My neighbor in The Woodlands, Jeff Maggert, shot a 31 on the back nine yesterday of the TPC Southwind Golf Course in Memphis on his way to a final round, five-under-par 65 and his first PGA Tour win in seven years. Maggert’s 72-hole winning score of 271 won the Fed Ex St. Jude’s Tournament by three strokes.
Maggert is an interesting fellow. A 42 year-old graduate of Texas A&M, he has an impeccable swing, has played on three Ryder Cup teams (1995, 97, and 99) and has often been in contention in major championships over his 15 year PGA Tour career. However, his three career wins seem somewhat low for a player of his talent, although his streaky putter probably explains much of that.

He has never finished a season outside the top-125 money list during his 15 years on the Tour, but Maggert finished 106th last season and, until yesterday, appeared to be on his way to having his worst year on the Tour. For the year, he had won less than $300,000, missed the cut in his previous three tournaments and in five of the 13 tournaments that he had played in this year, and was 118th on the money list. So, yesterday’s victory was particularly welcome, given that it vaulted Maggert to around $1,235,000 in winnings for the year, good for 26th on the money list. Another year, another top-125 finish for Maggert.
By the way, as the father of four teenagers, one of the things I admire most about Maggert is that he is the father of five children, several of whom are teens. He understands the importance of being around for them and his wife, so he does an excellent job of balancing his life on the Tour with his family responsibilities in The Woodlands. Thus, as the rest of the Tour players will be playing in the Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament in Ohio this coming week, Maggert will be knocking it around the local courses with his children and not missing the Tour a bit.
With those priorities, my sense is that we will continue to see Jeff Maggert’s name popping up on leaderboards from time to time. Just not all the time.