Pierceson Coody returns from injury at Great Exuma

With a hearty laugh, Pierceson Coody quips that if the last two years are any indication, by the time the first pumpkin spice latte of the season gets poured he should be covered in bubble wrap.

Last fall marked the second in a row when he needed surgery. Two years ago, he fractured his right arm and was out for about four months. His only physical golf activity was gripping a putter. Then last year he fractured his left hand and had surgery to remove a bone.

Coody has turned a corner now, he said with a smile after dropping the bubble-wrap comment, and he has been playing full rounds of golf for about a month. Starting the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season – of which he’ll have full status after finishing 32nd on the 2022 Regular Season Points List – he admits he’ll be “probably a little rusty.”

But he’s thrilled to be back playing full-time golf again.

Coody learned plenty last year after emerging from the PGA TOUR University Velocity Global Ranking as a can’t-miss prospect. Although he missed his first Korn Ferry Tour cut at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD Synnex, he finished T4 at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open, and he won the Live and Work in Maine Open the following week.

The University of Texas alum narrowly missed a TOUR card via the Regular Season Points List, and his injury forced a withdrawal from the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, ending his chances of a TOUR card in 2022.

He’s still less than a year into his professional career, though, and optimism abounds. His first full Korn Ferry Tour campaign begins this week, and he’s ready to get after it.

“I really just wanted to see how my game would stack up out there,” said Coody in advance of this week’s season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, which begins Sunday.

“I had played two PGA TOUR events and had missed both cuts by three or four shots. I hadn’t really ever put myself in a place to compete on the professional level. It was just like, every week, how far could I go with it? How did my game feel? Where can I really improve? With eight starts, I didn’t have this overarching thought of, ‘Oh, I’m going to get my card,’ but after I won, I had that feeling.”

Coody, 23, aims to carry that feeling into 2023.

Beginning this season, the top 30 finishers on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List will earn PGA TOUR membership (up from 25), in addition to 10 cards from the DP World Tour and five cards (and ties) from Final Stage of Q-School. (The Korn Ferry Tour Finals is now integrated into the season-long standings and no longer features a separate Points List for 25 TOUR cards.)

Coody has one goal for this season, and one goal only: earning one of those 30 TOUR cards.

To that end, he’ll aim to apply those lessons from 2022 – and some tips from fellow Dallas-based superstars – in building his comfort zone as a professional golfer and achieving his TOUR dream.

“I spend a lot of time with Will Zalatoris and that’s one thing he harps on me about … don’t over-practice,” said Coody. “You become so stagnant. You sit there. All you do is think about golf … Find ways to break up your day after you play. Stay active about moving your body.

“He’s given me some pointers that I’m definitely going to work on this season.”

Coody, who lives in Plano, Texas and plays out of the famed Maridoe Golf Club, said he’s often picking the brain of Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, too. Davis Riley also plays out of the same club. Scheffler asked Coody about his season prior to Coody having surgery this past winter.

Coody points to Scheffler and his hot trajectory to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking as something everyone is trying to chase.

“Scottie is only four years older, but he’s on the trajectory we all want to follow,” said Coody. “Four years of college and just the model of success right now.

“(Scheffler and Riley) had success on the Korn Ferry Tour, and that’s helpful. It relaxes me that my game is good enough, and I need to find ways to get better off the course that they picked up playing the exact same events and having success in them.

“There have been countless tidbits, but it’s all been great advice.”

Coody admits now, reflecting back on his debut campaign as a pro, there were some shocking moments. Not so much on the golf course – the win early allowed him to achieve his lone goal of the year, earning a spot in the top 75 on the standings to have a chance at a PGA TOUR card in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals – but just the way life was without a coach, teammates, or a day-to-day roadmap.

“I was pretty bad about going hotel, Chipotle, golf course on repeat,” said Coody. “I’m definitely trying to become a better professional and a little more well-rounded. How I treat my time in the gym, even just going outside for a walk. Just a way to break up my day a little better. I wasn’t used to having so much free time, and I don’t think I used that to my advantage last year.

“That’s really one of my goals off the golf course is to tick the box of being a better professional.”

Armed with advice and direction from some of the world’s best, Coody turns his attention to his singular focus for this year – earning a PGA TOUR card. That’s it. It’s simple in concept but difficult in practice.

A tunnel-vision goal proved effective in 2022, and he’ll aim to follow a similar script in 2023.

“Having a super simple mindset was key (last year),” said Coody. “I’ve got a minor goal health-wise of getting back to full strength hopefully by February … and when we start back in the United States, I’m completely healthy.

“The simple goal is finish top-30. A lot of guys may want to win and get the No. 1 spot, but a singular goal of just getting my PGA TOUR card and however I can accomplish that goal is all I’m thinking about.”