Twin PGA TOUR pros compete in same group for first time

HOUSTON – The Coody twins thought it was a typo.

It wasn't anything of the sort.

Pierceson and Parker Coody were paired together for the Texas Children’s Houston Open’s first two rounds, becoming the first twin pros to compete in the same group on the PGA TOUR, on record. Pierceson Coody opened in 1-under 69 at Memorial Park Golf Course, besting his twin Parker Coody (37 minutes older) by one stroke Thursday.

Pierceson and Parker Coody, aged 24, each earned their first PGA TOUR card via the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List; Pierceson Coody finished No. 6 on the season-long standings and Parker Coody finished No. 25 (the top 30 earned 2024 TOUR status). They're competing this year in the same tee-times category and were randomly grouped for the first two rounds in Houston, along fellow Korn Ferry Tour grad Jacob Bridgeman.

The twins learned of their grouping while playing a Tuesday practice round at Memorial Park, receiving the automated tee-times text issued by the TOUR.

"He read the tee time," Parker Coody said Thursday. "In my mind, I thought it was going to be wrong, just because we've never been (for the) first two rounds paired together in any junior event, amateur event."

"Definitely thought it was a typo," confirmed Pierceson Coody. "It was definitely a little more weird (Thursday) until the round started. Once the round started, it felt very normal."

Pierceson Coody, a three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner, raced out to a 4-under start Thursday through 15 holes before falling back with a double bogey on the par-5 16th and a bogey at the par-4 18th. His twin brother made 16 pars, rebounding from a bogey at No. 15 with a birdie at No. 17. The scores were important, to be sure, as the TOUR rookies aim to secure their place at the game's highest level (Parker Coody entered the week at No. 124 on the season-long FedExCup standings; Pierceson Coody began at No. 185).

This day, though, also marked a life memory.

"It makes everyone in the house really happy," said Pierceson Coody; the twins are sharing a house this week with Pierceson's fiancée and Parker's girlfriend (and their dogs). "My fianceé and his girlfriend are great friends now, so we've just been hanging out having a good time. It's been fun."

The Coody twins previously played together in the third round of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse – Parker Coody shot 71, besting his brother’s 74. Both twins are 2022 University of Texas graduates. Pierceson Coody finished No. 1 on that year’s PGA TOUR University Ranking; Parker Coody finished No. 13.

The Højgaard twins (Rasmus and Nicolai) have played together in multiple TOUR events, including the PGA Championship and The Open Championship last summer, but never in the same group.

Triplet amateur golfers David and Maxwell Ford were paired together at The RSM Classic last fall, alongside tournament host Davis Love III. Twins Curtis and Allan Strange were TOUR members in 1981; modern TOUR records begin in 1983.