Smylie Kaufman appears to have been anointed as the Golf Channel’s next on-course prodigy.
He was given the role vacated by Johnson Wagner when he left for CBS last year. It’s Kaufman who now walks the golf course and recreates shots as Wagner once did.
But it really was not too long ago that Kaufman was playing on the PGA Tour. He won on the tour in 2015 and had three top 20 finishes in 2017.
So, where did it go wrong, and why, at 34 years old, is Kaufman now reporting on the golf course, rather than playing on it?
Why Smylie Kaufman no longer plays on the PGA Tour
Kaufman had a really promising start to his PGA Tour career, but his form fell off a cliff completely in 2018.
He was a slightly above-average player in his Strokes Gained numbers in 2016 and slightly below average in 2017. But the following year, he completely lost his ball-striking, losing over 1.5 strokes off the tee and on approach over the course of the season.
He lost his PGA Tour card because of this and spent 2019 on the Korn Ferry Tour. From there, he was an infrequent visitor on the PGA Tour, starting just 10 events between 2020 and 2022, before he packed it in for good.
Kaufman was asked to play in the Zurich Classic this year, but he turned that offer down. He doesn’t seem to have any desire to play professionally ever again.
Smylie Kaufman’s 2016 Masters collapse
The 2016 Masters might have been the defining moment of Kaufman’s career. Playing in his first-ever major championship, he made headlines on both Saturday and Sunday for vastly different reasons.
At Augusta in 2016, Kaufman shot a 69 during the third round, which was the best of the day in tough scoring conditions. As a result, he played in the last group during the final round, alongside defending champion Jordan Spieth.
You might remember the 2016 Masters for Spieth’s historic collapse, which allowed Danny Willett to snatch the Green Jacket. But Spieth wasn’t the only one to meltdown. Kaufman also endured a tough final round, shooting a nine-over-par 81 for a T29 finish.
That final group was clearly cursed!
