Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Where in the World is Hunter Mahan?

By Christian Paszko

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 18: Hunter Mahan of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Champion course on March 18, 2021 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 18: Hunter Mahan of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the first round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Champion course on March 18, 2021 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

There was a time about 15 years ago or so that Hunter Mahan was one of those can’t miss 20 something golf prospects that had all the potential in the world. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the success that many thought he would.

Hunter Mahan turned pro way back in 2003 at age 21 via qualifying school to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2004 season. The sky was the limit for the Oklahoma State Cowboy, by way of Orange, California.

More from Pro Golf Now

It took until 2007 for him to get his first win at the Travelers Championship. That helped him break into the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and on top of that, was chosen as a captain’s pick by captain Jack Nicklaus. Mahan was becoming a household name quickly there after.

2010 stared a five year span that was the best Mahan had ever played. That year he won the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Bridgestone Invitational. In 2012, the Accenture Match Play Championship and the Shell Houston Open.

His win at the Shell Houston Open vaulted him all the way up to 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings on April 1, 2012. He also had a few top 10s in majors in 2013.

Unfortunately, this was the peak for Mahan. He did win The Barclays, the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs in 2014. That would be the last trophy that Hunter Mahan would hoist triumphantly aloft in his PGA Tour career.

The 2015-16 season started a rock slide of a decline. His metrics were falling, his FedEx Cup finishes fell severely. He would finish 183rd, 130th, 159th, and 184th in the FedEx Cup receptively.

It’s gotten so bad for Mahan that he has had to fight for his tour card down on the Korn Ferry Tour. Not to disrespect the Korn Ferry Tour, but a player that had the talent that Mahan had should not have to play on the Korn Ferry Tour just to be able to stay on the PGA Tour.

Between the 2015-16 and 2020-21 seasons Mahan had only a single top 10 finish, a T7th at the 2018 Barbasol Championship. He’s missed a whopping 69 (nice) cuts in that span of time. As of April 1st, 2021, Hunter Mahan was ranked 1,738th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Hunter hasn’t played in a major in 5 years. He finished 54th at The Masters in 2016. Since then he has not qualified for a single one.

If you want some recent results, you might not want to actually look. Mahan, now 38, has played in 25 events on tour in 2020-21 and has made the cut in just 4 of them. His best finish is a T54 at the Wells Fargo Championship in May.

Next. 2021 Open Championship: Winners and Losers. dark

I wrote something very similar to this about Rickie Fowler. It’s a completely different situation, where Fowler is still playing, but not how we thought he would. Mahan has, pretty much fallen totally off the map in the last 5 years, needing to scratch and claw just to play in events like the Valspar Championship.

It’s always sad to see someone as good as Hunter Mahan was, not come close to the potential that he showed. Mahan and Fowler aren’t the only ones to have this happen. More will be coming in the future.

Home/PGA