Being underestimated is nothing new for Mason Andersen.
For much of the Arizona native’s golfing life, he’s flown off and under the competition radar, overshadowed by teammates or the field.
“I was a good player but not crazy good,” recalls Andersen, a 2017 Hamilton High School alum. “I’ve been an underdog my entire life. No one except for my good friends were betting on me. I was never the number one guy on the team. I was always overlooked, and I’ve always used that to fuel me.”
And that sparked Andersen’s hot performance and impressive season on the Korn Ferry Tour, which culminated in him earning his PGA Tour card in 2024.
“Pro golf is interesting. It’s not like football when you’re playing one team; you’re playing 150 teams,” he says. “And when you win, it’s outstanding.”
But the rush of victory on the greens wasn’t enough to win him over. At first, anyway.
Andersen spent his childhood in Queen Creek and was always athletic, playing football as a kid. He even wrestled for a year.
His father enjoyed golf, and when Andersen was 12, he picked up a club for the first time.
“My dad liked playing golf but he’s horrible,” Andersen says. “My dad was always my best friend, and I wanted to do what he did.”
Andersen was a natural. He won the first nine-hole event he participated in. Yet it wasn’t for him.
“I was just a young kid. Golf wasn’t super cool at the time and everyone’s playing football,” he recalls. “You want to be with your buddies.”
But the appeal of football waned. At 14, Andersen returned to golf, and this time, it stuck. On weekends, holidays, and during the summer, his father would drop him off at the golf course, where he’d spend eight hours working on his craft.
“I got addicted to it,” says Andersen, who spent his high school years living across the street from the Bear Creek Golf Course.
He mostly went unnoticed by college recruiters. But when he was a senior at Hamilton, Andersen qualified for the U.S. Open. That turned heads and caught the attention of Arizona State University (ASU), home of one of the top golf programs in the nation.
“By that time, I started becoming a really good golfer, so when I came to ASU, I felt like I belonged,” Andersen says.
When he graduated, however, Andersen found himself jobless as a professional.
“I turned pro, had nothing to play in, and no money,” he says. “It was tough at first, a lot was up in the air. But I was used to being an underdog.”
However, the tide would turn. Andersen performed well in tournaments and began to earn high dollars. Around the same time, custom golf equipment and accessories manufacturer PXG—Parsons Xtreme Golf—called Andersen, wanting to have him represent their brand and be part of their professional roster.
“They wanted to support me before I had status. They normally don't do that, but they saw something in me and decided to take a chance,” he says.
Andersen also talks about those who mentored him, like PGA golfer Matt McCarty, who played a role in his success.
“The people who are by your side every step of the way are the most important people in your life, not the people who are after you now,” Andersen says.
Andersen has established himself among the crop of talented young golfers making an impression. However, his eye isn’t always on his prize; it’s on the future of the sport and the next generations that aim to walk the path he’s paved. And he pays it forward by giving them pointers, advice, and answers to any questions they have about specific techniques or the general life of a golf professional.
“I see kids golfing and the passion they have for the game was the same passion I had at that age,” Andersen says. “Helping the younger generation is what I find rewarding.”
In the future, Andersen sees himself maintaining being at the top of his game, working hard to improve continuously, as if still trying to make skeptics believers.
“Is it something that defines you? Not at all. But from a competitive standpoint, you’re always trying to win,” he says. “I’m the underdog that no one knows about.”
He still plays golf with his dad once a week, and while Andersen’s game has changed, some things haven’t.
“He’s still terrible,” Andersen says with a laugh. “But with golf, all that really matters is that you’re having fun with it, and my dad is having a blast.”
Photographed at McDowell Mountain Golf Club, McDowellMountainGC.com
“Pro golf is interesting. It’s not like football when you’re playing one team; you’re playing 150 teams."
“I turned pro, had nothing to play in, and no money. It was tough at first, a lot was up in the air. But I was used to being an underdog …”