TOUR PRIDE
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — It’s the memories that drive William McGirt, keep him hungry and grounded and never allow the appreciation of his fortune to stray far from his mind.
Memories of the countless minitours he grinded on for seven years before getting a sniff of luxurious PGA Tour life.
Memories of the hourly rate motels he stayed at in obscure, dusty small towns, of eating McDonald’s five consecutive nights with a break every now and again for ramen noodles.
Those memories will never leave McGirt’s mind, not after winning his first career PGA Tour tournament at last year’s Memorial, not after seizing the first-round lead Thursday at the Players Championship with a 5-under-par 67 at TPC Sawgrass.
“I don’t take any day for granted out here,’’ McGirt said, “because it can all end tomorrow.’’
“Tomorrow,’’ which is Friday, McGirt will begin the second round tied for the lead with Mackenzie Hughes, who matched his 67 in the afternoon wave. The two have a one-shot lead over Jon Rahm, J.B. Holmes, Alex Noren and Chez Reavie, who are all 4-under.
McGirt’s magical day came on a golf course he openly admitted “is not my favorite place.’’
“Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t play well on it,’’ McGirt, 37, said.
And so he did, carding two eagles on the back nine, with a pair of 3s on the par-5 11th and 16th holes. Even more impressive were the birdies he carded on the par-3 third and eighth holes, two difficult tasks.
“You kind of feel like you steal when you birdie both the par-3s on the front,’’ he said.
Based on the unconventional journey McGirt has taken in dogged pursuit of his dream, he’s the kind of guy who feels like he’s stealing every time he wakes up at a PGA tournament and drives a courtesy car to the golf course.
It sure beats the 2000 Honda he put 214,000 miles on before the transmission died.
McGirt’s mind is taxed when asked to list all the mini-tours he played on before finally earning is PGA Tour card in 2011.
“Gateway Tour, Tarheel Tour, U.S. Pro Golf Tour, Carolina Mountain Tour, Carolina Pro Tour, AllStar Tour, Hooters Tour … I know I’m forgetting a couple … Web.com Tour,’’ he said.
The answer was easy when asked him how far off in the distance playing on the PGA Tour seemed back in those days.
“When you’re out there, you’re just trying to figure out how you’re not going to eat McDonald’s every night,’’ he said. “This [the PGA Tour] was always the goal, but I never would say it was like something you thought was easily achievable.’’
McGirt first earned some playing status on the Nationwide.com Tour (now the Web.com) in 2010 after he finished second at a Tarheel Tour event. That got him into an event in Bogota, Colombia, where he finished third.
He said the 2009 PGA Tour Qualifying School “was probably going to be my last trip to Q School, because I was about out of money and definitely out of patience.’’
McGirt recalled a Tarheel Tour event when he found himself “playing behind some guys who had just gotten off of work and they would be in work boots, a wife beater [tank-top t-shirt] and keys dangling from their hip.
“Golly, I played in several mini- tour events where you honestly didn’t know you were playing a golf tournament. You just kind of show up and they’d hand you a scorecard and a cart key.’’
He recalled several motels where he’d go to bed and push the dresser over against the door.
“I slept fully clothed several times,’’ he said. “I’ve slept in blue jeans and a T-shirt and thought about putting full rain gear on at times. When you can’t afford to go stay at a Courtyard for $150 a night, you do what you can. Lord knows we’d pack three, four, five guys in a hotel [room] some nights. Those times were a lot of fun. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.’’