Starting next year, just call Hunter Mahan, “Coach.”
That’s because the 41-year-old former six-time PGA Tour winner and former U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup player is set to begin coaching the boys’ golf team at Liberty Christian, a private, college preparatory Christian school located in Argyle, Texas.
“I asked randomly about the head coaching golf position because I thought it could be fun and interesting and something completely out of my comfort zone but something I have a lot of knowledge in, and the coach was retiring so I threw my name in the hat,” said Mahan, who is taking over in the spring season. “When you talk about God’s path for you, it just became so clear for my wife and I. We plan on moving (to Argyle) next year from Dallas and for the kids to start attending school there.”
Mahan reached a career-high world ranking of No. 4 on April 1, 2012. That made him the highest-ranked American golfer at the time. But he last won in 2014 at The Barclays, a FedEx Cup Playoff event, and his game went into steep decline. Mahan’s longtime caddie John Wood and swing coach Sean Foley both are reluctant to say why Mahan lost his mojo, but agree that having three kids in diapers and enjoying being a stay-at-home dad factored into it.
Photos: Hunter Mahan through the years
“He had a lot going on besides golf for the first time in his life,” Wood said.
“When he was at the course, he wanted to be at home and when he was home he wanted to be at the course,” Foley said. “He kind of fell out of love with the game if he was in love with it in the first place.”
Despite having one of the best golf swings of his generation, Mahan attempted to make swing changes with instructor Chris O’Connell and they backfired. Mahan’s short game, which was never a strength, became problematic when his trademark fairways-and-greens game no longer was automatic. Mahan stepped away from the PGA Tour after the 2020-21 season – he still has limited status as a past champion – but said it was the right time for him.
“If you don’t love it on Tuesday, you can’t love it on Thursday. It’s just never going to work that way,” he said, noting it was everything before the competition that was a struggle for him. “It was actually a rather easy decision based on that. I have four kids at home and a family and it was clearly my time to do something else. I didn’t want to keep playing just to keep playing because I could.
“I didn’t want…
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