From Setbacks to Success: Austin Smotherman’s Journey Back to the PGA Tour originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Austin Smotherman earned his PGA Tour card in 2021, lost it and grinded back through developmental tours to secure his return for 2026 with two victories in three weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour. His winding path from PGA Tour Latinoamérica to the Korn Ferry Tour and back represents the perseverance that defines professional golf’s most compelling stories.
Now returning with hard-earned wisdom, Smotherman brings a different perspective to his second chance. His story involves family support, unique superstitions, memorable college teammates and the determination that turns setbacks into comebacks.
BE, Athlon Sports: You’ve had quite the journey from PGA Tour Latinoamérica to the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour and back again. Now you’re #TOURBound for 2026 after securing your return with two victories in three weeks. What’s different about your mindset and approach this time around compared to when you first earned your PGA Tour card back in 2021?
AS: We’ve been very blessed to continue moving up through the ranks from Latin America to the PGA Tour. I think the mindset this year is different because we lost our Tour status and had a chance to prove ourselves again. Knowing what it took to be out there the first time, and understanding what I needed to improve to stay there, are some of the key changes compared to the past.
Winning twice in three weeks comes down to making a lot of birdies and eliminating bogeys. On the PGA Tour, you have to be able to avoid those big numbers.
BE, Athlon Sports: Your college teammate at SMU was Bryson DeChambeau, who’s gone on to become one of the most recognizable names in professional golf. How did that relationship shape your early professional career, and do you still draw motivation from watching his success? What was it like being teammates with someone who would become such a transformative figure in the sport?
AS: Being teammates with Bryson and seeing his work ethic up close definitely helped shape mine. Seeing him own his own way of doing things, and his encouragement for me to own what I do — that’s where I’ve gotten the most out of our golf relationship. I like to think that I may have shaped his understanding of some things as well.
We’ve played countless practice rounds and roomed together at every college event and major amateur event. Since he moved to LIV and I’m playing on the PGA Tour, we’ve seen each other on the road a little less, but it’s led to some fun times at home when our off weeks coincide.
BE, Athlon Sports: You have this fascinating superstition about marking your ball with a quarter – eagle side up for birdie putts or better, heads up for par or worse. Where did this ritual come from, and how important are these kinds of mental routines in maintaining consistency throughout the grind of professional golf? Have you ever forgotten to flip it and noticed a difference?
AS: I recognize that my ball marker routine is a little unique and superstitious. I’m not sure exactly where it started, other than that my grandpa Bob, on my dad’s side, had a coin collection, and I was always interested in it. So maybe it’s an ode to him and my search for a cool old coin.
I have noticed before that I put my ball marker down incorrectly — heads up when I’m putting for birdie. What I’ll do is go over, put my ball down and flip it over for sure. I’ve got maybe seven to 10 early 1960s quarters that are still silver, and you can tell they’re pretty old. This recent run, I’ve been using my 1962.
BE, Athlon Sports: The path through PGA Tour Latinoamérica was crucial to your development, including that 2018 victory at what’s now called the Mexico Open at Vidanta – a tournament that’s since become a PGA Tour event. What was it like winning a tournament that would later become part of the tour you were trying to reach? Do you ever think about how that victory was essentially a preview of competing at the highest level?
AS: Winning the Mexico Open in 2018 was a huge highlight of my Latin season that year. One cool thing about playing on the PGA Tour Latin America was that we would play national opens almost every single tournament in South America, whether it was in Argentina, Guatemala or Chile.
When you show up at the national open, there’s definitely a different vibe around it that feels a little like a PGA Tour event as far as the attention we got for coming into town. That probably helped me reach the PGA Tour and get back out there.
BE, Athlon Sports: You proposed to your wife, Jessica, at Reunion Tower in Dallas, and you’ve mentioned that you started dating at the end of your senior year in high school. How has having that long-term stability and partnership influenced your ability to handle the ups and downs of professional golf, especially during the challenging periods when you’re grinding on developmental tours?
AS: Golf, as we all know, has so many uncertainties. Having Jessica’s support was a blessing and a huge reason why I was able to succeed and enjoy my time playing all over the world early in my career. Jessica has been incredibly supportive and is probably the biggest believer in my golf abilities.
Now, having our little family and seeing her as a mom is so special, and I’m excited to travel on the PGA Tour next year together as a family whenever we can.
BE, Athlon Sports: Your earliest golf memory involves hitting balls in your front yard with your dad, eventually hitting one onto the roof and then over the house entirely – and it was only a one-story house. That progression from front yard to roof to backyard seems like a perfect metaphor for a golf career. How did your father influence your relationship with the game, and what role did family support play during those early developmental years?
AS: Those early golf memories with my dad are ones I’ll never forget. Hitting so many of those foam balls in the garage and playing just about any sport you can think of with him definitely led to excellent hand-eye coordination, something you need to play this game at a higher level.
I like to think that, as an athlete, I can excel in any sport and compete at a high level. It just so happened that my dad and I went through the golf process and knew I could play college golf, let alone professional golf. That was always something we discussed, and now we are living our dream.
BE, Athlon Sports: If you could walk up to the first tee to “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, that suggests you’re someone who feeds off energy and intensity. How do you channel that kind of energy during tournament rounds, especially in pressure situations? Is there a difference between how you approach big moments now versus when you were first trying to establish yourself professionally?
AS: I love getting into those high-energy, pressure-packed moments in golf. I feel like there are definitely more of them than in team sports, and I enjoyed that aspect so much growing up. I ended up in golf, and to still experience those moments of hyperfocus — where I go into a different place of competitiveness and execution — is why I love being in those situations and never want to shy away from them..
BE, Athlon Sports: You’re now a father to Adeline and Penelope while pursuing your professional golf career. How has fatherhood changed your perspective on the game and what success means to you? Does having that family foundation make the travel and pressure of professional golf easier or more challenging to navigate?
AS: Jess and I have been so blessed with the girls and their ability to travel and spend time on the road with me. The pressures of doing this for a living and providing for them have gone up a little bit, but I still know it’s just golf and a game at the end of the day. There are so many things to learn from it — a huge sense of perspective on golf just being golf.
This will also be a new chapter where I’ll get to show them how I prepare for events, compete in them and why I fell in love with the game in the first place. They will get to see how special this all is to me and how fortunate I feel to get to do this for a living. It will also help coming back home to them at the end of the day, knowing they don’t care what I shot. That will help get my mind off golf for a little while. I’ve been told that these moments will pass incredibly fast, so I’m going to try to cherish them all.
There are definitely some challenges to navigate as far as logistics and travel, but they’re all challenges that we’re so lucky to face and figure out.
Smotherman’s return to the PGA Tour demonstrates the power of persistence and learning from setbacks. His time away from golf’s highest level made him a more complete player and person.
As he prepares for 2026, Smotherman carries experience, family support and perspective earned through the long road back. His two recent victories weren’t just scorecard wins — they validated years of hard work and unwavering belief.
The silver quarters from his grandfather’s collection serve as the perfect metaphor: valuable, enduring and carrying family history. Like those 1960s quarters, Smotherman’s talent has proven its lasting worth through the ups and downs of professional golf.
With his family and hard-earned wisdom, Smotherman’s second PGA Tour act promises greater meaning than his first.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.