‘It’s definitely a marathon, not a sprint’

Brett White’s birth certificate may say Michigan, but the 32-year-old golfer considers himself an adopted Manitoban — one who is thrilled to be “home” this week for the province’s most prestigious golf tournament.

“I love coming up here,” he said with a big smile on Wednesday after a practice round at Breezy Bend.

White’s wife, Natalie, is from Winnipeg, as is her entire family, who will be at the course starting Thursday to cheer him on in the Manitoba Open. The two met at Eastern Michigan University, where he was on a golf scholarship and she competed in gymnastics.

“It was in 2015, my last semester of school. She had two years left on her program,” he said. “Since then, I’ve been up here like every other Christmas.”

This will be White’s third time competing in the province’s top golf tournament. Now in his 10th year as a professional, he missed the cut at Southwood in 2022 before finishing tied for 13th in 2023.

“It’s great coming here in the summer,” he said. “And I get to knock out some family time and all that good stuff. Get to stay at my in-laws place, eat some good home-cooked meals.”

Officially, there are just two local products in the 156-player field this week: reigning Manitoba Amateur champion Evan Nachtigall of Brandon, and four-time Amateur champion Braxton Kuntz, who is turning pro.

White kind of — sort of — makes three, and he’ll gladly take any support he can get as he enjoys the best year of his career.

On the personal side, he and Natalie recently welcomed their first child, a daughter named Nellie. On the professional side, White captured his first PGA Tour Americas event last month in Ottawa — and in historic fashion.

He fired a final-round 59 to force a playoff, then clinched the title with a birdie in extra holes. To even get there, White drained a 65-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole, becoming just the third player in Tour history to break 60.

“I told Natalie that I wasn’t surprised I was able to win a tournament. I’d been playing pretty good. But I never thought it would happen this way,” he said.

“The 59 was a bigger shock than the win. But my game has been good enough to win most of the season.”

White arrived in Winnipeg ranked No. 4 in the Fortinet Cup standings. With four other top-10 finishes this year, he has already pocketed nearly US$80,000 in earnings.

“I’ve got a good support team around me. Good coach, good trainer and all that good stuff,” he said.

“And I think, with experience, I had a good concept of what makes me as a player. I know what my strengths are and how to manage my swing throughout the week, how to stay in a good spot.”

There are just five tournaments left in the 2025 season, including this week, and the top 10 in the standings will earn their Korn Ferry Tour cards for 2026 — putting them just one step away from the PGA Tour.

White isn’t doing a victory lap yet, but advancing to the next level is exactly why he’s still grinding on a circuit filled with players often a decade younger than him.

“It’s definitely a marathon, not a sprint. But if you go up to the Korn Ferry Tour, 32 is about average. I’m a little bit older on this Tour, but next year I think I’ll be right where I’m supposed to be,” he said.

“Just have to play a few more solid weeks. My goal is to try to win the points list here. And I’m in a position now where another win, or a second, would really help me out. But I’m just trying to focus on taking care of businesses now, week-to-week, and keep getting better.”

Spend a few moments chatting with White and it’s clear he’s grateful just to be playing the game he’s loved since childhood.

The main reason? He nearly died in 2017 when a bout of mononucleosis turned into viral encephalitis with complications of ataxia, causing his brain to swell. White spent weeks in hospital, then had to relearn how to walk and talk during his long recovery.

“I definitely have a different perspective. That changed me and it made me who I now am as a person,” he said.

At the time, White had been playing in Latin America when symptoms began, leading doctors to suspect malaria, Zika or Lyme disease. Blood tests, an MRI and a spinal tap eventually revealed the true cause.

“There was probably about 12 weeks of physical therapy and speech therapy and occupational therapy. And another six months before I probably felt like myself again,” said White.

“I played my first golf tournament about a year later but still didn’t even feel normal on the golf course until another 18 months after that. So it was a long process to get back into the game.”

All that hard work and determination are finally paying off.

“The beautiful thing about this tour is that you get rewarded when you play well,” said White, who nearly chose a different sport to focus on when he was in high school.

“My first love was hockey. I played for a long time, right up until I signed (his scholarship) for golf,” he said.

Sounds like a de facto Canadian, doesn’t it?

White gets his tournament underway Thursday at 2:10 p.m., teeing off on the back nine at Breezy Bend. Fans looking to cheer him on will likely be walking alongside his wife, five-month-old daughter, in-laws Jeff and Claudine Gervais, and his wife’s grandparents, Barbra and Rolland Gervais.

For additional local flavour, Kuntz starts on the front nine at 2:40 p.m., playing in a group that includes Winnipeg Jets goaltender Eric Comrie, who received a sponsor’s exemption. Nachtigall tees off at the same time on the back nine.

The top 60 players and ties after Friday’s second round will make the cut and advance to the weekend.

More information about the tournament, including ticket details, can be found at www.manitobaopen.com. Admission is free for spectators under 18.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg