Braden Shattuck earns low PGA of America pro honors at Valhalla

Braden Shattuck was unable to swing a golf club a couple of years ago. At this year’s PGA Championship, he swung one for all four rounds and earned low PGA of America professional honors in the process.

Shattuck shot rounds of 71-70-68-74 to finish at 1-under 283. He was one of two PGA of America pros to make the cut. Jeremy Wells, who shot 6-over 290, was the other. This was the first time since 2021 that multiple PGA of America pros made the PGA Championship’s cut.

Shattuck had to put his PGA TOUR dreams behind him after a 2019 car accident that led to two herniated discs in his lower back, a concussion and nerve damage in his legs.

“For a while there, I thought golf might be out of the question,” he said.

He wasn’t able to complete nine holes until two years after his accident. Once he did return, he had to rebuild his golf swing because of the injuries.

Shattuck, who played collegiately at the University of Delaware, became an assistant golf professional after the accident. He became a PGA of America professional in 2022 and quickly established himself as one of the association’s top players. He won the 2023 PGA Professional Championship and finished T16 this year to qualify for Valhalla.

“This week has been obviously awesome,” said Shattuck, the PGA Director of Instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania. “This is the first cut I've made on the PGA TOUR and I just happened to do it in a major. … So it was an amazing week to see what the weekend was like. Shot a good round yesterday, didn't quite finish it up today, but it was awesome, learned a lot, had a lot of fun.”

Shattuck had missed the cut in all four of his previous PGA TOUR starts but rallied at Valhalla to play the PGA’s final two rounds.

After shooting 71 on Thursday, Shattuck started his second round with three birdies on his first four holes. He played his next nine holes in 3-over par, though. He made four pars and a birdie over his final five holes of the round, holing a 30-footer for birdie on the par-3 eighth and a 5-footer for par to make the cut on the number.

What’s next for Shattuck? While many of his competitors this week will depart via private jet, he will drive 10 hours overnight to play in a section event.

Shattuck proved this week that he can play with the world’s best. He still has a day job awaiting him, though.

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