It was September 2004. Mackenzie Hughes, as tall as three apples, was 13 years old. The little guy was a volunteer at the Canadian Open played in Oakville, 30 minutes from his family home in Hamilton. A draw would somehow determine his career path.
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What little boy already knows, with certainty at this age, the job he wants to do later?
In the volunteer tent, Hughes waited to find out which bag of young amateur golfers he was going to drag around the course all day in practice rounds. When he found out he would be carrying one from Mike Weir’s group, the Masters Tournament champion at Augusta the previous year, he couldn’t believe his ears. Joy immediately invaded him.
“It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Mike had become a celebrity, a rock star. I had to try to store as much information as possible. I was sort of on a mission, he said, with a smile on his face when the Journal reminded him of this feat of arms from his youth at a press briefing from Mississippi.
“I remember not worrying too much about my golfer’s bag, I was trying to listen to Mike who wasn’t far away. I also asked him questions. It was a day as incredible as it was memorable,” added the Canadian, now 32 years old.
Lessons from the great champion
That evening, the teenager who had already loved the little white ball knew that he would become a golf pro. Without knowing it, the little left-hander with the prestigious green had taught him the qualities required to be successful.
Canadian golfer Mike Weir receives the green jacket from Tiger Woods in April 2003 after his victory at the Masters Tournament in Augusta.
Archive photo
“Mike already had a big impact on me, but watching him prepare that day, seeing him go and interact with the fans, the whole experience had me sold. I knew what I wanted to do when I was older.”
Less than 10 years later, after a stint with the Kent State Golden Flashes, Hughes landed in the pros. And since 2013, he has scored two victories on the PGA Tour.
Twenty years after this memorable day in Oakville, “Mac” could realize another of his dreams: that of playing under the orders of the man who convinced him to make a career in this sport.
The Canadian wants more than anything to participate in the Presidents Cup tournament next year at the Royal Montreal golf club. He knows that this opportunity is not free. He must deserve it and earn it. It’s not because his name is plastered with the flag of the maple leaf that he leaves with a head start.
A pace to accelerate
Weir, the captain of the international team facing the Americans in this competition played every two years, knows very well that Canadian golf is doing well. Since his appointment, however, he has insisted that his players will have to earn their place.
Corey Conners, Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith and Nick Taylor are also eyeing a spot on the 12-man roster, either through the qualifying process or captain’s selection.
Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners competed in the Presidents Cup in September 2022 in Quail Hollow, North Carolina.
AFP
During the last edition of the tournament which took place in his backyard at Quail Hollow, in Charlotte, North Carolina, in September 2022, Hughes was not selected for the international roster. An affront that he avenged two weeks later by signing his second victory on the PGA Tour.
This week, at the Sanderson Farms Classic in California, he defends this title and intends to start his season strong. Once the pace is underway, he will want to keep it up to gain valuable points in the qualifying rankings for the Presidents Cup.
“If someone had told me 20 years ago that I could play this tournament in Canada for Mike, it would have been an incredible story,” he said. There is still a lot of work to be done between now and next September.
“I am very determined to do everything in my power to be on this team in Montreal.”
The little guy who was 13 years old would be very proud of it.