Max Greyserman

American professional golfer (born 1995)

Max Greyserman
Personal information
Full nameMax Alexander Greyserman
Born (1995-05-31) May 31, 1995 (age 29)
Short Hills, New Jersey, U.S.
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight180 lb (82 kg)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidencePalm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
SpouseAlyssa
Career
CollegeDuke University
Turned professional2017
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins1
Highest ranking51 (August 18, 2024)[1]
(as of September 1, 2024)
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenT21: 2024
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Max Alexander Greyserman (born May 31, 1995) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He played college golf at Duke University, and played on the Korn Ferry Tour for four seasons. Greyserman earned his first PGA Tour card in 2023.

Early and personal life

Greyserman was born in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey, to Alex and Elaine Greyserman. He is Jewish, and Russian was his first language.[2][3][4] Both of his parents arrived in the U.S. as teenagers as refugees from Kyiv in the Soviet Union in what is now modern-day Ukraine.[5][6][7] They met when they were students at Rutgers University, where his father earned a Ph.D.[5][8] His father is a hedge fund manager and a math professor at Columbia University.[8] His mother played tennis on scholarship at Rutgers University from 1990 to 1992.[8][9] She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009, and competed in the first U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst in 2022 in the neurological impairment division, caddied by his father.[9]

He has an older sister, Jacquie, who played college tennis at Emory University.[5] He also has two younger brothers who both play golf, Dean and Reed.[10][9][11] Reed won the 123rd New Jersey Amateur Championship in 2024, making him and Max—who won it in 2015—the first brothers to win the tournament in history.[5][12][13]

Greyserman played varsity golf at Pine Crest School in South Florida as a seventh grader.[8] He attended the school from grades five to eight.[5] Greyserman then attended the Peddie School in New Jersey for high school, and led its team to three state championships.[8][14]

Greyserman lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with his wife, Alyssa, whom he met in college and who played college tennis.[6][8][5]

Amateur career

Greyserman first broke par at PGA National's Fazio course (then known as the Haig) at age 9, shooting a 71.[6][5]

He won the 2012 Golf Pride Junior Classic, shooting 68-69-67, and was a 2012 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Rolex Junior Second Teams All-American.[7][5] In 2012, Greyserman recorded top-10 finishes at the Lessings AJGA Classic, the PING Invitational, the Puerto Rico Junior Open, and the New Jersey Amateur.[4]

Greyserman won the 2013 New Jersey Junior Championship, was a finalist at 2013 St. Andrews Boys Open, was a member of the 2013 Wyndham Cup East Team, and was a semifinalist at the 2013 North and South Amateur.[4]

College

Greyserman played four season for Duke University, where he studied public policy and economics, and graduated in 2017.[5] In 2013–14, he posted a 74.9 stroke average, and shot a 71-71-72=214 (−2) to tie for fourth at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate.[4] In 2014, he also shot a six-under 207 and won the 94th New Jersey State Open, while caddied by his father.[15][16]

In 2014–15, Greyserman posted a 75.3 stroke average at Duke.[4] In 2015, he also won the 114th New Jersey Golf Association Amateur Championship at the Morris County Golf Club with a three-under 277 (69-74-70-64).[17][18][19]

In 2015–16, Greyserman posted a 73.20 stroke average at Duke, and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team. He had two top-five finishes. In 2016–17, Greyserman had a 72.07 stroke average.[4]

Professional career

Korn Ferry Tour

In 2017, Greyserman turned professional.[14] In 2018–19, playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, he finished the season at No. 80 on the regular season points list. He recorded two top-10s, including a season-best T7 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. In 2020, he finished T6 at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.[7]

In the 2020–21 season, Greyserman posted six top-10 finishes. In Korn Ferry Tour starts, he finished No. 46 in the regular season points standings. His highest finish of the season was a T4 at 16-under at the 2021 Visit Knoxville Open. He ranked fifth on the Tour in putting average, with 1.718 putts per green in regulation.[7]

