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What did these Tour players do before they hit the Big Time?

Written by Mel Sole on . Posted in PGA Tour

What did these Tour players do before they hit the Big Time?

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The road to the PGA Tour is littered with hopes and dreams of making it to the “Big Show.”

Every now and then, someone from the rank and file of the 9 to 5 golfers makes it, and the dream for everyone else starts all over again.  

Who would ever have guessed that former 3 times Major Champion Padraig Harrington was formerly an accountant? Or Paul Goydos was a substitute teacher?  Yes, many players on the PGA Tour had regular 9 to 5 jobs while they toiled away at their golf game, hoping for that break to go on to fame and glory!  See this interesting list of players who broke away from various jobs and made it to the big stage.  Thanks to  of Golf Digest for compiling this interesting list.  I found it interesting reading.

With former shoe salesman James Hahn winning at Quail Hollow, we decided to look at other guys who worked regular jobs before finding success on the PGA Tour.

Rich Beem sold cell phones.

The man most known for topping Tiger Woods at the 2002 PGA Championship didn’t always cash big checks on the golf course. In fact, that win came just several years after Beem was making just $7 per hour selling cell phones and car stereos. When Beem won his lone major at Hazeltine, he was still carrying around his former ID card from that job. “I don’t want to ever forget where I came from,” he said. “The jobs I’ve had served their purpose. They got me here. I never want to forget about hustling around trying to earn a $5 spiff on a $1 cell phone.”
TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images
 
What did these Tour players do before they hit the Big Time?
 

Bill Lunde worked in real estate.

Lunde was captain of a UNLV team that won a national championship in 1998, but after failing to earn his PGA Tour card by 2005, he quit golf. Lunde worked office jobs in sponsorship sales for Las Vegas Founders and in real estate for about 18 months until losing his job when the housing market went bad. He gave golf another chance, earned his tour card through a big 2008 on the Nationwide Tour and then won his lone PGA Tour title at the 2010 Turning Stone Resort Championship.

What did these Tour players do before they hit the Big Time?

Y.E. Yang worked at a driving range

Yang only picked up golf after getting a job at a driving range at 19. At the time, he was still an aspiring bodybuilder, and he hoped to open his own gym, but while trying to get another job at a construction company, he tore his ACL in his left knee. After doing his mandatory two years of service in the South Korean military, Yang decided to pursue a career in golf. He showed off that bodybuilding strength when he hoisted his golf bag over his head after defeating Tiger Woods head-to-head at the 2009 PGA Championship.

What did these Tour players do before they hit the Big Time?

 
To see the rest of these PGA Tour players’ interesting jobs before they made it on the PGA Tour, go here!
 
Source:    Golf Digest
 
Pictures: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images    Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/Getty Images   Streeter Lecka/Getty Images   STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images
 
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