| William McGirt | |
|---|---|
 McGirt in May 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | William Curtis McGirt III |
| Nickname | Dirt McGirt |
| Born | (1979-06-21) June 21, 1979 (age 45) Lumberton, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg; 13.9 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Boiling Springs, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Sarah McGirt (m. 2004) |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| College | Wofford College |
| Turned professional | 2004 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Former tour(s) | Nationwide Tour Tarheel Tour |
| Professional wins | 2 |
| Highest ranking | 38 (July 31, 2016) |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T22: 2017 |
| PGA Championship | T10: 2016 |
| U.S. Open | T55: 2017 |
| The Open Championship | CUT: 2016, 2017 |
William Curtis McGirt III (born June 21, 1979) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
College career
Born in Lumberton, North Carolina, McGirt grew up playing both baseball and golf, receiving scholarship offers from colleges in North Carolina and South Carolina. After being recruited by multiple colleges for both sports, McGirt decided to play college golf at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He was the 1998 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and won three collegiate events for the Terriers, including the 2001 conference championship. He graduated in 2001 and was a 2010 inductee of the Wofford College Athletic Hall of Fame. He is a fan of Wofford sports and is married to a Wofford alumna.
Professional career
McGirt turned professional in 2004 and spent several years playing on mini-tours. His first break came by reaching the final stage of the 2009 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament (Q-School), allowing him to play on the Nationwide Tour in 2010. He ended 2010 at 34th on that tour's money list, then finished runner-up at Q-School to earn his PGA Tour card for 2011. McGirt qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs in his rookie season, advancing as far as the Deutsche Bank Championship and finishing 83rd in the FedEx Cup standings. He finished 141st on the 2011 PGA Tour money list. Unfortunately, it was the money list that mattered at the time and McGirt had to go back to Q School to regain his Tour privileges or be relegated to the conditional category. He qualified for the tour in 2012 by finishing T13 in the 2011 Q-School.
McGirt's first appearance in a major was at the PGA Championship in 2012, where he missed the cut. He had three runner-up finishes before his first win at age 36 in June 2016 at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio. He won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Jon Curran. It was McGirt's first professional win since his mini-tour victory nine years earlier in 2007. He earned $1.53 million for winning the Memorial, almost 100 times more than the $16,000 prize for his mini-tour win. The win earned him a three-year PGA Tour exemption, moved him to 44th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and qualified him for the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and the Masters. McGirt also qualified for the 2016 Open Championship based on his FedEx Cup position. His career high world ranking is 38th, after a T10 at the 2016 PGA Championship.
McGirt's 2018 season ended at The Northern Trust. He had surgery on his left hip and did not play the 2018–19 season. He entered the 2019–20 season with 29 starts and 375.582 points to meet the terms of his medical extension, but could not meet the requirements. McGirt failed to regain his PGA Tour card for 2022, but was one of five players who were not already exempt (26-75th Korn Ferry Tour standings or 126-150th FedEx Cup) to earn a "Floor of Five" exemption and full Korn Ferry Tour privileges for 2023.
As of 2022, William has more than 50 top 25 finishes and has earned more than eleven million dollars.
Amateur wins
- 2003 Cardinal Amateur, North Carolina Amateur
Professional wins (2)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 5, 2016 | Memorial Tournament | 70-68-64-71=273 | −15 | Playoff |  Jon Curran
|
PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Memorial Tournament | Jon Curran
|
Won with par on second extra hole |
Tarheel Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 4, 2007 | Cabarrus Classic | 67-68-71=206 | −10 | Playoff | Rohan Allwood
|
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T22 | |||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | T55 | ||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T10 | CUT |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2016 PGA – 2017 U.S. Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | T43 | CUT | CUT | T43 | T22 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| Championship | T28 | |
| Match Play | R16 | |
| Invitational | T7 | |
| Champions |
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
FedEx Cup final standing
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 83 |
| 2012 | 50 |
| 2013 | 100 |
| 2014 | 61 |
| 2015 | 69 |
| 2016 | 24 |
| 2017 | 85 |
| 2018 | 116 |
| 2020 | 247 |
See also
References
- "Stiles: McGirt's step back a refreshing move in today's golf climate". Robesonian. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
- Rowland, Kyle (May 31, 2017). "William McGirt made a name at Memorial last year". Retrieved June 27, 2018.
- "Week 31 2016 Ending 31 Jul 2016" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- Longest of long shots, McGirt hopeful and happy to still be alive in playoffs
- "Q School". www.pgatour.com. Archived from the original on 2011-12-08.
- DiMeglio, Steve (June 5, 2016). "William McGirt wins first PGA Tour title in playoff at Memorial". USA Today. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- ^ Shedloski, Dave (June 5, 2016). "William McGirt wins Memorial, ending 'years of…getting nose bloodied'". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
- Miceli, Alex (June 5, 2016). "William McGirt captures first PGA Tour win in playoff at Memorial". Golfweek. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
External links
- William McGirt at the PGA Tour official site
- William McGirt at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- Wofford College Athletics Hall of Fame – William McGirt
- American male golfers
- PGA Tour golfers
- Golfers from North Carolina
- Golfers from South Carolina
- Wofford College alumni
- People from Lumberton, North Carolina
- Sportspeople from Spartanburg, South Carolina
- People from Boiling Springs, South Carolina
- Sportspeople from Spartanburg County, South Carolina
- 1979 births
- Living people