from Tiger Woods. Woods-host of the tournament-announced Mack as the …

Willie Mack III has earned his shot to play on the PGA Tour.

Mack, a Flint, Michigan native, will participate in the Genesis Invitational thanks to a standout career and a shoutout from Tiger Woods. Woods—host of the tournament—announced Mack as the 2021 recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption that, since 2009, aims to increase diversity in golf.

“Willie learned to golf with his dad just like I did and those are memories that will last forever. I am excited to see Willie make another lasting memory when he tees it up at Riviera,” Woods said. “Willie has endured through difficult times off the course the past few years and I know Charlie would be proud of how he has stayed focused on achieving his dream.”

After winning 11 titles at Bethune-Cookman, Mack became the first Black golfer to win the Michigan Amateur Championships in 2011. He now plays on the Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour and Florida Professional Golf Tour, earning Player of the Year honors for each in 2019.

The tournament, scheduled for Feb. 18-21 at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, will be Mack’s first PGA Tour start. He previously played on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamérica Tour, according to a news release from the Genesis Invitational.

“I want to thank my father who introduced me to the great game of golf,” Mack said. “My dream since I first picked up a club has been to play on the PGA TOUR. It’s really special that I will play in my first PGA TOUR event because of an exemption named after Charlie Sifford, a person I’ve long admired, and in a tournament hosted by Tiger Woods, who is the reason I got into golf.”

The Golf Channel and CBS will have live coverage of the Genesis Invitational.

The exemption to play the PGA’s yearly event at the Riviera has existed for more than a decade but in 2017, was renamed in honor of Sifford, the first Black person to play on the PGA Tour.

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