Mother Knows Best: Capan enjoying weekend with Mom on bag
By Alana Bannan
According to mom Charlynn Capan, Frankie Capan III is the most well-hydrated and fed player on the course at this week’s 3M Open. She would know, she’ll be by his side throughout the weekend as her mom duties meet caddie duties once again.
“Originally she was supposed to be just a fill-in caddie and the more success we had the more we realized she should just keep staying on the bag,” Frankie said of his mom turned caddie.
The 23-year-old is currently on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he sits just outside the top 30 players in the season-long points race at 34. The top 30 players all receive PGA Tour cards at the end of the season. Frankie chose to skip this week’s KFT’s NV5 Invitational and instead accepted a sponsor exemption to make his third Tour start, alongside his mom and in their home state nonetheless.
“She’s been doing a great job of keeping me in the right frame of mind on the course, whether I’m playing well or things are off a little bit,” Frankie said during a practice round earlier in the week.
It’s easy to see why the Minnesota native has kept his mom on the bag- snacks on the ready aside, the two have shared a good deal of success; including getting through all three consecutive Q-School stages to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card, finishing eighth at Korn Ferry Q-School Finals to earn partial status this season, and qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Open.
"“When we went through Q-School and only lost to nine people, it was pretty evident she should stay on the bag for a little longer. I tried another kid, actually from Minnesota, and we had a couple good finishes but found my way back to her and we had a nice finish in Raleigh, at the Korn Ferry event there and then the next day punched our ticket to the U.S. Open, and once we did that, figured better just stick with her for the time being and see what we can do,” Frankie recounted the duos success."
Charlynn also helps to keep Frankie grounded during a round in the way only a mom can.
“I know him so well, I know when to say something, when not,” she shared.
As for the future, she hinted at an early retirement after the remaining Korn Ferry Tour events.
Sitting outside the top 30 who will earn a PGA Tour card, Frankie may have taken a gamble accepting his sponsor exemption to play in the 3M Open, where points do not count toward the Korn Ferry Tour season points total. He’s not worried about that now, though.
A PGA Tour start in your hometown is an opportunity hard to pass up on, and both Frankie and Charlynn valued the opportunity to sleep in their own beds for a weekend.
“With the points I’ve accumulated throughout this year and with the way I feel like I’ve been playing, I’m confident that I’ll be able to get the sufficient amount of points in the last seven events to close out the year,” Frankie said in a pgatour.com article by Paul Hodowanic.
For this weekend, Frankie will focus on the unique and special opportunity at hand.
Next. Caddie paired with his boss at 3M Open. dark
“Regardless of how I play, I know this will be a week that I’ll never forget. At the same time, I want to take advantage of this opportunity and give it my best shot,” Frankie said.
Heading into Sunday’s final round of the 3M Open, Frankie is 4-under and sitting at T55. Proving still, mother knows best.