PGA Tour Pro Hunter Mahan has retired from professional golf to become a golf coach at a Texas high school. The golfer turned professional in 2003 and has since bagged six victories on the tour up until 2014. He was also the World No. 4 back in 2012, making him the highest-ranked American golfer during that time.
However, for the past few years, the 41-year-old’s gameplay has suffered considerably, keeping him off tournaments most of the time. But recently, the golfer sat down with Adam Schupak in an interview where he talked about this decision to change his career path and why he took it.
PGA Tour Pro Prioritized His Family Over Sport
The Dallas-based former professional golfer will now be coaching the boys golf team at Liberty Christian, a private, college preparatory Christian school in Argyle, Texas. Upon inquiring about the sudden leap in his career, he explained, “I asked randomly about the head coaching golf position because I thought it could be fun and interesting and something completely out of my comfort zone but something I have a lot of knowledge in, and the coach was retiring so I threw my name in the hat”
He added,
“When you talk about God’s path for you, it just became so clear for my wife and I. We plan on moving next year from Dallas and for the kids to start attending school there.”
The golfer also explained that he couldn’t go on playing for his life. He has four kids and a family, so he has to do something else and not just play at events.
Apart from his PGA Tour victories, he has eight top-10 finishes in major championships. He made four winning appearances at the Presidents Cup and was a part of three Ryder Cup editions. Mahan’s last win came at The Barclays, which was a FedEx Cup Playoff event. But the form soon declined, and his family became a priority. He last made an appearance at the 2021 3M Open.
Hunter’s caddie John Wood was unsure of when and why the golfer lost his charm, and that having three kids would definitely be a reason for taking such a huge decision.
“When he was at the course, he wanted to be at home, and when he was home he wanted to be at the course. He kind of fell out of love with the game if he was in love with it in the first place,” Mahan’s swing coach Sean Foley added.
Mahan was known for his outstanding and best golf swing, but when he tried to make changes to it, things fell out of place. His short game came next, adding to his problems. All in all, he didn’t want his game to keep his kids from having a normal, happy life. Hunter amassed a total of $30 million in official earnings during his career and thus had nothing to prove. When asked about a future in TV commentary following his analyst duties for the world feed at the Ryder Cup this year, the PGA Tour pro pointed out that a role like that would have to wait, at least before his kids grew older.
