by Gary Williams | May 13, 2026 | Blog
When Scottie Scheffler won his first major championship at the 2022 Masters Tournament it was his fourth win of the season and the projections of what he would do for the balance of the year were beyond lofty. Scheffler missed the cut in the PGA a month later and did not win again in 2022. Scheffler has not missed a cut in a major since that short week at Southern Hills and in the 15 major starts since his first green jacket he has won three more and has eight top three finishes and has only finished outside the top… Read more
by 5 Clubs Golf | Apr 17, 2026 | Blog
In April 1993, Sharon and I were fortunate to be invited to our first Masters tournament by Cliff Pierce of Columbia South Carolina. In the category of kind deeds being rewarded, his invitation was a result of his returning a favor because I gave him a ride to the St. Louis airport after an NFBA Past Chairman outing at the Lake of the Ozarks Lodge of the Four Seasons. It was on this first visit to Augusta that I purchased my pin flag from the Masters. Cliff was a food broker for many years. He was truly a southern gentleman… Read more
by Gary Williams | Apr 2, 2026 | Blog
Our lives are a series of routines, obligations, rewards, and surprises. My dad used to tell me that when the pendulum starts to swing toward more “want to do’s” than “have to do’s,” that’s an indicator that you’ve achieved in life, been lucky in life, and to not apologize for holding those cards in your deck. For the first 23 years of my life, attending the Masters was a want to do, and once that was fulfilled, you’d think that the “want to” would wane—but it never did. Once my chosen career path put me in a position to “have… Read more
by Gary Williams | Mar 20, 2026 | Blog
Whether it be infrequently, seldom, occasionally, or fairly regularly, we all hold onto the game because of that feeling. The first shot that came out of the center of the face at impact of the club I had in my hands occurred the first time I hit golf balls at the age of six. Full length club, leather grip, cold day in Boone, North Carolina – but that sensation gave the game a temporary grip on me until it eventually had a complete hold of me. I already loved every sport at that age, but none of them delivered that… Read more
by Gary Williams | Apr 27, 2025 | Blog
Windows are a convenient metaphor for life and sports. In the broadest sense we are living in our own window of time and while the premise of where we are on our journey presumes how open or to what degree it may be closing is forever precarious. So much of where that metaphorical window is within the prism of a sports life is largely a physical proposition because historical actuary tables have always been a reliable guidebook. The physical being the greater indicator of how much longer because there are only so many hits a running back’s body can endure,… Read more
by Gary Williams | Oct 6, 2024 | Blog
When the mind is quiet it is inclined to drift to the things that matter most. Those things are our people. The ones we love, the ones we’ve lost, the ones we choose to spend the most precious thing on…time. In September of 1995 I traveled to Scotland for the first time and did so with my dad. We returned in July of 2002, and on both occasions, we had the Muirfield day. Returning there again for the first time in 22 years with three dear friends in a head space with clarity and comfort made the conditions right for… Read more
by Gary Williams | Aug 10, 2024 | Blog
There can be pride in association. In sports, venues are part of the dream. It’s not only who you want to compete against its also where. Elite golfers know how much of an affinity elite athletes have for the game of golf. Babe Ruth went to the 1929 U.S. Open at Winged Foot to watch Bobby Jones. Michael Jordan started attending Ryder Cups in 1997 in Spain when he was still the best basketball player in the world, and he’s been to every one of them since. When you live in the golf silo it’s not uncommon to get whisked… Read more
by Gary Williams | Jul 16, 2024 | Blog
Feelings are not facts. But we consume sports at a time that “takes” and what used to simply be called opinions are flooding our collective zones of consciousness. Engagement farming is an insult to every farmer, living and dead. It’s certainly real and it’s certainly sad and even golf has become susceptible to dime store trolling for “likes” and attention. Rory McIlroy is a generational performer with one of the great lists of accomplishments in the history of the sport. Pre-LIV he was not perceived as a polarizing figure but his dogged pro PGA tour position upon the creation of… Read more
by Gary Williams | Jun 16, 2024 | Blog
We all have moments in our lives that we point to as to why we made choices, took certain directions and plotted our own courses in life. As time passes those moments take on a significance that can make you wonder what life may have been like had they never occurred. I never interpreted the moments as forks in the road but more like bends that encouraged me to lean into people, places and things. I hit my first golf ball in the mountains of North Carolina at Boone Golf Club under the watchful eye of my dad. Forty years… Read more
by Gary Williams | Jun 15, 2024 | Blog
It was a great tone setter for the day to meet up with Michael Campbell, the 2005 champion at Pinehurst. It was the first time back at Pinehurst since winning 19 years ago and he was dumbstruck by how different the golf course looked and the overall infrastructure of the championship. Campbell shared with me the details of his qualifying, which was the first year the USGA offered an international site. Michael lived 45 minutes from Walton Heath and even the convenience of being that close was almost not enough to get him there that day. The final hole of… Read more
