Tom Pernice Jr.: Pro Golfer

Admittedly a bit of a late bloomer, Tom Pernice Jr. started his professional golfing career after graduating from UCLA in 1982. It was a rocky start, however, and it was not until the 2000s that Pernice Jr. began to finally hit his stride and get some top 10 finishes. In the past five years, in fact, Tom Pernice Jr. has finished in the top 15 money makers every single year, with 2006 seeing him enjoy his biggest purse yet: $2.4 million. He’s not a dominant golfer, but he is competent and competitive. He can get a bit brusque, too; in 2006, Pernice publicly criticized golden boys Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods for skipping a final season appearance at a PGA tournament. He was only saying what a lot of others were thinking: that just because you are the elite, you still have a responsibility toward the Tour. Another time, Pernice – having just witnessed an incredible showing by Tiger Woods that wowed everyone – asked that Woods’ driver be tested. It came out clean, of course, but it’s a testament to Pernice that he wasn’t scared to ask.

But his game is improving. Before this recent surge, Pernice basically survived on his short game, which has always been impressive. That all changed when he began to work with Jim Hardy on his swing. Hardy, the proponent of the one plane swing that has revolutionized the game for dozens of players, has been named one of better teachers in golf. He downplays his role in Pernice’s success, but Pernice himself credits Hardy with his resurgence. When he came to Hardy, the coach said, Pernice “lacked power, suffered from a severe lack of accuracy and did not get the ball high enough in the air.” The results? Onward, Tom Pernice Jr. began making a living on the Tour, something he hadn’t been achieving. In 2004, in fact, he ranked in the top 25 in drive accuracy – a huge accomplishment for a guy who relied completely on his short game to survive on the Tour.

Things haven’t gone quite as well for Pernice recently, but he’s still doing far better than he was before meeting Jim Hardy.