Ex-South Carolina golfer Matt NeSmith fighting to find form in Year 4 on PGA Tour

Matt NeSmith is six minutes removed from his third round at the Wells Fargo Championship on Saturday, and he’s thinking about anything but golf.

This isn’t some mental exercise for the former South Carolina star, trying to suppress some wayward round. He fired a 2-under-par 68 to move into a tie for 20th ahead of the final day of competition at Quail Hollow. That comes in the midst of an up-and-down start to his 2023 season.

No, NeSmith is distracted, at least momentarily, while trying to sift through his iPhone to find the score of the South Carolina-Kentucky baseball game.

“I know we lost last night,” NeSmith told The State. “Me and my wife went to the Auburn game on Friday (the week before) and we lost. We’re convinced we’re bad luck.”

NeSmith, now in his fourth full year on the PGA Tour, is candid about his struggles of late. He’d missed cuts in six of his last 10 events entering the Wells Fargo Championship. His world ranking, too, had dipped to 116th. But where it matters in maintaining his tour card for the following season — the FedEx Cup points rankings — he’s a cool 55th.

That carries weight.

NeSmith has teetered on the edge of maintaining his tour card before. He finished 100th and 115th in the FedEx Cup rankings in 2020 and 2021, respectively. That brings stress. It makes one press. Missed cuts, not winning points — there’s pressure in that.

But NeSmith performed well enough in 2022 for that feeling to dissipate through his recent ebbs and flows. He finished in the top 10 in three straight weeks to open October. His runner up-finish at the Shriners Children’s Open marked his best tour-level result to date.

A T4 finish at the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans with playing-partner Taylor Moore marked his first top 10 since that run in mid-October. NeSmith’s T35 at Quail Hollow this past week against a field that included 20 of the top 25 players in the world is also a big step in his burgeoning professional career.

“Had a good week two weeks ago with Taylor at Zurich and felt like things were kind of coming around,” he said. “I’m pretty happy where my game’s at. I’m just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Try and hit as many greens as possible and see where things fall.”

That NeSmith performed this past week isn’t without precedent. He finished T37 at the U.S. Open last year at The Country Club outside of Boston. A 68-69 opening two rounds put him in the mix entering the weekend before he faded down the stretch.

But there’s a semblance of pressure in playing a tournament just up the road from his college town. Couple that with the star-studded field and a $20 million purse — part of the tournament’s “elevated” status, a new initiative by the PGA Tour that functionally requires the best players to play in its biggest tournaments on the annual calendar — and there’s reason to smile.

NeSmith fired a 2-under 69 on Saturday to sneak inside the top 20 after rounds of 67 and 71, making the cut at 4-under over the first two days of the tournament. His Sunday 3-over finish in tricky scoring conditions tempered the final result some, but the golf he played on a course that’s slated to host the PGA Championship in 2025 is a step in the right direction.

“It’s definitely got the bones of a big-boy golf course,” NeSmith said of Quail Hollow. “It’s long. It’s big. It’s like the complete opposite of a Harbour Town, where things are kind of small and you could walk it in two hours and 15 minutes. They’re both fantastic golf courses, but just very, very different. I think that’s why people say it’s got kind of a major championship feel.”

NeSmith, a North Augusta native, notes the Wells Fargo feels like a pseudo-home event for him (though he clarifies the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head is closer to that given it’s actually in South Carolina). Based in Aiken, where he plays out of Palmetto Golf Club along with fellow tour pros Kevin Kisner, Scott Brown and Richie Werenski, Quail Hollow is just 142 miles from his home club.

That explains, in part, the support NeSmith received throughout the week. Strapped with a garnet-and-black Srixon golf bag and head covers, there are subtle nods to his alma mater for those with a keen eye. But NeSmith’s play has made him more recognizable this year.

Sticking a short pitch to three-feet to set up a birdie putt on Friday, the crowd around the 346-yard par-4 8th hole roared. “Let’s go, Matt! Go Cocks!” a boisterous male voice rang out above the fray — aided, perhaps, by a few light beverages. NeSmith offered a subtle wave and smile.

Stepping up to his putt, NeSmith brushed his putter head with his right hand, reared back and fired. Back of the cup. Birdie. Another roar. Another “Go Cocks!” chimed from the gallery.

“I hear it more and more as we go on. Not quite as much as ‘Go Dawgs,’ but it’s still something,” NeSmith said in jest of the 10 ex-Georgia players currently on tour full-time, including his Friday playing-partner Davis Thompson. “... You could be in Alaska and someone is like, ‘Go Dawgs.’ ”

NeSmith has stayed plenty connected with his Columbia roots. He gets back for baseball and football games when the PGA Tour schedule allows. He’s also tight with head football coach Shane Beamer, while receivers coach Justin Stepp has become a close friend.

Beamer, a golf aficionado in his own right, has voiced particular support for NeSmith on Twitter since he became head coach in December 2020. NeSmith was also part of the annual Birdies with Beamer media golf tournament the past two years.

NeSmith jokes he hopes he gets another invite to participate in the event again this year. In the meantime, he has work to do to get into the fields at two of the three remaining majors this year (NeSmith will play in his first career PGA Championship next week at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York).

But the big one lingering in the back of NeSmith’s mind? That’d be the 2024 Masters.

“Definitely,” NeSmith said smirking. “That one will count as a home event.”