Mackenzie Hughes is among the most promising Canadian golfer currently active on the PGA Tour.
Hughes has three professional wins to his name but is yet to make a really big splash at any of the Majors.
Prior to turning professional, Hughes won the Canadian Amateur Championship twice in a row.
He attended Kent State University in Ohio and in 2011 was ranked as the number one Canadian amateur.
Hughes competed on the eGolf Professional Tour and PGA Tour Canada during the early days of his professional career, winning his first event in 2013.
His first victory came on the PGA Tour Canada at the Cape Breton Celtic Classic. His maiden triumph helped him secure the 2013 PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit and with it a full Web.com Tour exemption.
Mackenzie Hughes celebrates winning the 2017 RSM Classic
Hughes couldn't do enough to qualify for the PGA Tour in 2014, returning to the PGA Tour Canada for the 2015 season. He again qualified for the Web.com Tour in 2016, this time through Q School.
At the second time of asking Hughes graduated to the PGA Tour winning the 2016 Price Cutter Charity Championship along the way.
Hughes won the RSM Classic in his rookie year on the PGA Tour taking the championship held at Sea Island Golf Club wire-to-wire.
Amateur career
Prior to joining up with Kent State, Hughes had been his high school golf team's MVP three times and was selected for Canada's Under-22 team at the age of 16.
Hughes was a busy high school athlete also lettering in volleyball and badminton.
He was named MAC Freshman of the Year in 2008 finishing third at the MAC Championship and enjoying four top 20 finishes.
Hughes claimed his first collegiate event in his Sophomore year at KSU winning the 2010 Fireline Towson Invitational.
A good student as well as a fine golfer he was an Academic All-MAC on top of being First Team All-MAC.
His junior year would be his last at KSU and Hughes signed off with a victory at the Bank Of Tennessee event and was the individual medallist at the 2011 MAC Championship with a four-under-par total of 284.
Turning professional
Despite his academic acumen, Hughes chose not to complete a full degree at KSU, instead turning professional in 2012 after his junior year.
In his first year as a professional Hughes failed to earn status at Mackenzie Tour Q-School. He did, however, notch his first victory, at the Cape Breton Celtic Classic, and would top the PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit to earn a place on the Web.com Tour (Korn Ferry Tour).
Hughes did not meet with a great deal of success on the feeder tour making just seven cuts in 20 appearances and placing 164th on the money list.
In the 2015 season, he played just one Web.com Tour event missing the cut at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
The following year he finally secured his PGA Tour Card with a victory in the Price Cutter Charity Championship at Highland Springs Country Club.
His 2016 season also saw him make his first appearance at a PGA Tour event, but he missed the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Mackenzie Hughes makes it to the PGA Tour
The 2016/17 season marked Hughes' first full PGA Tour campaign and also brought his first victory in the big time.
In November 2016 at the RSM Classic Hughes carded a career-low 9-under 61 in his first round at the Seaside Course, and he would not relinquish that lead. His victory made him the first person to win on the PGA Tour Canada (PGA Tour-era), Korn Ferry Tour (Web.com Tour) and the PGA TOUR.
Hughes also secured a top 10 finish at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and would advance to the first three of four FedExCup Playoff events. He ended his season ranked 36th in the FedEx Cup standings.
He has not been able to add to his 2017 win on the PGA Tour, but has managed to notch several top 10 finishes and earn a tidy sum in prize money.
Hughes made the cut at a Major for the first time at the 2020 PGA Championship, finishing in a tie for 58th place.
Mackenzie Hughes' personal life
Hughes got his start in golf as a seven-year-old when his parents, Jeffrey and Sandra, elected to bring him along to the driving range rather than hire a babysitter.
As a child, Hughes dreamed of slapping a puck rather than a golf ball, but he wouldn't come close to fulfilling his NHL dream; instead, he lives it vicariously by supporting his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs.
A big sports fan he also enjoys basketball, football and baseball. He has nailed his colors to the mast in each supporting the Cleveland Cavaliers, Carolina Panthers, and the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hughes married his longtime girlfriend Jenna Shaw in October 2016, a year later the couple welcomed their first child, a boy whom they christened Kenton Robert Hughes.
He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys getting the opportunity to play other sports in his leisure time.
Mackenzie Hughes' net worth
Hughes' net worth is estimated to be in the region of $5million, representing just how far he has come from the days of earning $52,114.29 from nine tour events.
He has now secured more than $6.5million in PGA Tour prize money on top of additional earnings from endorsements and other marketing relationships.
Hughes is sponsored by Ping, Titleist and Canadian sports media company theScore.com whose logo he wears on his competition shirts.
Officially he still resides in Canada, but Hughes spends most of his downtime in Charlotte, North Carolina which is where his wife and child live. Jenna Hughes works for a marketing firm in Charlotte.