Having a world of success
Mattapoisett’s Peter Uihlein making a name on the European Tour
Golf has taken Peter Uihlein around the world and onto its biggest stages.
Currently playing on the European Tour, the 27-yearold New Bedford-born and Mattapoisett-raised Uihlein claimed his biggest check as a professional on Sunday as the runner-up at the HNA Open de France.
Tommy Fleetwood shot a sterling 66, edging Uihlein, a co-leader after 36 and 54 holes, by a stroke at Le Golf National, the site of next year’s Ryder Cup. Uihlein had a pair of bogeys early on his card before settling in and posting five birdies over the final 12 holes for a 68 to finish at 11-under par and record his fourth top-10 of the season.
He took home more than $750,000 and jumped 34 spots to eighth in the Race to Dubai, the European Tour’s version of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup. He also has himself back into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings at 91st.
The cherry on top was that the second-place finish earned him a spot in the Open Championship in three weeks at Royal Birkdale. It will be his third appearance in the Open, joining 2011 as an amateur and 2014.
“The goal was to have a good week and then kind of climb up the rankings in the Race to Dubai and all that stuff. Birkdale was just kind of a bonus, really,” Uihlein said Monday from Portstewart, Northern Ireland, the site of this week’s Irish Open.
Uihlein had a stellar amateur career, winning the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay in Washington and reaching the quarterfinals in 2009 and 2011. He was a two-time All-American at Oklahoma State, where PGA Tour regulars Rickie Fowler, Kevin Tway and Morgan Hoffmann were among his teammates.
“Playing in college, that was the biggest event that I wanted to win,” Uihlein said of the Amateur. “That was nice and it got me starts in the Open, the U.S. Open and the Masters, so I kind of got a taste of what pro golf is like. You try to compare your game and see how it does at a higher level.”
Even though his father, Wally, is President and CEO of the Acushnet Company, best known for the Titleist brand, Uihlein said he was never pressured into golf. He was the one who initiated his move to Florida’s IMG Academy at the age of 13 so that he could improve his game.
“I played all sports, and then when I played golf in the summer, I just really enjoyed it,” he said. “I remember one summer I played a couple junior events in Florida against a more international field, better players and I loved it, and I felt like I wasn’t going to be as competitive at the time only being able to play golf a few months out of the year in Massachusetts.”
He turned pro in 2011 and played the next year on the Challenge Tour, Europe’s version of the Web.com Tour. His first win came in 2013 at the Madeira Islands Open, which was a mixed field of Challenge Tour and European Tour players, giving him his card on the more lucrative European Tour, which also has events in Africa, Asia and Australia.
“I always wanted to travel and I thought, (with the European Tour), you don’t just play in Europe, you play all over the world. I was given opportunities early that I felt like would be beneficial to help my career get off to a quick start,” said Uihlein “In Europe, there’s a strong World Ranking base, and if you play well you climb up the World Rankings and it gives you more opportunities stateside, so I thought
Europe was going to be a good start to my career.”
While he is not currently a member of the PGA Tour, he has fared well when given a spot in a field through sponsor exemptions, earning nearly $250,000. He finished T-5 in Puerto Rico in March and has two other top25 finishes.
He earned a spot in the U.S. Open last month through a 36hole sectional qualifier, but missed the cut at Erin Hills by a shot.
Uihlein is scheduled to play in Europe through Birkdale and then hopes to get some starts here in the states, including a spot in the PGA Championship.
“It’s tough relying on exemptions. It’s hard to make a schedule that way,” said Uihlein, who lives in Jupiter, Fla., and typically lines his schedule up to play three or four straight events before returning for a break. “I might just keep playing over here just because I know I’m in all the events.”