MacKenzie Hughes opens the Procore Championship with a 9-under 63—his season-low (tied)—featuring 11 birdies, a brief stumble on 14–15, and a bounce-back birdie at 16. He details the 59 watch (after getting to −9 on 13), the putts that set the tone (a breaking make on 3, a dagger on 10), and the up-and-down birdie from ~225 yards on 12 that won’t show up in any textbook—but sure worked.
Fresh off a month at home (hello, three kids!), Hughes mixed rest, gym work, and a swing refresh with new coach Scott Hamilton—and it showed. He also maps out his FedEx Fall: likely Napa → Jackson → RSM (maybe one more), aiming for Top-60 to set up 2026.
Highlights
11 birdies en route to 63 (season-low tied)
59 talk after reaching −9 thru 13
Two bogeys (14–15) → immediate birdie on 16
Putter heater: key makes on 3 (15–16 ft, big break) & 10
New coach Scott Hamilton + gym work = sharper feels
Fall plan: Procore, Jackson, RSM (maybe one add), Top-60 focus
All right, Mac. Uh, in with nine under 63 here in the first round, Procourt Championship. Matches your season low. Um, can you describe that round for us? 11 birdies is pretty strong. Yeah. Yeah. No, I uh it was I got off to a nice start. Um, made a bit of a bonus birdie on two, hit a hit a great shot in there and a nice putt on three and good save on four. for. And so I kind of felt like I I got some good momentum going early and then um was really able to kind of uh pile it on there on the front nine and um kind of got a sense that, you know, around the turn there that things were going going nicely and that I had had a nice feel with the putter. So it was really just about like continuing to put my foot on the gas and and uh and go forward. And um I I did some really nice things. I mean, even like on 12, I drove it right and had to kind of pitch back to the fairway and I got up and down from 225 yards for birdie, you know, so like I did some some stuff that you, you know, you can’t really count on, you know, all the time, but um yeah, really was a nice day and obviously boosted a lot by um a strong putter. Couple of backto-back bogeies there on 14 15, but nice bounce back with 30 and 16. How did you uh how did you mentally manage that while you were going? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it was um a bit disappointing obviously to I mean especially cuz um really from where I drove it on 14 and then to play 15 uh like that. I mean I would have loved to play those holes one under and I played them two over. So that was disappointing but I also you know was telling myself walking off the 15th green I was 700 par still and you know if I had that at the beginning of the day as uh as something in my head I would have been uh ecstatic. So knew I was playing nicely and had some good things going. So, it was like just kind of look forward and and not look not look behind you there. And um I think that’s something that at this point in my career, I’m a lot better at doing than I was uh you know, five, six years ago. So, it’s easy to get kind of flustered there and and to maybe compound that and make some more mistakes coming in. But, uh to kind of rebound there and and to finish strong like I did was uh was a huge bonus. Were you thinking 59 at all? Numbers coming to mind? Yeah. So I think when I when I made the putt on 13 and got to nine actually in my head I don’t know why I just had it as a 71 in my head. So I was thinking that 12 would have been enough but you obviously have to be 13. So I was thinking well I thought I had to make four of the last five uh at that point or sorry four of the last six. So I got the one on 13 and I was like okay maybe maybe a chance. Um, but obviously I kind of dashed those hopes on 14, but uh, it definitely crossed my mind for a second. What was the best putt you made today? Best putt I made today was probably Wow. Um, probably 10. Um, but the putt I made on three was about a 15 16 footer with about five feet of break. So that was that was really nice and kind of got me, you know, going uh early, but um tough to pick between a few of them. There there was a few few good ones out there. How was the balance been between rest and preparation in the month or so that you’ve had off? Yeah, I actually um I got home and um took some time away from golf, but I uh spent a lot of time, you know, getting stronger and uh you know, put some work in in the gym and felt like I was um my body felt good. I hadn’t really played and practiced a ton in the last uh couple of weeks, but um I’m working on some things on my swing uh with a new coach uh Scott Hamilton and um yeah, that’s kind of given me some some excitement and some, you know, eagerness to get out there and and to work. So, um yeah, I’d say I I got quite a bit of rest, but also I’ve got three young kids, so uh rest is, you know, not really in the cards at home sometimes. So, uh, but it was it was a great a great time off. That month I had was, uh, was just really nice to be home and kind of put the suitcase away for a bit. Yeah. Just the importance of the FedEx fall. How much you going to play given that you’ve kind of been in this position before just outside that Yeah. 50 number dealing with that situation. Yeah. I mean, big goal is, yeah, to get in that top 60 and kind of um set up my beginning to the year next year, but um I also won’t play five, six events to try and chase that. I’m I’m probably going to play three, maybe four, but the plan right now is to play here, um Jackson, and RSM. And then uh you know if I was in a position where I was really close and maybe I needed to add something I I might. But um I’d love to just play a few and kind of get some good rest and um yeah be home a bunch this fall. So uh that’s the plan right now. But um yeah, we’ll see what happens. Any coincidence that those are places that you’ve won before? No coincidence. I uh I tend to like those places. So um yeah, we’ll uh hopefully have some good success at those ones again. Thanks, man. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Thank you.
