July 30, 2021
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl.- July. 30, 2021 – Willie Mack III continued his string of strong performances with four back-nine birdies en route to a three-under-par 69 to take a two-shot lead over the top-tier field in the first round of the Billy Horschel APGA Tour Invitational presented by Cisco Friday at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
The longtime standout APGA Tour and mini-tour pro took 32 strokes over the final nine holes to pull ahead of fellow APGA Tour standout Kamaiu Johnson and two of the top-ranked golfers from the APGA Collegiate Rankings, Mahindra Lutchman of Florida A&M University and Troy Taylor of Michigan State University. That threesome is tied for second at one-under par 71 with Jacksonville native Jarred Garcia another stroke back at even-par 72.
The field of 18 competitors includes top players and tournament winners from the 2021 APGA Tour season plus standouts from the current and past APGA Collegiate Ranking, brought together for the special event hosted by Horschel, the six-time PGA TOUR winner who has taken an interest in the APGA Tour and its mission of bringing greater diversity to the sport of golf.
Mack, 32, is the two-time APGA Tour Player of the Year who earned several sponsor exemptions to PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour events this year, breaking through by making the cut at the BMW Charity Pro-Am (T-62) in June and again in PGA TOUR competition at The Rocket Mortgage Classic (T-71) and The John Deere Classic (T-64) earlier this month.
“I played pretty well. Got the putter rolling on the back nine,” said Mack, the Detroit native and Bethune-Cookman University graduate who owns 65 mini-tour titles. “I’ve been hitting the ball great. I’ve been putting more time and effort into my ball striking and it’s paying off.” Mack chipped in from 10 yards away for a birdie on the seventh hole and sank a 25-footer for birdie on 14 in a round that included two front-nine bogies.
Johnson, who also has multiple PGA TOUR starts this year as a sponsor exemption, carded three birdies and two bogies. He won APGA Tour Las Vegas in April and will defend his 2020 APGA Tour Championship title coming up next month at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia. Lutchman had three birdies on the back nine to slip under par and Taylor had three birdies and two bogies on the challenging layout, which annually hosts THE PLAYERS Championship.
Garcia, winner of the APGA Tour Black History Month Classic in February, stands in fifth place with Kevin Hall, winner of APGA Tour Deere Run on July 20, another stroke back in sixth place at one-over 73. The tournament concludes tomorrow with the winner set to earn $25,000 from the total purse of $80,000.
“These guys have a lot of talent and all they need is a little bit of mentorship and some financial backing,” said Horschel, who hosted the Thursday night panel discussion on golf industry business development opportunities that is part of the special event’s focus. Among the business leaders participating were Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins, Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey, APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley and Marsha Oliver, VP of Community and Inclusion for the PGA TOUR. “I felt I could help these guys by providing another opportunity to further their dream of playing on the PGA TOUR. Hopefully in the next five or ten years, we’ll see a lot more minorities out on the PGA TOUR, which would be a great thing for golf,” Horschel concluded.
“It’s been a special few days this week,” Mack added. We’re getting the opportunity to play on this great golf course. Just having Billy Horschel’s name associated with the event is special.”
