Greg Chalmers wins his first PGA Tour event – after an 18-year wait

Chalmers' win earn him a spot at The Open

18 years and 386 starts. That’s how long 42-year-old Greg Chalmers has had to wait for his first PGA Tour victory. To put that into context, the Ford Focus hadn’t even been released when Chalmers made his PGA Tour debut. We were all still watching films on VHS, as DVD had only just been invented. There was no such thing as the Euro, and Glenn Hoddle was England manager. 

Ignoring the fact that those last two points could easily become true once more in the next few months, Chalmers deserves huge credit for his patience and unwavering belief that he was good enough to win. 

“In golf, you always have to think something good is around the corner,” said Chalmers, whose 385 tournaments without a victory was the longest run on the PGA Tour of any active player. “It’s hard to win and I’m very thrilled and very pleased to get it done.” 

The Australian was ranked 490th in the world, but victory at the Barracuda Championship will propel him to 231st. More importantly, it secures him a spot at next week’s Open and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. 

“Just to get back on the PGA Tour. I can’t tell you how exciting that is,” added Chalmers. “Forty-two years of age, I turn 43 in October. This is a real fork in the road for my career, and it’s in the right direction.”

Chalmers was touched that several of his fellow Australian players stayed behind to shower him with champagne and help him celebrate.

“I didn’t expect that,” he said. “And kind of unique, because normally a lot of guys will just leave town. So, for them to stay and do that was kind of special.”

Chalmers also took pleasure in proving a Twitter troll wrong. 

“Unfortunately, someone on Twitter said, ‘That guy can’t close out.’ … I’ll be tweeting him back later, don’t worry about that.”