In 2022, he suffered a wrist injury, a fractured lunate, necessitating surgery in April 2022.[20][14][5] He thinks that the injury was the result of repetitive use, and anti-inflammatory medicines were eventually not able to mask the pain.[5] Greyserman considered a different career path, such as real estate.[6][14]

In 2023, in his fourth season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Greyserman finished No. 9 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, and earned his first PGA Tour card (top-30 from Points List).[14] He posted five top-10s. He had two runner-up finishes, at The Ascendant and the Pinnacle Bank Championship.[7]

PGA Tour

In 2023, Greyserman earned his first PGA Tour card.[21] He now golfs on the PGA Tour, and his coach is Jeff Smith.[22] Greyserman has four top-10 finishes on the 2024 PGA Tour: T7 at the Texas Children's Houston Open, T4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (playing with partner Nico Echavarría), solo 2nd at the 3M Open, where he finished one stroke behind winner Jhonattan Vegas, and 2nd at the Wyndham Championship.[7][23]

In mid-June 2024, at the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, Greyserman made the cut in his second start at the major.[24] He finished at 5-over par, 285, in a tie for 21st overall.[24]

In July 2024 he came in second with a 268 at the 3M Open at the TPC Twin Cities, in his 22nd PGA Tour start.[25][26] He finished one shot behind Jhonattan Vegas, and won $882,900.[25][27]

In August 2024, he finished second in the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club, after shooting 69 and finishing two strokes back of Aaron Rai, who won the tournament.[28][29][30] It was his best finish of the year to that point, out of 21 tournaments.[31] Greyserman had been in the lead by four strokes after he had an eagle on the par-4 13th hole, but one hole later he had a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 14th hole.[29] He became the first PGA Tour golfer to follow an eagle with a quad in 15 years in any round.[32] While he birdied the par-5 15th hole, advancing to the lead by one shot, he then had a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole, and made par on his last two holes.[33][29] Golfer Matt Kuchar was playing in the final group with Greyserman.[34] Kuchar suddenly walked off the golf course after his tee shot on hole number 18, and marked his ball to finish the hole on the following day; he said that he did so because the sun had set, he felt it was too dark to continue, and by setting an example for Greyserman he was trying to help Greyserman hoping that Greyserman would likewise stop, and that Greyserman's performance thereafter on the 16th hole could have been avoided.[35][36][37] Kuchar said that he thought that Greyserman had been treated unfairly by the officials at the tournament, who he thought should have postponed play a number of holes earlier because of the descending darkness, and that Greyserman should have won the tournament.[38]

Amateur wins

  • 2012 Golf Pride Junior Classic
  • 2013 New Jersey Junior
  • 2015 New Jersey Amateur

Source:[39]

