Five months ago, Mackenzie Hughes was pretty sure he was heading back to Canada to pursue his golf career. Playing on the Web.com Tour, the Dundas, Ont. native, had struggled for most of the year.
With his fiance’s parents watching, Hughes would finish in the Top 10 that week. Less than a month later, he’d win on the Web.com Tour, securing his PGA Tour card.
Monday morning Hughes took that good fortune to the next level, winning the RSM Classic in Georgia in only his fifth start as a rookie on the PGA Tour.
Only weeks removed from getting married, days before his birthday, and on the eve of his honeymoon, the 25-year-old punched a ticket to the Masters in April, as well as the Players Championship, among others. He has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and is the first Canadian to win since Nick Taylor in 2014. Hughes took home $1.08 million for the win. In contrast he won $167,369 playing the Web.com Tour through September.
“To win doesn’t surprise me, but to win this early on his career does,” said Scott Cowx, who teaches at Hamilton Golf and Country Club and has coached Hughes for a decade. “He has always taken awhile to acclimatize to a certain level whether it was at college and the NCAAs, or playing PGA Tour Canada. But he seems to have really accelerated the process knowing he has the tools to compete at the highest levels.”
Derek Ingram, who worked with Hughes when the golfer was part of the Canadian National Amateur Golf team, said the young Canadian was “great to work with—extremely coachable.”
“Mackenzie is smart and has incredible discipline,” Ingram added. “He’s gritty and tough, never quits and always makes the most of what he has.”
Hughes needed all of those skills and discipline to win a playoff at the RSM that initially started with five golfers. By the time darkness fell Sunday night just after Hughes’ birdie putt slipped by, there were four golfers returning on a cold Monday morning to play a par three. Mackenzie made a clutch par putt to beat the likes of Camilo Villegas and three others, giving him the victory.
“If I didn’t make, I thought I was probably out,” Hughes said after his round. “Before I hit it, the thought was, ‘Just make them think about it.’ Put this putt in first, and if you can be the first guy in, put the pressure back on them. And that’s what happened.”
Cowx said Hughes has spent a lot of time improving his putting in recent years.
“Mack is normally a higher than average ballstriker, but has really buckled down on short game the past two seasons,” said Cowx. “His personality is very disciplined—he’s driven, honest and genuinely a super nice guy, which I guess is prototypically Canadian.”
Hughes has long been highly regarded in Canadian golf circles, attending Kent State to play golf and consecutive Canadian Amateur titles. He had a breakout season on PGA Tour Canada/Mackenzie Tour when he turned pro in 2013, making it to the Web.com Tour. But he struggled in 2014, and found himself back in Canada. He returned to the Web.com Tour last year.
“If you told me four years ago that I’d get to the PGA Tour by the time I was 25, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat,” Hughes said in an interview after winning in August. “But I can’t lose sight of who I am and what got me here.”
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