What ever happened to Hunter Mahan?

[jamesdav12]

I haven't seen anything about him in over a year. Anyone know what happened to him?

 

[mvmac]

 His greens in regulation stat has been crappy the past couple years. Gotta be putting for birdies and not for pars.

[RandallT]

He sure has played in 2015/2016, but too many MC's obviously.

Only 2 really solid finished were T9 Masters 2015 and T4 Deutsche Bank 2015. Sorry to see a dismal 2016, as he seemed like a good guy.

 

[mvmac]

Spending too much time at Ace Hardware.

[Hacker James]

didn't he used to have some pretty good putter stats?

 

[jamo]

1 hour ago, RandallT said:

He sure has played in 2015/2016, but too many MC's obviously.

Only 2 really solid finished were T9 Masters 2015 and T4 Deutsche Bank 2015. Sorry to see a dismal 2016, as he seemed like a good guy.

 

Jeez, that's a brutal year. 

[bubble]

43 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

didn't he used to have some pretty good putter stats?

 

i dont think so.

I also saw poor chipping pitching with several fat shots under pressure even when he was in world top ten.

I think the foley killed him like all the others besides woods who took off fast.

[jbishop15]

6 minutes ago, bubble said:

i dont think so.

I also saw poor chipping pitching with several fat shots under pressure even when he was in world top ten.

I think the foley killed him like all the others besides woods who took off fast.

Mahan was successful under Foley, though, as has Justin Rose. The more likely explanation is that golf is hard as hell, and it got the better of him. These guys are operating on tiny margins of error anyway, so being even a little off can screw you pretty badly. 

[mvmac]

10 hours ago, jbishop15 said:

These guys are operating on tiny margins of error anyway, so being even a little off can screw you pretty badly. 

That's a really good point.

Maybe his priorities have shifted? His game started to decline once he started having kids.

From the few swings I saw this year it basically looks the same as it did during his good years. 

[Divotmaker77]

19 hours ago, mvmac said:

That's a really good point.

Maybe his priorities have shifted? His game started to decline once he started having kids.

From the few swings I saw this year it basically looks the same as it did during his good years. 

Does seem his game fell off once he started a family.  Happens to a lot of pros who start to stay home more than being at the course/ range working on their game.

[Buckeyebowman]

20 hours ago, mvmac said:

That's a really good point.

Maybe his priorities have shifted? His game started to decline once he started having kids.

From the few swings I saw this year it basically looks the same as it did during his good years. 

I can remember a lot of pundits saying the same thing about Tiger when he got married and had kids. Of course, Tiger had other issues. 

There's a David Feherty essay on the subject that I wish I could reproduce in it's entirety. But it would take up too much space here, too much of my time, and nobody would read the whole thing anyway!

His basic premise was that pro golf is one hell of a hard way to make a living! We fans tend to concentrate on those at the top of the money list, or the top of the world rankings. To even hang around that neighborhood for 3 to 5 years you need to pretty much be a water walker!

As Feherty put it, and I'm paraphrasing now, "Yes, the courtesy cars, free room and food are really nice. But very few guys hang around long enough for that to get old!"

And every once in a while you wind up with a "Whatever happened to..." thread like this. Here's a couple more. Keegan Bradley, where's he been? Bryson DeChambeau, same thing. Last I saw of De Chambeau was on the Buy.com tour! That's where most of them go looking for the battlefield promotion or to get back into Q school!

And I'll make a prediction here. If Jordan Spieth can't tame his Driver, he may wind up here as well! His otherwordly putting may save him for a while, but if that ever floats away, he's done!

[iacas]

41 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

And every once in a while you wind up with a "Whatever happened to..." thread like this. Here's a couple more. Keegan Bradley, where's he been? Bryson DeChambeau, same thing. Last I saw of De Chambeau was on the Buy.com tour! That's where most of them go looking for the battlefield promotion or to get back into Q school!

And I'll make a prediction here. If Jordan Spieth can't tame his Driver, he may wind up here as well! His otherwordly putting may save him for a while, but if that ever floats away, he's done!

Bryson just turned pro last year and got his PGA Tour card for this year IIRC.

And Jordan has nine years left on his exemption I think.

[Buckeyebowman]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Bryson just turned pro last year and got his PGA Tour card for this year IIRC.

And Jordan has nine years left on his exemption I think.

That's very nice. And don't get me wrong, I'm a Spieth fanboy! But he seemed to take his eye off the ball. I'm sincerely hoping he gets back on the beam. Exemptions are for what you did "back then". It's what you are doing now that counts!

[mvmac]

14 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

That's very nice. And don't get me wrong, I'm a Spieth fanboy! But he seemed to take his eye off the ball. I'm sincerely hoping he gets back on the beam. Exemptions are for what you did "back then". It's what you are doing now that counts!

He's 23, finished 9th on the Fed Ex Cup and is 4th in the world. Not as good of a year as '15 but it's obviously extremely difficult to keep up that level of play. Makes you appreciate what Tiger did for so many years even more.

[Buckeyebowman]

13 minutes ago, mvmac said:

He's 23, finished 9th on the Fed Ex Cup and is 4th in the world. Not as good of a year as '15 but it's obviously extremely difficult to keep up that level of play. Makes you appreciate what Tiger did for so many years even more.

Exactly! Which is what makes Tiger's fall that much harder to take. When John Feinstein was on the air on CBS radio, when he talked about Tiger's career. As he related it, he was able to see both Jack and Tiger in their primes, and, in his mind, there was no doubt that Tiger was the greatest ever! He just didn't last as long as Jack. And there's something to be said for that!

[WUTiger]

3 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

There's a David Feherty essay on the subject...

His basic premise was that pro golf is one hell of a hard way to make a living! We fans tend to concentrate on those at the top of the money list, or the top of the world rankings. To even hang around that neighborhood for 3 to 5 years you need to pretty much be a water walker!

Not just on the PGA tour. We lost our club pro this fall to a career in financial services. He started as an assistant, and over several years worked his way up to head pro.

He sent all the members an e-mail and said that he and his new bride wanted to start a family, and he felt the hours running the club would get in the way of this. He said it was a hard decision to make, but he felt it was the best for his future.

So, it's a demanding life both on the tour and club end of things.

[skydog]

The guy just always seemed content with booking top 15s and didn't ever have a big drive to win...always how it seemed to me at least.

[jbishop15]

4 hours ago, skydog said:

The guy just always seemed content with booking top 15s and didn't ever have a big drive to win...always how it seemed to me at least.

I don't know about that. I don't think you make it to the PGA Tour without being maniacally competitive, and a little bit of an alpha lunatic. It's hard to get there without whole-assing it. 

Also, top 15s ain't exactly easy.