Will MacKenzie

Who is Will MacKenzie?

William Ruggles MacKenzie is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour.

MacKenzie was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina. He was a golfing prodigy growing up but burned out on golf at age 14 and completely quit the game after high school. While in high school, MacKenzie was an all-state kicker as well as a standout soccer player but grades and test scores prevented him from receiving any scholarship offers. After a semester at a local college, Will took the money he earned washing dishes and selling grilled-cheese sandwiches at Grateful Dead concerts and moved out west. After a while working for Taco Bell in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, he spent the next five winters snowboarding while living out of a van in Big Sky, Montana. At one point, he spent 30 days living in a snow cave near Valdez, Alaska without showering, and snowboarding the Chugach Mountains, before ending up with frostbite. During the warmer months, he climbed rocks, and became a class V kayaker before working as a rafting guide in Montana and its Gallatin River, West Virginia and its Gauley River, and rivers around North Carolina. He returned to Greenville, North Carolina in 1999, making enough money selling Christmas trees to embark on a three month surfing trip to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, when he returned home and tried to make a living selling hammocks, he ended up in huge debt. However, a glimpse on television of his boyhood idol, Payne Stewart, winning the 1999 U.S. Open rekindled his love affair with the game, and he decided to play professionally. He turned pro in 2000.