An Exclusive Interview
with Peter Uihlein

By: Leigh MacKay

LIV Golf Miami begins its fifth of 14 events this Friday at The Blue Monster at Trump Doral. Thirteen teams of four will vie for the $3M first prize ($750K apiece) of the $5M purse, and these 52 individuals plus Wild Card additions Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford will be shooting for the $4M gold medal from the $20M treasury.

This Wednesday of practice rounds at the famed layout along with assorted range work, short game drills, and putting exercises provided a more relaxed approach for the professionals as they prepared for the 54-hole shotguns this weekend.

I exploited this day of relative calm for my own purposes and tracked down one of New England’s most proficient golfers ever, Peter Uihlein, and coerced him into a short but revealing interview. I am a fellow New Englander and had followed Peter’s green scorchings for many years before I first met him in March, 2012, at the Puerto Rico Open, his first professional event.

Peter, now 34, lived in the Herman Melville whaling village of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and grew up under the tutelage of his father Wally, CEO of Acushnet Company. I know almost all of us contributed to Peter’s upbringing with our purchases of Titleist and Foot Joy goods, but I don’t begrudge the boy a single penny of that money I spent.

I just take a little more credit than I probably should for his golf achievements!

Peter learned the game at the Country Club of New Bedford, a classic Donald Ross par-69 venue. His two POY awards in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) along with other sterling youthful exploits earned him a scholarship in 2008 at Oklahoma State University alongside redoubtable teammates Rickie Fowler, Morgan Hoffman, Talor Gooch, and Kevin Tway.

When he left OSU at the end of 2011, he had accumulated a 2009 Walker Cup 4-0 record, the 2010 US Amateur at Chambers Bay, WA, on his 21st birthday, the 2011 Ben Hogan Award for the best collegiate golfer in the nation, and 2011 1st Team All-American status.

However, Peter joined the LIV Golf tour in June of 2022, where he first played on Brooks Koepka’s Smash team, then on Dustin Johnson’s Aces, before starting the 2024 season with Bubba Watson’s Range Goats. He has had 13 Top 24’s, 8 Top 10’s, and three “Trips to the Podium” for his three 2nds. In his 26 events with LIV Golf, Peter has earned a total of $24,845,926. Even Herman Melville would be impressed with the size of that catch! Now it’s time to catch Peter’s thoughts on what’s happening in his world.

(Photos all by Victoria MacKay)

LM: How has life been treating you on the Liv Tour?

PU: Life’s great! LIV does an unbelievable job for the players and the families, which really resonates with the players. LIV makes sure my wife and kids are comfortable during an event. Originally, I had to make a difficult decision, but now I love every minute of it.

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LM: Did you discuss the decision with your dad?

PU: Yes, we talked about it. I don’t want to speak for him, but he believes that competition is a motivating force, and he was never one to back down from a fight in his professional life. He felt like LIV was the right decision at that point in my career, and he said go for it.

LM: What goals have you set for the LIV Tour?

PU: To finish in the Top 10 each year in the Order of Merit. The fields are getting better, and the players, as you know, are quite good. So that one goal will be a tough one to fulfill.

Peter Uihlein – on camera at the 2022 LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump Doral – Photo by: Greg Wise

54 or 36 or 90 holes make no difference to me. Tell me how many to play, and I am all in. Yes, the shotgun is fair. We are all out on the course in the same conditions, so I am greatly in favor of that aspect.

LM: Are you concerned at all whether the LIV Tour will eventually get Official World Ranking Points? What are your feelings about the possible but not definitive LIV merger with the PGA Tour?

PU: No, not at all. I think the LIV players are well past that point in their concerns. The talk surrounding the “merger” with the PGA Tour doesn’t affect me either. The golfers should be concerned with playing golf in the competitions, and the business people are the ones who should be concerned about the workings within the system. That’s my opinion.

LM: You have said that Ernie Els, who you followed growing up, is someone you greatly admire. Did you get to play with him often on the European Tour? What other pros did you get to play with, whom you also watched in your youth?

PU: I did get to play with Ernie Els, and the first time we played I shot 60 with him at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland! I always liked Ernie’s demeanor and swing, total composure, and global presence as I was watching him play as I was growing up. So playing with Ernie was always a treat for me. And I admired Adam Scott, too, for his personality and his performance and our relationship. And Sergio, too! Although he is bit more different than those two—more charismatic, a swashbuckler, perhaps.

LM: With your yen for international travel what are your favorite courses around the globe?

PU: Oh, a good question for great memories! In no special order, let me see: Lake Karrinyup CC in Perth and The Gorge GC in Adelaide—Australian golf is pretty cool. The Albatross Golf Resort in Prague, home of the Czech Masters. Hong Kong GC, a special favorite. Walton Heath GC in the UK. And Valderrama GC in Spain. By the way, my favorite course in the USA is just down the road from the CC of New Bedford in Plymouth, MA—Old Sandwich, a Coore-Crenshaw masterpiece.

LM: Do you still root for the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox as you did when you were a
kid?

PU: Oh, yes! Of course! I root for them all. But mainly now I will follow the Red Sox and the Pats, and I have also adopted the Miami Marlins because I live in Jupiter, Florida.

LM: Final question, anything you would like to say to your many New England fans who have
watched you develop into one of the best professional golfers in the world?

PU: Yes. I have lived in Florida now for a long time, but I am still a New Englander at heart, and I am proud to be from Massachusetts. And I am proud to represent the blue-collar people, the hard workers like those that I grew up among in New Bedford. It’s a wonderful part of the world for me.

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