With all this talk about the next generation of golf stars, let’s take a minute and acknowledge one of the old dudes.
Two days after Tom Kim, all of 20 years old, won for the second time on the PGA Tour, 71-year-old Dick Mast shot a 66 to break his age by five shots and earn his way into the final regular-season event on the PGA Tour Champions, the SAS Championship.
Mast qualified into an event last year when he was 70 but outdid himself Tuesday, carding seven birdies and two bogeys at Pine Hollow.
Mast notably once won a regional PGA Tour qualifier at 32 under in 1985. He’s made a combined 656 starts on the three tours. He has four Korn Ferry Tour wins but none on the other tours.
Now that Mast is in the SAS, there’s more than just trying to win this week on the line. The PGA Tour Champions has a “Wildcard Weekend” subplot in play which could see him sneak into the three-tournament Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs.
The top 72 golfers after the SAS make the playoffs, but, if a golfer not in the top 72 finishes in the top 10 this week, that golfer gets a spot in the playoffs, and, bumps out whoever was 72nd (unless the first playoff event does not have a full field, then no one gets bumped out). Michael Allen is currently 72nd in the standings.
The “Wildcard” has been in play since 2016 and there’s only one spot available, but no one has pulled it off yet.
Mast has only played one other Champions event in 2022 where he earned $2,327 in prize money. Steven Alker, who has three wins in 19 events, leads the Schwab standings at $2,730,615.
