Friday morning Mark Calcavecchia will walk to the first tee at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, stick a peg in the ground and do something he hasn’t done in 264 days.
Hit a golf ball in competition.
It’s the longest layoff Calcavecchia has had since he took up the game almost a half century ago.
“I broke my wrist in high school and was out three months, and five years ago I went through a window and severed a tendon and also was out three months,” Calcavecchia said. “This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I was miserable for four months.”
The Jupiter resident knew he would be looking at a lengthy rehab when he underwent back-fusion surgery Jan. 4 to deal with an injury that has bothered him for a decade. He felt he had no choice. His last event was playing with his son, Eric, in the PNC Championship on Dec. 20.
Calcavecchia has dealt with back pain for years, treating it with epidurals and cortisone shots. But after the pain started shooting down his leg – and he was knocked to the ground by back spasms last October – he knew it was time to have surgery similar to what Tiger Woods had done (but with different vertebrae).
Then came the hard part for Calcavecchia: Not only the rehab, but watching others play golf.
“At the start of 2020, I was thinking about retiring,” Calcavecchia said. “But then the pandemic set in and we didn’t play for five months. That’s when I knew I wasn’t retiring. I was bored stiff. I still love playing.”
One can imagine how the last nine months have been for him. At 61, can Calcavecchia regain the touch that helped him win 13 PGA Tour titles, including the 1989 British Open, and four titles on the PGA Tour Champions?
“My expectations are pretty low,” he said. “I’m certainly not thinking I’m going to light it up at my age and have a chance to win. It’s just nice to play again. I’ve missed competing and being around the guys.”
Calcavecchia said he was shooting around par during practice rounds in Columbus, Ohio last week. He’s hitting one more club than he used to and said his biggest issue is loosening up, not pain.
Not being able to swing a club full-bore for most of 2021 has had one benefit.
“My short game is phenomenal,” he said. “It’s kind of like the old days. I half expect to chip-in.”
This week’s Ascension Charity Classic is Calcavecchia’s 991st combined start on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. He should be able to join the rare club of players who have made a combined 1,000 starts on the two tours.
It’s unlikely, though, he’ll get to return to the scene of his last victory: The TimberTech Championship (Nov. 5-7) at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton. The tournament has become the second event in the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, and only the top 54 on the money list get to play on the Old Course.
Calcavecchia is 95th on the tour’s two-year money list with $74,782. John Daly is currently 54th at $429,960.
“I’d love to play at Boca, but it’s highly unlikely,” Calcavecchia said. “I would have to win and maybe a couple of top-5s. But you never know.”
It’s been a tough 12 months for Calcavecchia. In addition to the surgery, he contracted a serious case of COVID-19 last September. And this week, Calcavecchia and wife Brenda lost one of their beloved dogs who travels with them, Brutus, who was almost 17.
Life goes on. Playing golf returns.