What a long, strange trip it has been for the Sacramento native who never expected professional success but is still living the dream.
By Garrett Johnston
Kevin Sutherland is the quintessential journeyman golfer. He’ll give no argument to a term that is often expressed as a negative but rather than wear the derogatory designation as some Scarlet Letter of shame, the Sacramento native and resident revels in the flip side – what a journey it has been. He is 60 and still playing the game he loves professionally, honing his craft on PGA Tour Champions for the past 11 years, and nabbing five wins and 11 runner-up finishes along the way.
It’s a long, but also successful way, from Sutherland’s early days, which include first making a splash by winning the 1986 NCGA Amateur at Spyglass Hill.
“It's crazy to think I’ve been out here on PGA Tour Champions since 2014, I can't even imagine and can't explain how quickly it's flown by,” Sutherland says. “The PGA Tour Champions is just so fun. I've enjoyed it tremendously. It's still competitive and everybody's working really hard, but it's a little bit more laid back than the main Tour. It's a great group of guys to be around; I just love the camaraderie.”
His version of success is all the more remarkable when you consider that getting on the PGA Tour was never a huge goal for Sutherland until the latter stages of his college career at Fresno State University, where he walked on the golf team.
“There was never a grand plan to be on the PGA Tour, let alone the Champions Tour,” Sutherland says. “It just manifested itself through my improvement every year.”
Sutherland is quick to thank late NorCal instructor Don Baucom, who coached him for over 40 years, for fostering his development and preparation to both get and stay on the PGA Tour.
“We worked together a lot, he was a great coach for my game,” Sutherland says. “It's been a great journey, but the fact that I'm still playing competitive golf on the Champions Tour at this age is beyond belief.”
The motivation these days comes from the thought of winning against World Golf Hall of Famers Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and other PGA Tour Champions greats. Back trouble has limited Sutherland’s scheduled to about 17 starts per season.
“I know I am still capable of winning on the PGA Tour Champions, and for me I would love to be more competitive on a weekly basis,” Sutherland says. “I just haven’t shown that kind of consistency.”
On the PGA Tour, Sutherland got his one and only victory at the 2002 World Golf Championships Accenture Matchplay at La Costa. After taking down then-No.3 world-ranked David Duval in extra holes in the first round, Sutherland beat eventual European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, 2 and 1, in the second round. The match had a lot of ebbs and flows, but when Sutherland shook hands with the amiable Irishman on the 17th hole, McGinley says he told Sutherland “You’re good enough to win this thing.”
That vote of confidence stuck with Sutherland.
“I thought about what he said every day I walked out of my hotel room after that match,” Sutherland says. “I thought, 'If Paul thinks I can win this thing then why can't I?' What he said really resonated with me.”
McGinley liked the assertiveness he saw out of Sutherland that day.
“What impressed me about Kevin that day was how he seized opportunities and played shots when it mattered most in the match, and that’s what lent me to say that to him when we finished,” McGinley says.
Feeling lifted, Sutherland advanced on to the finals where he took down fellow Sacramento native Scott McCarron, 1-up.
“It was a gratifying feeling. I was standing on the 18th green when I finished that last match and the first thing I thought of was 'Wow, you won on the PGA Tour. That's a pretty special thing’,” Sutherland recalls.
While it was his lone win, he enjoyed a lengthy career on the PGA Tour, making 447 starts from 1996 through 2013, when he turned age 49. Though he played in the 2014 U.S. Open just before turning 50, Sutherland made his debut on the PGA Tour Champions the following month and started with a flash. In just his third event on the senior circuit, he shot 59 at the Dick Sporting Goods Open on his way to a tie for seventh. At the time, the score set a PGA Tour Champions record. Amazingly, it also included a bogey on his closing hole.
“It was a crazy day. It was almost like video-game golf. It didn't even feel real,” Sutherland says. “I was like 9-under after eight holes. I don't know how else to describe it except for it just didn't seem real to me.”
For Sutherland, it’s been that way since he hoisted the NCGA Amateur trophy at Spyglass Hill. How much longer does he plan to keep playing at the pro level?
“I don't know. I think I'm kind of slowing down a little bit. Like many golfers, we get bad backs. It's been kicking up on me a little bit the last year and a half,” Sutherland said. “We’ll see.”