Detroit — Hayden Springer has had his struggles on the golf course. This week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, he made the cut for the first time since the Texas Open in early April.
But those struggles are kept in perspective. Missing cuts isn’t close to the worst thing he’s faced in the last year.
Last November, Springer and wife Emma’s first-born daughter, Sage, died at the age of 3. She had been diagnosed at birth with Trisomy 18, a severe developmental disorder, and she wasn’t expected to survive weeks, let alone years. Then, just five weeks following Sage’s death, Springer advanced out of Qualifying School, and earned his PGA Tour card for the first time. It should’ve been the happiest of times for Springer, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, who turned professional in 2019. But it wasn’t. Not even close.
“These last, maybe, nine months, have been kind of interesting,” Springer said Saturday night at the Rocket. “A lot of achieving a lifelong dream, and also rock bottom, the lowest of lows,” Springer said Saturday. It’s been a lot of learning and just kind of, you know, leaning on our faith a lot.
“Out here on the golf course, playing on Tour, has been a lot of learning and just trying to figure stuff out. … I think a lot of rookies go through that.
“At the end of the day, I’m very blessed to be out here and to be able to do this, and just trying to get better.”
Springer, 27, shot a third-round 65 at Detroit Golf Club to get to 12 under, tied for 14th entering Sunday’s final round. It’s just the sixth cut he’s made in 14 events during his rookie season on the PGA Tour.
The achievement wasn’t lost on his family, including his wife and young daughter Emma, and other family members and friends, who greeted him with hugs, smiles and high-fives after he signed his scorecard Saturday and met them around back of the DGC clubhouse, as they tried to make some dinner plans.
With another good round Sunday, Springer was poised for his second-best finish on the PGA Tour, following a third-place showing at the Puerto Rico Open in March. Puerto Rico is an opposite-field event, though. This would be his best finish in a full-field event.
Springer was asked Saturday if the golf arena has helped him, as he’s gone through tragedy.
“I don’t know if it’s helped,” Springer, a TCU alum who lives in Texas, told The News. “I think there’s times where maybe it’s made it harder, and then also times that I can put my focus and energy into golf.
“It is high pressure. Like, you want to succeed, and so I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s hurt or helped. It’s just something for me to put my effort into and to work hard at and get better at.”
This is the first time Springer has played the Rocket, though that almost wasn’t the case.
He’s back in town this week, one year after a silly mistake — and some good, old-fashioned honesty — might’ve cost him in a spot in the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic field.
Springer was playing in last year’s Monday qualifier at Fieldestone Golf Club in Auburn Hills when he advanced to a playoff that featured four players vying for the final three spots in the Rocket. But Springer, as he strolled down the fairway, realized he had a 15th club in his bag. You’re only allowed 14. He had been working on the range with another club after his regulation round, and he never removed the 15th club.
He immediately alerted a rules official, was assessed a two-stroke penalty, and that was that. Springer, who at that point hadn’t paid a PGA Tour event since the 2021 U.S. Open, was out.
Truth is, nobody would’ve known about the 15th club. But Springer would’ve known.
“I mean, I don’t know if I could live with myself if I didn’t say anything,” said Springer, who bounced back and went on to lead the points list on what then was known as PGA Tour Canada in 2023, which got him Korn Ferry Tour status and into the Qualifying School, where he earned his PGA Tour card weeks after his unimaginable loss.
“You know, there’s an integrity aspect of this game, and I wish everybody would uphold the highest, that integrity. We’re imperfect people, so people are gonna make mistakes. And I’ve made mistakes. But that one … it was hard.
“It is kind of funny to be playing well (here), after that happening last year.”
Kevin Helm, executive director of the Michigan PGA, which runs the qualifier for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, called Springer’s actions “great integrity.”
Sage Springer was born in 2020, and in 2021, Hayden and Emma Springer established the Springer Family Foundation, which has since become Extra Love. The foundation provides support to families with children who have been diagnosed with Trisomy, including financial assistance for those who have to travel to receive health care, as many Trisomy patients have to. You can learn more about the foundation here.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
