There was no roar for old John Parry, even where a roar normally lives. His birdie putt at the 16th hole reached the bottom of the cup at TPC Scottsdale, but the cheer was imported from the Zurich Classic or ISCO Championship.
When Parry threw his ball into the crowd, someone reached up to catch it; no one dived in its direction. What would the prize be there? A place on your mantel for John Parry’s golf ball, inviting the question: “Who?”
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But if those fans knew Parry’s story — the places he’s been, the things he’s seen — the reaction might be different. More than three fans might have leaned over the grandstand’s back railing, to watch his tee shot on 17, as he re-shapes his own career, one swing at a time.
Through two rounds, Parry is among the breakout stars of the WM Phoenix Open. He sits at 7-under par, in a tie for fifth with — among others — 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
While Fitzpatrick won at Brookline that week, Parry was preparing for the Blot Open de Bretagne, a third-tier event in rural France. The winner’s prize money that year was €40,000, roughly equivalent to finishing in a tie for 53rd at the U.S. Open.
It’s been a remarkable journey from there to here, but these stories are part of the PGA Tour’s weekly fabric. Glimpse at a leaderboard on a Friday afternoon and you’ll usually find a surprising name — some upstart working his way into the sport’s conscience.
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The thing is: That’s not Parry.
He’s a PGA Tour rookie this season, but each white hair speckling his beard tells a different story. That’s because Parry is 39 now, in his 19th season of professional golf. This sport long ago taught him how to accept reality checks.
“Not everyone is Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy,” Parry says in a thick Yorkshire accent. “So you’ve just sometimes got to get on with life and get on with it, really.”
Once upon a time, in a different stage of life, Parry thought his story might look more like theirs; more like he had envisioned.
Parry’s beginnings
He turned pro at 21 and reached the Challenge Tour two years later. By 24, he was a staple on the European Tour, playing in 35 events and making 22 cuts. That September, he won his first event, taking home over €400,000 in prize money across a two-week span.
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“This seems easy enough,” he thought back then.
These days, Parry laughs at that naivety.
For the next half-decade, his career stalled out, occupying the fringes of the European Tour. He’d make the cut half the time, doing just enough to retain his membership and keep the bills paid. It was a career in golf, if not a glamorous one.
Then, the wheels fell off. In 2017, Parry made just three of 17 cuts, earning a meager €30,705. He lost his status on the European Tour and eventually even on the Challenge Tour — the European equivalent to the Korn Ferry Tour.
By 2019, Parry was competing on a now-defunct circuit called the EuroPro Tour. That year, he made €13,999.
“I completely lost my game,” Parry said.
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Even worse, he couldn’t understand what had happened.
“It wasn’t like I wasn’t practicing,” Parry said. “If I wasn’t practicing and was going on drinking then you go, all right.”
At the same time, old bills were coming due. All those taxes from his old golf winnings needed paying, even if the money was no longer flowing in.
For a while, Parry tried to hide his new financial reality from his family, “almost like a bit of pride,” he says. But when his parents sold their house, Parry finally told them of his struggles, getting enough temporary help to keep chasing his dream.
Getting back on his feet
After all, he had never thought to formulate a backup plan. In the good years, he thought golf would last forever.
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“That’s the problem,” Parry said. “I don’t know. I guess I would’ve taught. Or done something within golf. Because I don’t know what else to do.”
He never had to find out.
Act II of Parry’s career began in 2021, starting an ascent straight out of “Welcome to Wrexham,” without the Hollywood backing.
Reunited with his first-ever coach, Parry finished fifth on the EuroPro Tour that season — good enough to earn his way back to the Challenge Tour after four years in the wilderness.
In 2022, he performed well enough to return to the European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, ending a five-year hiatus. Some struggles arrived in 2023, but he bounced back, and, by 2025, finished fifth on the DP World Tour, excluding those who already had their PGA Tour cards.
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That performance landed Parry here — a 39-year-old rookie, introducing himself to golf fans in real time.
These days, he speaks like a seasoned PGA Tour vet. In his first three starts of the year, he’s tied for 19th, 56th and 43rd. Each week has brought more prize money than he won in all of 2019. Yet, he says he’s “been a little bit disappointed” in himself over the past two weeks.
To address those issues, he met with specialists from Ping when he arrived in Arizona, adjusting the weights on his driver to help address a nagging slice. It’s a nice life, the one he gets to live now.
It could soon get even better. That’s on the table this weekend.
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But no matter what comes next, the dark days are a part of Parry’s story. So, too, are the lessons he’s learned.
“I try to look after my money a bit better,” he says with a laugh.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is John Parry? British veteran contending at Phoenix Open
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