David Skinns: The Englishman is Eyeing More PGA Tour Tournaments in the Spotlight After Coming a Long Way to the Top

David Skinns had planned to return to Europe to pursue his golfing ambitions after graduating from the University of Tennessee. However, returning to the US after promised tournament invitations failed to materialize proved to be one of the best things that could have happened in the long run.

Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly the jump from college to PGA Tour stardom that the Englishman had dreamed of. Instead, he was invited to the slightly less glamorous surroundings of the third-tier NGA Hooters Tour.

However, Skinns could hardly have had a better foundation as a professional, and as he looks back on those heady days in the late 2000s, he has no doubt how much he owes his career to seizing that opportunity.

“One of the reasons I came back to America was because I got a chance from the man who owned the Hooters Tour,” Skinns said Sky Sports Golf Podcast. “He said I didn’t have to go to Q School because of my college career and gave me the opportunity to come over and play.”

“It was like a real tour, they had an operations truck there, they had pro-ams every week on Wednesdays, there were a lot of different things on the side. I timed it really well when this tour was great and was able to combine that with playing good golf.

“Who knows what my career would have been like if I hadn’t done that because I won enough money to keep my career going.”

“It taught me how to win at this level. That first break was huge and I won three times that year and it helped me keep going.”

Playing for a share of a $200,000 prize pool per event after paying about $800 to enter – “basically glorified gambling,” as Skinns describes it – with the winner receiving $33,566 , pales somewhat in comparison to the $9.5 million (£7.59 million) prize pot he had 155 others will battle in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour this week.

Money from three successful seasons on the NGA Hooters Tour, including a top prize of $134,809 in his debut year, helped him and his family get through difficult times on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour as he repeatedly attempted to achieve a PGA , but failed tour card.

Even when he finally qualified for the top division in 2021, Skinns only lasted one season before being relegated back to the second division. However, at 42, he is back again this year after finishing 12th in the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour points standings.

Age may be just a number, but that didn’t stop Skinns from being constantly reminded of it at the Players Championship in March, when he became the oldest debutant in the 50-year history of men’s golf’s unofficial “fifth major.” Fortunately, that didn’t detract from the experience at TPC Sawgrass.

“It’s the best tournament I’ve ever competed in,” Skinns said. “It made me feel old. Everyone was talking about you being the oldest rookie ever in The Players, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool, that’s nice,’ but it was great.”

“You play as a junior, as an amateur at a high level, as a college player and you imagine yourself going straight to it, but that didn’t happen. There were a lot of training sessions with the thought: ‘I’ll never play.’ “Tournament like this” but it was a bit unexpected.

“I only knew I was going to be there a few days ago but it was great and I felt like I played pretty well that week. I ended up missing the cut by one but it was a great experience.

“It’s just addictive to play tournaments like this. You want more of the quality of a golf course and an event. We’ll see if we can find our way to some bigger events next year.”

In typical Skinns fashion, the first four months of his second season on the PGA Tour were something of a microcosm of his entire career to date, as he posted four consecutive missed cuts to start the season and secured fourth place at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches , who were tied at the top before the final round.

Since then, he has missed the cut only twice, finishing seventh at the Texas Children’s Open, followed by 11th at the Zurich Classic team event last weekend.

That performance at the Cognizant Classic confirmed to Skinns that his approach is working, and he will look to demonstrate it again this week at TPC Craig Ranch.

“That was the kick I needed to know that if I play well, it will eventually lead to results,” Skinns said.

“It was great to have that, and a few weeks later in Houston I was there. I felt like I should have won but didn’t quite get it on the 17th and 18th.”

“The first three or four months of the year were more about overcoming the hurdle of my golf game sticking to what works for me.”

Follow the PGA Tour live all season on Sky Sports! Early coverage of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson begins on Sky Sports Golf from 12.45pm on Thursday, before full coverage begins from 9pm.

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