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Michael Visacki winning this week’s Valspar Championship is as likely as Tiger Woods capturing the next two major championships playing on his shattered right leg.
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Michael Visacki winning this week’s Valspar Championship is as likely as Tiger Woods capturing the next two major championships playing on his shattered right leg.
But that hardly matters, because Visacki already has won.
Visacki simply making it into the field at the Valspar is the best story that will take place at Innisbrook’s Copperhead course this week.
Visacki is a 27-year-old mini-tour player from Sarasota, Florida whose 20-foot birdie putt in the playoff of a Monday qualifier to earn him the fourth and final spot into the field became a viral sensation because of his emotional reaction.
When he made the putt that sent him into his first PGA Tour event, Visacki first collapsed into the arms of his caddie and best friend Kaylor Steger and cried. Later, he was captured on video face-timing his father, Mike, and telling him through tears, “I made it.’’
When I saw the video on social media and realized Visacki’s story of hard luck and the relentless pursuit of his dream, I immediately posted a message on my Twitter account saying that stories like his are the reason I cover sports for a living.
When he spoke with reporters on a Tuesday Zoom call, Visacki was as emotional as he was while on the phone with his father the day before.
“A lot of people give up on their dreams, probably because they can’t afford it,” Visacki said. “But I’ve been lucky enough to be with my parents and be able [for them] to help me out sometimes to keep living it.”
An only child, Visacki spoke of the sacrifices his parents made for him to play golf.
"I made it." ❤️
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 26, 2021
Michael Visacki fights back tears as he tells his father that he's reached a lifelong goal of competing on the PGA TOUR.
He successfully Monday-Qualified for the @ValsparChamp. pic.twitter.com/5ci5L1KoLp
“Sometimes there would be nights where they wouldn’t eat, just to give me some food,’’ he said. “They would sacrifice, sometimes maybe not paying a phone bill just so that I can go and play some junior tournaments back in the day when I would travel down to Fort Myers or up north to Orlando. What they have done for me, I mean I can’t thank them enough. I can’t repay them enough.’’
This week will provide significant reward for Visacki’s parents, who live only an hour south of the Valspar and will get to see him playing in the big show.
Visacki, whose last paycheck from a mini-tour event was for $250, will tee it up at 9:07 a.m. Thursday. The winner’s prize this week is $1,242,000. The closest Visacki had come to a PGA Tour event before this week was when he Monday qualified in a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2018, the KC Golf Classic. He tied for 27ththat week and earned $4,590.
He’s won 37 times on the tiny West Florida Tour, where he won that $250 check last month for finishing in eighth place. An eighth-place finish at Valspar this week pays $215,625.
Suffice it to say Visacki has the opportunity to change his life this week. He already has.
Two years ago, Visacki missed getting Korn Ferry Tour status by one shot when he lost a ball on the 17th hole of the final round of an event that would have gotten him to the final stage of the qualifying tournament.
On Monday, in the qualifier for Valspar at nearby Southern Hills Plantation Club, he was tied for the final qualifying spot after shooting 67. He stayed alive on the first hole of the playoff after his tee shot ended up in a bush, but he was able to play the ball out into the fairway, and from 107 yards, get it up and down for par to survive to the next hole.
The next hole is where he buried the biggest birdie putt of his life.
“It’s still shocking,’’ he said. “A dream come true to be able to tee it up in my first PGA Tour event.”
Asked what has kept him going through all the adversity, Visacki said, “My dad pushing me because he knew that I had it. If he knew that I didn’t have it, I don’t think he would have been pushing so hard, but he saw the talent, he kept on saying keep your head down, keep grinding, because I’ve seen what you’re able to do. I’ve been playing some pretty good golf and he said, ‘Just keep knocking on the door and you’ll step in.’ And I finally stepped in.’’
Thus, the emotions spilling out during their phone call Monday.
“Yeah, Pops was emotional; never seen him cry so much,’’ Visacki said. “We’re not very much of a crying family, but this is the first time in a long time I think that we all cried because we knew how much work and effort, blood, sweat, tears, has gone into me trying to make it and to finally be able to do it, it’s a dream come true.
“I know I have the game to compete out here and I never once thought about quitting.’’
This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Mark Cannizzaro