Professional wins

Results in major championships

Tournament 2017 2018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open T21
The Open Championship NT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 33 2024 Ending 18 Aug 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Jacob Gurvis (March 1, 2024). "Jews in sports to watch this weekend," JTA.
  3. ^ "Family support runs deep for Max Greyserman". PGA Tour. May 29, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Max Greyserman - 2016-17 - Men's Golf". Duke University Athletics.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Steve Waters (February 28, 2024). "Tour rookie Max Greyserman feels right at home at PGA National for Cognizant Classic," Palm Beach Post.
  6. ^ a b c d Prise, Kevin (February 28, 2024). "Max Greyserman earns long-awaited homecoming at Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches". PGA Tour.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Max Greyserman". PGA Tour.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Dakshinesh Kumar Naman (August 11, 2024). "Meet Max Greyserman: American Golf Pro’s Personal Life, Career, and Other Details Explored," Essentially Sports.
  9. ^ a b c Shefter, David (June 4, 2024). "Greyserman Gives Max Effort in Qualifying for 124th U.S. Open". USGA.
  10. ^ Mattura, Greg (July 8, 2024). "Familiar names atop the leaderboard early at 123rd New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship". NorthJersey.com.
  11. ^ Mattura, Greg (August 3, 2020). "Teen with winning family tradition leads at 119th New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship". NorthJersey.com.
  12. ^ "Family Affair: Reed Greyserman joins brother Max as New Jersey Amateur champions," AmateurGolf, July 10, 2024.
  13. ^ Mattura, Greg (July 10, 2024). "Oh, brother! Teen joins older brother in winning New Jersey Amateur Golf Championship". NorthJersey.com.
  14. ^ a b c d e Craddock, Matt (August 11, 2024). "15 Things You Didn't Know About Max Greyserman". Golf Monthly.
  15. ^ Prunty, Brendan (July 18, 2014). "2014 N.J. Open: Amateur Max Greyserman completes unlikely charge to win title at Essex County". New Jersey Star-Ledger.
  16. ^ Edelson, Stephen (July 17, 2014). "Greyserman captures NJSGA Open Championship". Asbury Park Press.
  17. ^ "Record finish for Greyserman wins N.J. State Amateur," Amateur Golf, June 4, 2015
  18. ^ Stephen Edelson (June 4, 2015). "Max Greyserman rallies to win NJSGA Amateur title," Asbury Park Press.
  19. ^ "Max Greyserman shoots 67 to take first-round lead in defense of New Jersey Open title". Fox News. July 25, 2015.
  20. ^ Doctor, Will (June 15, 2022). "Max Greyserman giving back while recovering from injury". PGA Tour.
  21. ^ "Max Greyserman Earns PGA Tour Card". Duke University Athletics. October 9, 2023.
  22. ^ Morfit, Cameron (August 22, 2014). "Bubble trouble, FedExCup math and golf's craziest day". PGA Tour.
  23. ^ Woodard, Adam (March 31, 2024). "2024 Texas Children's Houston Open prize money payouts for each PGA Tour player". USA Today.
  24. ^ a b "Summer Notebook: Sample Shines at British Amateur; Greyserman Makes U.S. Open Cut". Duke University. June 24, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Jhonattan Vegas gets first win in 7 years with victory at the 3M Open". CBS News. July 29, 2024.
  26. ^ Ritter, Jeff (July 28, 2024). "2024 3M Open Final Payouts, Prize Money, Winnings: Jhonattan Vegas Wins $1,458,000". Sports Illustrated.
  27. ^ Berhow, Josh (July 28, 2024). "This PGA Tour rookie didn't win the 3M Open. But he stole the show". Golf Magazine.
  28. ^ Vincenzi, Matt (August 23, 2024). "19th Hole; 'He didn't say anything to me' – Max Greyserman shares his perspective of Matt Kuchar's controversial walkoff". Golf WRX.
  29. ^ a b c "Aaron Rai wins first PGA Tour event as Max Greyserman implodes late at Wyndham Championship". NBC Sports. September 1, 2024.
  30. ^ Cradock, Matt (August 11, 2024). "Max Greyserman Endures Chaotic Finish To Miss Out On Wyndham Championship Win". Golf Monthly.
  31. ^ "Max Greyserman tee times, live stream, TV coverage – BMW Championship, August 22-25". Golf Week.
  32. ^ Hirsh, Jack (August 11, 2024). "'My own 2006 Phil Mickelson moment': Pro reflects on stunning collapse". Golf Magazine.
  33. ^ "Aaron Rai Takes Advantage Of Greyserman's Meltdown To Win Wyndham Championship". MSN. August 31, 2024.
  34. ^ Romine, Brentley (August 23, 2024). "Max Greyserman: Matt Kuchar's Wyndham actions were 'strange'". NBC Sports.
  35. ^ Curtis, Charles (August 31, 2024). "Matt Kuchar gives a curious explanation on why he walked off the course before finishing the Wyndham Championship". MSN.
  36. ^ Clarke, Mary (August 11, 2024). "Matt Kuchar incredulously walked off the course before finishing Wyndham Championship final hole due to darkness". USA Today.
  37. ^ Powers, Christopher (August 22, 2024). "'I thought that was pretty strange': Max Greyserman had an interesting take on the Matt Kuchar situation at Wyndham". MSN.
  38. ^ Frost, Sam (August 23, 2024). "PGA Tour star bemused by Matt Kuchar's 'strange' explanation for controversial decision". Mirror.
  39. ^ "Max Greyserman". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved June 20, 2024.