Kevin Chappell played in more than 300 PGA Tour events and won more than $17 million in his career, but the 39-year-old pro recently decided it was time to retire.
Chappell’s best seasons were from 2013 to 2017 – including his only win at the 2017 Valero Texas Open – but he had to undergo back surgery in 2018, missed almost all of the following season and returned to the Tour during a strange time after Covid struck.
“It was basically a year and a half of not playing much competitive golf, and then I really struggled to find any form,” Chappell said on this week’s episode. GOLF’s Subpar Podcast. “And during that time, I started to grow as a person, I started to grow as a father, and priorities started to change. I realized that my work ethic was slipping and my results were slipping.”
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In his 90 starts since his back surgery, Chappell made about half of his cuts but failed to record a top 10. Although strangely enough, it was one of his last starts that helped him make his decision.
In April of this year, Chappell competed as an alternate at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, teaming with Tom Hoge. That duo was paired with Rory McIlory and Shane Lowry for the first two rounds.
“And I watch Shane and Rory play, and I may never have been Rory, but I was definitely a top-30 player in the world, and I think, man, the amount of work it’s going to take to get back there, and the things I’m going to miss, I’m not sure this is worth it for me,” Chappell said. “So I was kind of thinking about that in the spring and summer. I took the family to Europe and played two DP World Tour events and thought, I think this is it.”
With limited status, Chappell made five PGA Tour starts and six Korn Ferry Tour starts in 2025.
“I think my priorities have changed and I have to pay attention to the level [McIlroy and Lowry] I played the game at the level I had. I just never played the game just to get a tee time,” he said. “It’s always been about competing and winning and having opportunities to win. It just took a lot of work and I was going to miss a lot of things that I didn’t want to miss.”
You can listen to the full interview with Chappell hereor look further YouTube above.
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