April 25, 2021 | By Mike Easterling
Professional golfer Willie Mack III is practically mini-tour royalty with 65 victories on his resume. While he is mostly associated with circuits in Florida his career hasn’t been limited to the Sunshine State.
“I’ve played all over the place,’’ said Mack, a native of Flint, Mich. who played collegiately at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla.
He will play a new venue April 29-May 2 at the inaugural Korn Ferry Tour’s Huntsville Championship at The Ledges. Mack earned a spot in the field on a sponsor exemption.
Mack, an African American, has made his reputation on the Florida Professional Golf Tour, on which he topped the money list his first year out of college, and the Advocates Professional Golf Association. The APGA, where Mack was Player of the Year in 2019, advocates bringing diversity to the game.
He also played on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour and was the first African American to win the Michigan State Amateur in 2011.
“We are excited that Korn Ferry has decided to award a sponsor exemption to Willie Mack, who has overcome incredibly difficult circumstances away from the golf course just to make it to this point in his career,’’ said Penn Garvich, tournament director for the Huntsville Championship.
Mack’s journey to his second Korn Ferry Tour start hasn’t been easy.
His dad, Willie Mack II, began teaching his son to play when the former said he was “six or seven years old. I fell in love with the game.’’
Money was tight on the father’s social worker salary, but he did whatever he could to allow his son to continue playing. Mack III won 11 times at Bethune-Cookman.
After turning pro in 2011, he led the Florida tour in money earned. The next year he advanced to the second round of the PGA Tour Qualifying School but missed getting into the final round by two strokes.
Mack then began to struggle on the course and financially, but he wouldn’t give up on his dream. His talent was never a question, he just needed to string good showings together in tournaments.
That happened, and this year he received his two biggest breaks.
He made his first two PGA starts this year at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on a sponsor exemption and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club as the recipient of a Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption. Sifford broke the PGA’s color barrier.
Mack missed the cut in both events.
“Willie has more than earned this opportunity, and we look forward to watching him compete against the rising stars of golf right here in Huntsville,’’ Garvich said.
Mack’s 15-seconds of fame off the course came after video of a car he was driving burst into flames on I-95 spread via social media in 2018. Mack was driving his 2012 Kia, which he had just gotten back after a recall to replace the engine, when it suddenly shut off. While he was awaiting roadside service passersby stopped to alert him.
“They ran up to the car and said, ‘Your car’s on fire,’’ Mack said. “I got out and looked at the front of my car and most of it was gone.
“The first thing I thought about was to get my golf clubs for some reason. If I have my clubs I can make some kind of money. I got my clubs out and threw them to the side. I actually tried to get back into the car but it wouldn’t open. One of the guys said, ‘Let’s get away from the car.’ We got six or seven feet away and it kind of blew up like in a movie.’’
The clubs were the only possession Mack had in the car that survived. And Mack is a golf world survivor. He’s had to win to keep playing golf, and he’s now won enough to afford an apartment in Orlando.
The window for the 32-year-old Mack to rise to full-time PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour status is still open. The PGA owns the Korn Ferry Tour, which draws comparisons to Major League Baseball’s Triple-A.
“The last couple of years I’ve been playing pretty consistently and making strides to get out there on the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry,’’ Mack said. “Playing in those two PGA tournaments I feel like I got experience. I didn’t play how I wanted to, but I think it will definitely help me in the next (PGA Tour) events I get into.’’
Mack has played in one previous Korn Ferry Tour event — the 2018 LECOM Health Challenge at Shorewood Country Club in upstate New York. He fired a course record 60 during Monday qualifying to earn a spot in the tournament.
Now, he’ll face the strong field at the Huntsville Championship.
“I feel like not too much can faze me at this point,’’ he said.
