The hot name buzzing around the golf world these days is Willie Mack III. And for good reason. Mack is a pretty darn good golfer. In 2019, Mack won Player of the Year honors from the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Tour which he competes.
Willie Mack III has gone from living in his car to playing on the PGA Tour. https://t.co/KZz0A58wOa pic.twitter.com/v9FVCjlDQr
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) January 29, 2021
Now, the former Bethune-Cookman stalwart is now trying to further his advancement on the pro golf circuit by competing in the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades this month.
Why is this a big deal? Well, Mack, under the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption, will have an opportunity to compete for the first time on the PGA Tour when the Genesis Invitational is conducted between Feb. 15-21. The PGA Tour adopted the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption as a way to diversity the game.
The exemption was already in place, but the PGA Tour re-named it after Sifford in 2017. Sifford was the first Black player to compete on the PGA Tour. Mack’s stature in golf has been a steady climb. While a student at Bethune-Cookman, a historically black college, Mack played his way to 11 titles. He also became the first Black golfer to win the Michigan Amateur Championship.
"It's our dream to be out here and I can't wait for the Genesis in 3 weeks.”
Willie Mack III gains valuable experience @FarmersInsOpen.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 30, 2021
Mack actually made his PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, California, though that was through default when another golfer had to drop out of the tournament.
The featured image of Willie Mack III appears courtesy of Bethune-Cookman
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.