According to Taylor Craig of the Last Word on Sports, professional golfer Kevin Chappell of Fresno, California is retiring from the PGA Tour at the age of 39. Chappell was ranked as high as 23rd in the world, and won one tournament on the PGA Tour.
The reason why Chappell is retiring from golf is because of injuries. The most significant was a back ailment according to John Turnbull of Bunkered.
Chappell’s lone victory came at the 2017 Valero Texas Open in San Antonio. Chappell posted a four round score of -12. There he defeated Brooks Koepka of West Palm Beach, Florida by a stroke. It should be noted that Koepka finished in second place at a time in his career before he won his five major titles. Koepka would go on to win the 2017 and 2018 United States Opens, and the 2018, 2019 and 2023 PGA Championship.
What was most interesting about Chappell’s retirement are comments he made about the state of the PGA Tour at this time. He is literally concerned that golf is heading into the direction of tennis, where the top 10 tournaments during the calendar means significantly more than the rest of the events every year. He is concerned that the average sports fan will not watch the golf tournaments on the PGA Tour, like the Valero Texas Open, that do not have a significant amount of weight.
Chappell was also known for finishing third at the 2011 United States Open. There he had a four round score of -6, but still was an amazing 10 strokes back of champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.
