The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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152 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY TIM PEELER G arth Mulroy traveled all around the world to find his way to his adopted home. The former NC State All-Ameri- can had played golf on five continents since January en route to qualifying for the 2014 U.S. Open, which was played at famed Pine- hurst No. 2, less than 90 minutes south of his home in Raleigh. That's where he and his family settled since his college playing career under veteran Wolfpack head coach Richard Sykes ended in 2002. And despite the rigorous itinerary that be- gan in Chile in January and has taken him to North America, Africa, Asia and Europe, Mulroy has done well, winning more than $200,000 combined this season. After the na- tive of South Africa finished tied for second at the Walton Heath sectional qualifying tour- nament in Surrey, England, he followed up by making the cut at the Open, firing rounds of 71-72-70-76 to finish tied for 40th at Pine- hurst and pocketing $37,754 for his week's work. He was the only former Wolfpack golfer to qualify for either the men's or women's Open, which were played over consecutive weeks on the same course for the first time in history. The road was rugged to get there, how- ever, for the 35-year-old Mulroy, who had his PGA card for two seasons until losing it in 2012 after 43 PGA Tour events. Since then, he's juggled his time between the European PGA Tour and the Buy.com Tour, the PGA's equivalent to baseball's minor leagues. And that's how he earned so many frequent flyer points this year. He began with Buy.com events in Chile and Brazil, then came to the United States for three events on that tour and won $33,000 in his five events. He then went overseas for eight European PGA events, playing in Qatar, his native South Africa (twice), the United Arab Emirates (twice), Malaysia, China and England, winning approximately $150,000. It was near there, after missing the cut at the BMW PGA Championship, he qualified for the U.S. Open by finishing tied for second in the 36-hole qualifying tournament. It was his second trip to one of golf's four majors. He finished tied for 64th at the 2012 British Open at Royal Lythum and St. Annes Golf Club. More importantly, it was an unex- pected trip home to be with his wife and two young sons, ages 5 and 3, who live full-time in Raleigh. "It's quite nice to be home," Mulroy said. "Any week where you don't have to deal with the airport is nice. No delays. It's easier on the body when you don't have all that travel. I'm not sure you ever get used to the traveling with all the delays you have to go through. "When there isn't much traveling involved, it's nice." So he spent the week of the Open staying in his RV, just behind Pinehurst's driving range. It was good to be parked, even for a little while. Mulroy opened with a 1-over-par 71 and easily made the cut while others struggled to approach par on Pinehurst No. 2, the famed Donald Ross course that was faithfully re- stored to its original design for this year's Open. He had the second-lowest round of the third day, with an even-par 70. He entered Sunday's final round tied for 16th. But six months of constant travel seemed to have an effect on the last grueling day of the Open. He made a double-bogey on No. 4 and six bogeys on the backside to go with his two birdies. "I think on the last day all the travel began to catch up with me," Mulroy said. "I com- pletely ran out of energy on the back nine. Playing in this tournament is mentally drain- ing. You have to grind it out, grind it out. You don't have that many opportunities to make birdies. There just aren't many holes where Full Circle Former Wolfpack Golfer Garth Mulroy Played In The U.S. Open In Pinehurst Mulroy made the cut at this year's U.S. Open, firing rounds of 71-72-70-76 to finish tied for 40th at Pinehurst. PHOTO BY TIM PEELER 152,154.Wolfpackers at US Open.indd 152 6/26/14 3:39 PM