Blood and Birdies

On the 72nd hole of the Tulum Championship at Riviera Maya on the Korn Ferry Tour, 30-year-old Stuart Macdonald was one shot behind tournament leader Bryson Nimmer, playing his third shot on the par-4 from 103 yards. His tee shot had bounded into a bush, and after pitching back to the fairway, Macdonald had to hole-out to force a playoff. 

A tour pro has about a 4% chance of hitting a 100 yard shot inside of three feet. A hole-out to force a playoff? – A moonshot. Macdonald wasn’t thinking about the odds though. Just by getting into this position he had already beaten them. 

On Monday night of tournament week, Macdonald was holding his bloody foot in a dark room. There were blood smears on the tile floor behind him worthy of a horror film. Macdonald had been walking down the stairs in his Airbnb when the power was cut by maintenance workers fixing a water problem. When the room went dark, Macdonald missed a step and his heel caught something sharp.

"At the time, I didn't think it was bleeding, nor could I see if it was bleeding because it was dark," Macdonald says. "My caddie, James, walked up to my room using a flashlight and followed a trail of blood up to my room."

The next day, Macdonald practiced shoeless on the driving range. He bandaged his foot up and was able to limp around for nine holes on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"It definitely looked worse than it was," says Macdonald. "It's just the worst part of the foot to cut obviously, because it's rubbing against the shoe."

The Canadian nearly earned his PGA Tour card in 2021, and in recent seasons dominated the mini tour circuit, picking up wins on the Asher Tour, Canadian Tour, and Americas Tour. Last year, he Monday qualified for the PGA Tour’s Mexico Open, where he finished T-24. 

At the end of the 2024 Americas Tour season, Macdonald finished 11th on the points list. The top-10 earned status on KFT. A disappointing performance at Second Stage of Q school ended his season early. Macdonald was a new father, wrestling with the demands of a growing family and life on the road.

“I had the devil on one shoulder saying after a couple years of being close to getting back full Korn Ferry status, telling me maybe call it quits,” Macdonald said at the beginning of 2025, in an interview with Monday Q Info’s Ryan French. “Maybe it would be easier to find something else to do. I’ve got a kid, got another one coming. And the other voice is saying hey, you’re playing good, you’ve been close. The game’s there. Keep on going.”

Macdonald’s best finish in a KFT event was a T3 in 2021, a season where he had four top-10s in a stretch of five events. He’s been trying to find his way back to that level ever since.

“I’ve won a lot of mini tour events,” Macdonald said to French. “Won a couple times in Canada the last couple years. Those are the highs of the highs. The end goal is graduating to the Korn Ferry Tour or the PGA Tour, and that hasn’t happened, which makes it tough emotionally.” 

Fredrik Kjettrup, the 25-year-old Danish pro, finished second on the 2024 Americas Tour points list. Before the start of the 2025 season, Kjettrup signed with LIV Golf, bumping Macdonald into the Americas Tour top-10. The lucky break gave Macdonald KFT status, and made the decision about his future easier.

“Obviously, a huge break with Freddie going to LIV,” Macdonald said. “It’s been an up and down roller coaster emotionally.” 

Macdonald arrived in Tulum last week having made six of nine KFT cuts this season, but his game had abandoned him on Sundays. His best finish was a T-56 and he was 138 on the KFT points list.

"I've been playing great, but finding a way to shoot myself in the foot on the weekend," says Macdonald, no pun intended. "I think I was just trying too hard.” 

Despite poor weekend results, Macdonald felt like his game was trending in the right direction, and he knew where the ball was going. Then the power was turned off in his Airbnb on Monday, and his heel caught something sharp.

Did going shoeless on the driving range grass connect him intimately with the ground and the dirt? Did the injury help Macdonald swing within himself? Did it lower his expectations and help him swing freely? (Beware of the injured golfer.) Macdonald laughs off the suggestions.

“It didn’t change the way I played or anything,” he says. “I didn’t have to draw off the powers of ‘the injured golfer.’ This was a good week for me because I have been hitting it great and this was definitely a separator golf course. You had to be locked in 100 percent of the time because one bad swing out there was pretty much auto double (bogey). I think that helped me stay focused and not get too ahead of myself.”

Macdonald played steadily in the opening round, tied for the second-lowest score of the day in Round 2 with a five-under 67, and closed the third round under par. He entered the final round three shots behind Notre Dame alumnus and tournament leader, Davis Chatfield. 

Macdonald got off to a flawless start and with eight holes to go on Sunday, he was three-under for the day and held the lead. A double bogey on 12 derailed his round, but he managed to remain within striking distance after a birdie two holes later. He chose 3-wood off the tee on the narrow 18th and hit a “hot pull.” It landed in the corner of the fairway but bounded into a bush. After a pitch back to the fairway, Macdonald was one shot back and faced a must-make situation from 103 yards to force a playoff.

“I was able to chip it out to a good number. Had 103 straight downwind. It played like a 93 yard shot,” says Macdonald.

When leader-in-the-clubhouse, Bryson Nimmer, heard the roar from Macdonald’s shot, he assumed the worst: that Macdonald holed out for eagle to beat him. The heroic shot had been for birdie however, and Nimmer and Macdonald were headed to a playoff.

“Probably the greatest moment of my career honestly,” says Macdonald. "It was so freaking cool. The crowd was going nuts, it was so loud.” 

As Macdonald walked to the clubhouse to sign his card, Nimmer gave him a high five. The competitors returned to the 18th hole for a playoff and both made par. Macdonald’s magic in Mexico ended with a bogey on the second playoff hole. 28-year-old Nimmer was the champion. The win added $180,000 to the former Clemson star’s bank account and launched him 147 spots up the KFT points list to 16. 

For his grit and determination, Macdonald’s best-ever finish moves him 110 places up the points list to 28th. Undoubtedly, the playoff loss will sting more than his foot. With time, both cuts will heal, and the remarkable hole-out will be a memory Macdonald can draw on for the rest of his career.

“I just wanted to have a decent look for par, and then the golf gods blessed me with that break. It was euphoric.” 

‍

‍