Seeking a sponsor exemption into this week’s WM Phoenix Open, Frankie Capan III wrote the customary letter to tournament officials. Once Capan’s letter hit his inbox, Chance Cozby, executive director of The Thunderbirds, who run the annual PGA Tour stop at TPC Scottsdale, emailed the Phoenix native to let him know how impressed he was.
No one, Cozby told Capan, had ever sent in a four-page letter.
“For me, that was kind of cool,” said Capan, who was among the sponsor invites selected. “But I didn’t try and add unnecessary information. I just kind of wanted them to learn a little bit about me and my past.”
Capan was born in Minnesota, but he spent a large chunk of his childhood about 15 minutes up the road from Scottsdale, where his parents, Frank Jr. and Charlynn, still live. He practiced mostly at the Country Club at DC Ranch and attended high school at nearby Northwest Christian School, capping his prep career by shooting 59 and winning the state individual title at Omni Tucson National. (Around that time, Capan teamed up with buddy Ben Wong to capture the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.)
When Capan was in elementary school, he served as a Phoenix Open standard bearer for Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Bill Haas.
And before that, he and his two sisters, Elle and Erica, participated in the area’s junior version of the People’s Open, the Itty Bitty Open, where top finishers were later celebrated at TPC Scottsdale during the big tournament.
“I just wanted to highlight that a little, and then just all the relationships that my family and I have formed in the valley,” Capan added. “Other than that, mainly just kind of updating him a little bit about how the last couple years have gone for me and just given him a little bit of insight into my golf career so far.”
Capan, who split his college career between Alabama and then Florida Gulf Coast, starred on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, posting seven top-10s, including a victory, along with firing a 58 at the Veritex Bank Championship. He’s a rookie on the PGA Tour this year, making three straight cuts to begin the season, though he didn’t qualify for the WMPO on his number due to the limited field size (120 players) and high demand from fully exempt members, hence the need for the sponsor invite.
Capan birdied the par-3 16th hole on Tuesday. The stands were a little empty, he says, but he’s also aware that won’t be the case come Thursday – and he’s ready for it.
“I have a lot of confidence in my game and what I’m able to do with the golf ball to where I think at the end of the day we’re all really just entertainers,” Capan said. “This weekend might be a little different. That’s probably not why 500,000, 700,000 people are here. But for most golf tournaments, that’s really what it is; it’s entertainment.
“I think that’s sometimes where I thrive.”
Sleeping in his childhood bed and some home-cooked meals by mom certainly won’t hurt either.
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