Defending Sanderson Farms champion Mackenzie Hughes ready for pursuit of Presidents Cup

Mackenzie Hughes knows the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club is going to be a special one. And he desperately wants to be part of the team helmed by countryman Mike Weir.

That’ll be two Presidents Cups in a row with a feeling like that, as he is now a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina. He wasn’t part of the International squad last year. But with a potentially once-in-a-career opportunity in Montreal in 2024, he knows good play is going to take care of the biggest goal of his season.

“I think Justin Thomas alluded to this a little bit in the summer when he felt like he wasn't playing very well and he kind of alluded to the fact that he wanted the Ryder Cup so bad that it almost felt like a hindrance to him,” Hughes said. “I know I'm similar in that sense, that like I would want the Presidents Cup probably too badly to a fault, and I need to keep that in check because, while I do want to be a part of that team, it is not life or death.

“But it would be one of the thrills of my career.”

Hughes and Weir’s relationship goes back more than 20 years now, as Weir’s green jacket triumph was the inspiring moment for the young Canadian. The year after Weir’s Masters win, Hughes was a volunteer caddie during the pro-am at the RBC Canadian Open, and he – somehow, someway – was caddying for an amateur in Weir’s group. Hughes has long laughed about how poor of a caddie he was for his player that day since he was tagging along with Weir as much as he could.

The biggest takeaway from that day, Hughes recalls, is that it was the day he knew he wanted to play professional golf. Weir already had a huge impact on Hughes after his Masters win the year prior, but spending the day with him and seeing everything he did and watching Weir hit those shots up close created a second-to-none experience for the teenager.

“To think that 13-year-old kid could play for him at the Presidents Cup in Canada… It would be a cool story," Hughes said. "Obviously there’s a lot of work to do before now and then, but I’m pretty determined."

Hughes is looking to successfully defend his title in Jackson, Mississippi, this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship after defeating Sepp Straka in a playoff last fall. It was Hughes’ second PGA TOUR title, and the first of four by his countrymen through the 2022-23 FedExCup season – with Adam Svensson winning The RSM Classic, Corey Conners winning for the second time at the Valero Texas Open and Nick Taylor’s dramatic, drought-busting title at the RBC Canadian Open in June.

Adam Hadwin nearly made it a fifth but lost in a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Hughes couldn’t quite put his finger on why Canada had such a magical 12 months in professional golf (Brooke Henderson also won on the LPGA Tour, her 13th title, while there were also two Canadians to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, two on PGA TOUR Canada, one on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica and another on the Epson Tour) except that, at least among the PGA TOUR members, they are all motivated by seeing the success of each other.

“There is always that sense of ‘if he can do it, I can do it,’” Hughes said. “We play together all the time. We know each other’s games really well. I think that’s a huge part of it.

“It was really cool (last year). Four wins amongst Canadian players is remarkable, and hopefully this year we can do a little better.”

Hughes admitted he was “disappointed” in the way the results came along prior to the TOUR Championship in September, missing eight of 11 cuts from the RBC Heritage through to the Wyndham Championship. He ended up 51st on the FedExCup standings after the FedEx St. Jude Championship, missing out on earning exempt spots into each of the Signature Events in 2024.

“Most years finishing 51st is not all that bad. Fifty-first (last season) was a little bit different, and it was the first year that was the case,” Hughes said, “Deflation, lack of accomplishment, sadness … I felt all that. But it didn’t take me very long to snap out of that and get me going in the right direction.

“By no means was it a failure of a season. If you told me at the beginning of the season that I was going to win, I would have accepted it, no questions asked.”

Now Hughes returns to a place with some obviously baked-in good vibes – “There’s no doubt that’s a confidence booster” – as he looks to earn a spot in the first two Signature Events of 2024. He’s in a great position now in the Next 10, sitting at No. 51 on the FedExCup standings. Good golf and a good mindset will take care of all the outside opportunities, Hughes said, including finding himself on the Presidents Cup team come September.

And given the European team’s victory in Rome, who’s to say that Hughes may not be part of a winning Presidents Cup team.

“It’s good to see that, for me, the Americans are beatable. Certainly, they’re going to bring a team that’s great top-to-bottom. … There’s not going to be many weaknesses,” Hughes said. “But I think with the right 12 guys coming together in Canada, and playing for Mike, I don’t see why it can’t be done.”