What a different a year can make.
Following his T-33 finish at last yearâ€s Korn Ferry Tour Championship, Mitchell Meissner hopped in his rental car and drove two hours from French Lick, Indiana, to Indianapolis. It was there that he met with a wrist surgeon, and five days later he was undergoing a second procedure on his right wrist in three years.
Now, heâ€s on the cusp of earning his first PGA Tour card, as he enters this weekâ€s KFT playoff finale at Pete Dye Golf Course ranked No. 21 in points, just one spot out of the graduation cutoff.
“Iâ€m trying to have a lot of gratitude being in the position that I am,†Meissner said on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Meissner, whose younger brother, Mac, competes on the PGA Tour, wasnâ€t always planning on a career in professional golf. Plagued by the putting yips while in college at Rice, he spent the fall of his senior year lining up a consulting job with Accenture in Dallas. But that winter, he tried one last putting experiment – the righty grabbed and left-handed putter and the putts began dropping – and the decision reignited his game. Heâ€s putted from the opposite side ever since.
Meissnerâ€s pro breakthrough came on PGA Tour Latinoamerica in 2022, as he finished second three times to help lock up his KFT card. Later that year, however, Meissner was playing a boxing game at a bar when one punch ruptured his ECU tendon, requiring surgery.
After his second wrist operation last year, Meissner knew not to rush back like he did the first time. But he also couldnâ€t afford to wait too long. His mid-October surgery was the same procedure as Jordan Spieth, who was out from September to February.
“When youâ€re on the PGA Tour in his position, you are probably in a position where you can wait a little longer,†Meissner said. “When youâ€re on the Korn Ferry Tour and not getting paid when youâ€re not playing, you have to rush back a little bit.â€
Not that Meissner didnâ€t expedite things smartly. After his surgery, his mom drove him back home to San Antonio. They made a pit stop in Kansas City to watch his sister perform in a ballet rendition of Alice in Wonderland; with Meissner on pain killers, one could imagine the experience. A week later, he couldnâ€t fit his casted arm in his suit jacket for his cousinâ€s wedding, where he was required to read a passage during the ceremony.
By December, Meissner was hitting golf shots, and when the KFT season started in the Bahamas in January, Meissner teed it up and finished T-39. He followed with three straight finishes of T-11 or better to build a nice, early cushion in the standings.
In July, Meissner was among the KFT pros to pledge money for every birdie made to victims of the devastating flooding in Kerrville, Texas. Meissner grew up attending and working at Laity Lodge, a Christian camp less than an hour from Camp Mystic, where 27 campers and counselors died in the flooding. While tying for ninth at the NV5 Invitational, his last tournament of the pledge, Meissner birdied the last hole to end the week with 25 birdies and an eagle (27 shots gained). The event ended on July 27 as well.
“That was pretty poetic,†said Meissner, who still wears a green ribbon on his hat to honor the lives lost. “That was one of the first times where something so worldly and very tragic happened that really affected me. I was really devastated.â€
Meissner hasnâ€t finished better than T-22 since that tournament, missing three of six cuts in the process. Heâ€s had to lean on the putter more as his usually elite ball-striking and distance control has waned.
While heâ€s slipped from No. 11 in points to begin August to now just outside the bubble, Meissner will also lean on his faith.
If heâ€s supposed to be on the PGA Tour in 2026, he will be.
But heâ€ll be grateful no matter the outcome on Sunday.
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