DES MOINES, Iowa — On a sunny day ahead of the Principal Charity Classic, Billy Mayfair was finishing up his practice round at the Wakonda Club while his service dog, Boomer, panted in the shade of the empty gallery overlooking the 18th hole. Mayfair sank a few putts and his wife, Tami, tossed golf balls on different areas of the green, testing for slope or rough patches that might impact her husband’s game come competition time.
Mayfair is a 35-year veteran of the sport, beginning his professional career in 1988. But on this day, he looks like any golfer squeezing in a round before a PGA Tour Champions event comes to town.
Upon first glance, the average eye wouldn’t recognize Mayfair as the only player to beat Tiger Woods in a playoff on the PGA Tour.
“To still be asked, even after 25 years, it’s an honor,” Mayfair told the Des Moines Register. “It really is. Tiger is, if not the best player, one of the best players in the world. It was more gratifying to me because it was in (Los Angeles), on a home golf course that he’d grown up on.
“I think everyone just kind of expected him to win. But I was playing good that week. Tiger made a comment to me once, that I’m the only one he can’t intimidate. So, that was a really nice gesture on his part.”
Both Woods and Mayfair shot 12-under-par, but it was the latter who won out in the playoff of the 1998 Nissan Open.
Twenty-five years down the road, it’s still one of Mayfair’s top memories in the game – not so much because of the win, but because of the camaraderie between him and his competition. That’s part of what has kept Mayfair in the game for so long.
But he also likes the isolation that comes with being out on the course for hours on end.
It wasn’t until recently that Mayfair realized why he enjoyed the time to himself so much.
1 Mar 1998: Tiger Woods and Billy Mayfair shake hands during the Nissan Open in Valencia, California. Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport
Mayfair’s lifelong love of golf finally made sense
Mayfair’s father was a “pretty good” amateur player, but Mayfair himself started out as a swimmer. He juggled both sports recreationally for a bit before deciding to narrow it down to one.
“When I first started, I was a really good swimmer,” Mayfair said. “But for swimming, we got ribbons. For golf, we got trophies. That made my decision really easy.”
The 56-year-old Arizona native stuck with the right sport.
Mayfair has five PGA Tour wins…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…