Former Union Titan making his mark in professional golf
Alistair Docherty still a bit emotional after finishing in second place at a recent PGA Tour event
Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com
Through all the ups and the so many downs of his professional golf career, Alistair Docherty remained true to his belief.
“It takes one good week to change your life,” he said.
It took a lot of years for the most incredible week of his golfing life, and now the Union High School graduate is on quite a roll in professional golf.
Given a sponsor’s exemption to a PGA Tour event, Docherty took advantage with the tournament of his life, finishing in a tie for second at the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina. He recorded an 7-under-par 64 in the final round Sunday, climbing up the leaderboard.
From struggling financially, and mentally — wondering if he was ever going to break through during this grind of a game — Docherty took home a check for $356,000.
Oh, and he is not done with the PGA Tour this summer. His performance at Myrtle Beach qualified him to play in the Canadian Open.
An American citizen now, Docherty was born in Canada and is preparing to play in the Canadian Open.
Take it all in, Alistair.
This was not even on the radar a month ago.
It takes one good week to change your life, indeed.
Docherty graduated from Union High School in 2012 before playing college golf at Chico State in California. He turned pro in 2016.
It has been one crazy ride, this career of his, with more struggles than high points.
Oh, but that high point at Myrtle Beach meant everything to Docherty.
“It made all of those years of now knowing …” he said, before reciting all the questions that have plagued his mind for years.
When is this going to happen?
Is it ever going to happen?
“It made it all worth it,” Docherty said.
It is difficult, at times, to listen to Alistair tell his story, his journey. For every little bit of success he had, it seemed there were three or four gut punches he had to endure.
Early on in his career, he tried a shares program, selling shares of his game in hopes of raising money to travel, to play on the smaller tours. He had a lot of folks who believed in him, but it was a tough go, he said. It was not sustainable.
In late 2017, he started caddying at a club in Palm Desert, Calif., working in the industry, trying to earn some money while also trying to play on mini tours. He gained some playing status in Canada and played there for a while, but eventually went back to California, back to caddying.
In 2019,he won the Reno Open in the Barracuda Championship. He ended up an alternate into the U.S. Open that year, too. He did not get to compete, but he did get to play practice rounds at Pebble Beach. He was gaining confidence.
He was hoping that would carry over into 2020 on the Korn Ferry Tour, but the pandemic hit.
Later, it was back to caddying, and trying to find spots on more mini tours.
“I was always in the negative, money wise, maxing out credit cards to keep my dream alive,” he said.
After more struggles in the 2021 Q school, he was at a crossroads. He hung up the clubs for three months and was just caddying, now living in Arizona.
At one point, he met Sam “Riggs” Bozoian of Barstool Sports fame. It was the start of something that would turn into the biggest break of Docherty’s career.
First, another up before a huge downer.
He was back to playing, and he did well enough at the 2022 Q school to qualify for 12 events on the Korn Ferry Tour, the tour that is one level below the PGA Tour. Just before the tour started, Docherty fell ill, lost a bunch of weight, and was weak. He rushed his return, and struggled again, this time playing in Central and South America.
He missed the cut in Argentina. Suffered from food poisoning in Chile.
“Already in the hole, traveling out of the country and not playing great wasn’t paying the bills,” Docherty said.
The doubts were heavy.
Riggs, though, saw Docherty’s potential. Docherty, through Riggs, had a deal, representing Barstool Sports, wearing their apparel on the course. Riggs, though, was more than a business associate. He had become a friend, too.
“He told me, ‘You just gotta believe in yourself. Everyone else can see that you can do it. You’re the only person holding you back.’”
Those words stuck with Docherty.
Earlier this year, Docherty, Riggs, and more colleagues were playing a friendly round, celebrating Docherty’s 30th birthday. They stopped in the middle of the round for quite the surprise.
Riggs announced:
On behalf of Play Golf Myrtle Beach, Barstool Sports, and Sportfive (a leading sports marketing agency), we would like to give you a sponsor’s exemption to the Myrtle Beach Classic.
“I broke down in tears. ‘This is my chance. Thank you so much.’ I face-timed my parents. I finally got my break. People I’m surrounding myself with believe in me,” Docherty said.
Now, Docherty had to believe in himself. He played a few tournaments to prepare for the PGA Tour event. He was ready.
“If you are a pro golfer, it’s what you dream of,” Docherty said. “You want to have a chance.”
He shot a 5-under 66 on the first day. At one point Friday, he had the lead. He did not have a great Saturday, but
