Hunter Mahan’s Struggles Result in First Missed Major Since 2007

If “former Oklahoma State golfer limps into U.S. Open at Oakmont having missed cut at three of last five events” is the headline, Hunter Mahan is actually not the subject matter. That would be Rickie Fowler, but we’ll get to him next week.

Mahan has actually missed four of his last five cuts and eight overall this season in what has been his toughest year in a decade. He has fallen outside the top 130 in the world and will miss his first major championship since 2007 (!) next week during the U.S. Open.

Mahan could have tried to qualify on Monday (like former OSU golfer Kevin Tway did), but he withdrew from sectional qualifying in Ohio.

Notable WD's at Columbus sectional: Russell Henley, Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan, Ben Martin, Max Homa and Chesson Hadley.

— Jonathan Wall (@jonathanrwall) June 6, 2016

So what’s the deal with Mahan? Well, the deal is probably the same thing you or I have dealt with at some point in our professional lives. He’s struggling to balance everything.

“I haven’t had many struggles in my life,” Mahan told the Associated Press. “This is foreign territory to me.”

Mahan and his wife Kandi, who recently sold their Dallas home to Jordan Spieth, are due with child No. 3 in July.

“We wanted them close together. We had two and it was like, ‘Holy moly, two is a lot.’ And then she was pregnant,” he told the AP. “I was kind of looking forward to a year without anything new, which hasn’t happened. Everything in my life is really good. I’m just not shooting the scores I should. We have a lot going on. Mentally, you’d like to deal with one thing at a time. I think it overwhelmed me and I lost track of my swing a little bit. It feels like an avalanche, but it’s just a snow flurry.

“I’m a father and a husband, and I have to be there first,” he said. “It’s hard to be there mentally in both places.”

There have been bright spots over the last few years, but this has been Mahan’s trajectory for a while. He buoyed it by winning The Barclays in 2014 (see below), but he’d been on a downward trend in the World Golf Rankings really since 2012.

It’s unfortunate for Mahan, but he’s also only 34 years old. He’s got a ton of time to get the fight back, and I’m pretty confident he’ll do so. These things come in waves. Pretty much the same thing happened to former world No. 1 Luke Donald, and he’s clawed his way back to No. 80 in the world and just qualified for the U.S. Open on Monday.

The biggest thing for Mahan is self belief. That’s such a huge harbinger for success at this level. Jason Day and the No. 499 player in the world aren’t that much different in skill level, but Day plays like he believes he’s the No. 1 player in the world and Rourke Van der Spuy who is currently No. 499 (not made up) does not play like he believes he’s the No. 1 player in the world.

Hopefully Mahan will be back playing every major and winning golf tournaments shortly. If not, he’s presumably doing something more important anyway.