Former UCF Golfer Michael Visacki Goes Viral After Qualifying for PGA Tour

By now, you may have seen this video of Michael Visacki, who won a Monday qualifier to get into the field for this weekend’s PGA Tour Valspar Championship, crying on his phone as he called his dad to give him the good news:

What you may not know is that Visacki was a member of the UCF Knights Men’s Golf Team. He played for UCF only one season (2012-2013) before taking his shot as a pro.

Visacki came to UCF from Sarasota and played well in his freshman season under head coach Bryce Wallor, snagging a pair of top-20 finishes in six tournaments and helping the Knights to the NCAA Championship, where they tied for 16th after a runner-up finish in the regionals in Tempe, Arizona. His best finish was a tie for 13th and his scoring average was 76.63.

But Visacki left the program after that one year and turned pro. Since then, it has been quite the for him to reach the PGA Tour.

He has played primarily on the West Florida Tour, a minor tour that plays its events around the state. Even though he has won 37 of the 164 events he’s entered in to the tune of some $140,000, you can see on his profile that this tour is hardly a place to make a living.

Fast forward to Monday and after “six or seven” Monday qualifier attempts, Visacki will finally get his chance to strut his stuff on the big tour.

Watch his full press conference here:

The Valspar Championship will start Thursday at Innisbrook Golf Club in Palm Harbor, not far from Visacki’s hometown of Sarasota.