When Peter Uihlein arrived at Oklahoma State, one of the top
college golf programs in the nation, he had big expectations. This was due in
large part to the fact that he was a two-time American Junior Golf Association
Player of the Year, but also because his father Wally is CEO at Acushnet – the
parent company for Titleist. His time in Stillwater was certainly a success as
he won multiple college tournaments and also claimed the 2011 Ben Hogan Award,
which goes to the top college golfer each year – recognizing success in both
colligate and non-colligate tournaments. His time on the golf course while
unofficially representing the Oklahoma State orange was fruitful too as he won
the 2010 United States Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in Washington. Even
with this success, some found it to be a curious choice for Uihlein to turn
professional at the end of 2011 and not play the spring portion of his final
year of college eligibility. Perhaps even more surprising was that he decided
that Europe, and not his native United States of America, would be where he
would try to forge the origins of a hopefully positive career trajectory.
During Uihlein’s first year as a professional he saw limited
starts accompanied by limited success on the European Tour. His time on the
European minor league circuit, the European Challenge Tour, indeed proved to be
a challenge too as he didn’t claim his first top ten until late July. This was
a turning point though and marked the beginning of a seven tournament stretch
where he finished in the top ten six times. All things considered, 2012 was a
successful maiden voyage into the world of professional golf as Uihlein
finished 26th in the final Challenge Tour rankings.
After a resilient first year as a pro, Uihlein broke into
full stride in 2013 with two top ten finishes on the main circuit early in the
year. Then, in May, he notched the first win of his European Tour career by
claiming the Madeira Islands Open. This solidified the main tour as his home.
Uihlein did not rest in his success though; he kept the momentum rolling
throughout the year, and among other things, added two second place finishes
late in the season. His success didn’t go unnoticed by his colleagues across
the Atlantic either. Both Uihlein and Brooks Koepka (a young American following
a similar career path to Uihlein) qualified for the PGA Championship and played
a practice round with Phil Mickelson. At year’s end, Uihlein was 14th
on the European Tour’s ranking list – a tour and 12 places better than the year
before. This gained him the honor of being named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.
At this point, Uihlein looked poised to continue to
progress. Instead he regressed. With only two top ten finishes in all of 2014,
Uihlein found his name next to the number 65 on the final European Tour
rankings. Instead of getting to follow his friend Brooks Koepka, who finished 8th
on the European Tour order of merit bolstered by a late-season win in Turkey, to
the United States to play the PGA Tour in 2015, he remained a nomadic American.
The year 2015 proved to be a solid year for Uihlein as he
regained some form. There was nothing spectacular about it. He consistently
made cuts and threw in the odd top ten. It was good enough to get him to the
final event of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai playoffs, an honor that goes
to the top 60 in the rankings. After signing his final scorecard in Dubai, his
season added up to a 47th place finish. Even though it was solid, it
didn’t match up with the success that 2013 foreshadowed.
After showing some initial promise with three top tens in a
row early in the year, 2016 ended up being Uihlein’s most difficult trek as a
professional. Injuries stunted his season. He only played in 14 tournaments,
and not surprisingly, he finished the 2016 campaign in 126th place. Exclamation
points had officially been replaced by questions marks.
