Golf Is Hard: Smylie Kaufman
We all remember Smylie Kauffman from his great friendships and spring break trips with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Thomas. He also looked like he was going to join them in the top 10 of the world rankings. Everything was looking good for Kaufman who in 2015 won the Shriners Children Open in just his 3rd ever PGA Tour event. His success continued leading into the 2016 Masters with 5 top 25 finishes in the early stages of 2016.
Smylie was a couple shots off the lead after the 2nd round, but after brutal conditions on Day 3, Kaufman was the only player who was able to break 70, which got him into the final pairing with Jordan Spieth and just one off the lead heading into Sunday at Augusta....and ever since that day it's all been down hill for Smylie (at least his golf game has). Kaufman went on to shoot a 79 on the final day of the Masters, but it was still a top 30 finish for someone so young. It looked like Kaufman was poised for a major championship in his career.
Ever since that final round of The Masters, Smylie has missed 38 cuts in a little over 2 and a half years. He has had just two top finishes, but although 2017 was bad, it doesn't compare to 2018. In 2017 Kaufman finished 141st on the FedEx Cup Stadnings, but was able to keep his card due to his 2 year exemption of winning a PGA Tour event. In 2018 Kaufman has missed 18 cuts. The only time he played the weekend was at the Career Builder Challenge where he finished 69th. This year he sits in 189th place on the FedEx Cup and is in serious danger of loosing his Tour Card. Kaufman was as high as 48th in World Golf Rankings, but a couple years later he sits 432nd and is falling every week.
Kaufman sat last in the field at The Greenbrier after round one this week and chose to Withdraw. As far as we know, Smylie hasn't been injuried or anything. To me, it just looks like a case of golf being a very hard sport. That man that won that 2016 Masters, Danny Willett has been on a downward spiral as well missing many cuts in the last couple years. Some will say it's the Natural Light sponsorship that has him playing so bad, but I don't buy that at all. For those that don't know, Natural Light came aboard the Kaufman train after seeing him on the Spring Break Trip and thought he would be a great "ambassador" for their brand. Basically saying that want to sell to as many college kids as possible.
Hopefully Smylie can get make some cuts, and work his way back to being competitive again and keep his tour card because we have seen how much potential he has.
