Ahead of the third round of the PGA championship, some of the world’s most famous golfers were chasing Haotong Li. Tommy Fleetwood was right there. Four-time senior champion Brooks Koepka was right there. Former world number one Jason Day was right there. Dustin Johnson was right there. Mike Lorenzo-Vera was right there. Wait, who?
This was the question on many people’s minds over the weekend. Most casual golf enthusiasts don’t have a clue who Mike Lorenzo-Vera is, but those who follow the game closely know how talented the Frenchman is and how hard he worked to get here after almost playing himself. out of the game. Years ago.
Lorenzo-Vera had a very tough time where he almost lost status almost everywhere and found himself in huge debt. But he stayed strong and got to work and on Sunday evening he could very well find himself holding the Wanamaker Trophy.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera turned pro at the age of 20
Born in Bayonne, France on January 28, 1985, Mike Lorenzo-Vera turned pro in 2005 at the age of 20. He began his professional career on the Alps Tour, which is essentially the equivalent of Single-A baseball. He won his first tournament as a pro in 2006 and finished fourth in the Order of Merit, which gave him full-time status in the Challenge Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour’s version of the European Tour.
Lorenzo-Vera played very well in his first season on the Challenge Tour in 2007, scoring eight top 10 finishes for the final event of the season. He then won the tour championship, which took him to the top of the money list, earning full-time status on the European tour for the 2008 season. He had a mixed season in ’08, but managed to keep his card. but he had a tough 2009 and was forced to split his time between the European Tour and the Challenge Tour in 2010. But things were about to get even worse.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera had nearly half a million dollars in debt and nearly knocked himself out
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Mike Lorenzo-Vera had a very difficult period from 2011 to 2013. He lost his status on the European Tour and returned to the Challenge Tour but couldn’t find his game. He only played 12 events in 2011 and missed half of them. In 2012, he played 20 times, missed editing 10 times, and withdrew from another event.
In 2013, he nearly came last on the Challenge Tour’s money list, which turned out to be a much bigger problem than he thought because he had actually run out of money. Lorenzo-Vera never bothered to check his bank account and was very generous with his money. Earlier this year, in a very candid post on the European Tour blog, he talked about how things went wrong on and off the golf course.
“I know all about the dark side. I really struggled in 2011, 2012 and 2013. And I mean a great time. I finished the Challenge Tour almost last in 2013 and had almost € 400,000 in debt in France due to bad decisions, partying and being very generous to everyone around me. I had a good year in 2008, when I won around € 350,000; but after taxes and expenses there is not much left, and believe me I spent it really badly.
“I’ve never looked at my bank account. Never. And then one day the card stopped working and I called the bank yelling at it. “Because it does not work?” and they say, “well, because you have no money”. Then I was trying to cut back to try and get the money back, but it was ridiculous. I also messed up the taxes. Believe me, I made all the mistakes!
“At the end of 2013 I was a little lost. I will never forget the moment I realized how lost I was. I was sitting on the sofa at home and golf was on TV. I was watching David Horsey at a European tour event and he was doing well. Now this has nothing to do with Dave, but I remember saying out loud ‘How can this guy be so good? I was beating him and many others before. ‘Then my girlfriend looked at me and said’ because she is better than you ‘. I said no, he’s not and she said ‘where are you now, you’re on the couch, nowhere on the Challenge Tour and he’s playing well on the European Tour, so he’s better than you, that’s all.’
“It was from a girl who knows nothing about golf, and I was like, she’s right. So where do we go from there? This was. I was on land, at the bottom of the sea, and that was when I decided to push myself to the surface. ”
Mike Lorenzo-Vera
€ 400,000 amounts to approximately $ 471,000. But Mike Lorenzo-Vera picked up the pieces and got to work and is now capable of winning a major championship.
He changed things and is in contention to win the 2020 PGA championship
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After his low point, Mike Lorenzo-Vera called his brother Frank, who is a golf coach, and asked him to caddy for him at the qualifying school. Frank helped him regain focus and things started clicking. He had a good chance when another player dropped out of the finals, which allowed Lorenzo-Vera to enter and earn Challenge Tour status.
Since then, even though he hasn’t yet scored that big win, Mike Lorenzo-Vera has been playing golf. He returned to the European Tour in 2015 and hasn’t looked back. He achieved several runners-up and a load of top 10 and made it to the 2020 PGA championship at number 82 in the official world golf ranking.
After rounds 66 and 68 at TPC Harding Park, Mike Lorenzo-Vera was just a two-round lead on the weekend and definitely has the game to win this golf tournament. If he somehow managed to win the PGA championship, he would become only the second French-born player to win a major championship. The first and last to do so was Arnaud Massy, who won the Open Championship in 1907.
