Scottsdale, AZ - September 4, 2026 - Tom Pernice Jr. has been playing professional golf long enough to know there is no secret formula for staying competitive.
There is the work everyone sees on tournament days. Then there are the thousands of hours nobody sees. The range sessions. The putting drills. The workouts. The equipment adjustments. The frustrating weeks when nothing seems to click and the Monday mornings when it is time to start working all over again.
For Pernice, that process has now spanned more than four decades.
From his college career at UCLA to victories on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, he has competed across generations of professional golf while watching nearly every aspect of the game evolve.
Through all of it, one principle has remained remarkably simple.
“Success is about giving your best every day and continually trying to improve,” Pernice said. “Winning is rewarding, but a lasting career comes from consistency, resilience and enjoying the process of getting better.”
A Career Built to Last
Pernice arrived at UCLA from Kansas City and became a two-time All-American, earning Pac 10 Player of the Year honors in 1981.
He went on to make 588 starts on the PGA TOUR, capturing the 1999 Buick Open and The INTERNATIONAL in 2001.
His winning continued on PGA TOUR Champions, where he has collected six victories, including the SAS Championship, 3M Championship, Principal Charity Classic, Charles Schwab Cup Championship, PowerShares QQQ Championship and Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge.
In 2026, Pernice is still competing.
And that may say as much about his career as any statistic.
Professional golf does not allow a player to stand still. Courses change. Equipment changes. Training changes. Competition gets younger. The information available to players today would have been difficult to imagine when Pernice first began his career.
“The game never stops changing,” Pernice said. “You have to be willing to learn, whether that is your swing, your equipment, your fitness or the way you prepare. What worked years ago is not necessarily what will work today.”
Pernice has embraced many of those changes, but he has never believed improvement requires chasing every new idea.
There is still no substitute for knowing your own game.
“You learn what works for you,” he said. “You have to be open to getting better, but you also have to know what you can trust when you are standing over a shot and it matters.”
Golf Will Humble You
Ask anyone who has played the game long enough and they will tell you the same thing.
Golf has a way of keeping you humble.
A player can feel great on the range Thursday morning and struggle to find the same swing an hour later. A perfectly struck approach can take a bad bounce. One loose stretch can undo three days of excellent golf.
Pernice has experienced all of it.
“Every player goes through setbacks,” he said. “You evaluate what happened, make the adjustments you can make and then move forward. You cannot spend too much time looking backward.”
That became easier to understand with experience.
A disappointing tournament is still disappointing. Pernice remains intensely competitive and does not pretend otherwise. But he has learned the difference between being frustrated by a result and allowing it to affect the next opportunity.
“Golf teaches you patience,” Pernice said. “Sometimes you do the right work for a long time before you see the result.”
The next tournament always comes.
And when it does, yesterday’s score does not hit Thursday’s first tee shot.
The Work Nobody Sees
There is nothing particularly glamorous about much of what has allowed Pernice to keep playing professional golf.
It is repetition.
Practice. Fitness. Recovery. Nutrition. Preparation. Paying attention to the details and doing the work even when there is no gallery watching.
“Small improvements add up,” Pernice said. “You keep working on the little things and try to get a little better. Over the course of a career, those things matter.”
As he has gotten older, that discipline has become even more important.
Pernice has adjusted how he trains, recovers and prepares for tournaments. He has continued studying his swing and equipment while recognizing that maintaining his body is now every bit as important as maintaining his golf game.
There is no single decision that creates longevity.
It is hundreds of small decisions made correctly, then repeated for years.
More Than a Scorecard
Golf has occupied most of Pernice’s adult life, but he has never wanted the game to become the measure of his life.
His faith and family have provided that perspective.
“My faith keeps everything in the right order,” Pernice said. “Golf is important to me and I love competing, but God has to be at the center. You cannot let a number on a scorecard determine your worth.”
That perspective has carried him through victories, missed cuts and everything in between.
Pernice believes his ability to play professional golf has been a gift from God. His responsibility is to work hard, make the most of that gift and trust God with the rest.
It is a lesson he believes extends far beyond golf.
Know what your foundation is before life starts testing it.
Faith, Country and Staying True to Yourself
Pernice has never been shy about the values that matter to him.
A strong supporter of President Donald Trump, Pernice regularly competes wearing a Trump hat. For him, it is not about creating controversy. It is simply an expression of what he believes and the pride he has in his country.
“I love this country and I am proud to be an American,” Pernice said. “I support our President, and that is not something I am ashamed of or feel I need to hide. I am proud of President Trump and of how much he loves our country. My faith, my family and my love for America are a big part of who I am.”
For Pernice, standing behind his beliefs does not require everyone around him to share them.
Golf has taken him around the world and introduced him to people from different countries, backgrounds and points of view. He considers that one of the great privileges of the game.
“I believe you can stand up for what you believe in and still treat people with respect,” Pernice said. “We are not all going to agree on everything. That is part of living in a free country. I know what I believe, I am grateful for the freedoms we have, and I will never be embarrassed to show my love for America.”
For Pernice, those convictions are part of the same foundation that has carried him throughout his career: faith in God, devotion to family, gratitude for his country and the confidence to remain true to himself.
Giving Back to the Game
After spending most of his life around professional golf, Pernice has become increasingly interested in helping the players coming behind him.
He has supported organizations including First Tee and Folds of Honor and enjoys opportunities to spend time with junior golfers, offer advice and encourage young players navigating the game.
For Pernice, giving back is not separate from his career. It is part of what a long career should eventually become.
“Golf has given me an incredible life,” Pernice said. “When you have been fortunate enough to do something you love for this long, I think you have a responsibility to give something back.”
Sometimes that means supporting a charitable organization. Sometimes it is spending time with a junior golfer. Sometimes it is simply answering a question or sharing something learned through experience.
The impact of those moments is not always obvious at the time.
But Pernice remembers the people who helped him when he was young, and he understands how much one conversation can mean to a player trying to find his way.
A Different Definition of Success
Pernice still wants to win.
Four decades of perspective have not changed that.
Put a scorecard in his pocket and a tournament on the line, and the competitor who won twice on the PGA TOUR and six times on PGA TOUR Champions is still very much there.
What has changed is his understanding of what constitutes a successful career.
“Success is not measured only by trophies,” Pernice said. “It is also about competing with integrity, representing yourself and your family well and continuing to improve.”
There are victories recorded in the history books and numbers attached to every professional golf career.
But there are other measures that matter with time.
Did you respect the game? Did you keep learning? Did you treat people well? Did you take care of the opportunities you were given? Did you help somebody coming behind you?
And after all the miles, all the practice sessions, all the good rounds and the ones he would rather forget, does he still want to compete?
For Tom Pernice Jr., the answer is yes.
He still enjoys the work. He still believes he can play well. And when tournament day arrives, he still wants to put a tee in the ground and see what he can do.
After all these years, that may be one of the best measures of a lasting golf career.
About Tom Pernice Jr.
Tom Pernice Jr. is an American professional golfer from Kansas City, Missouri. A two-time All-American and Pac 10 Player of the Year at UCLA, he has recorded two victories on the PGA TOUR and six victories on PGA TOUR Champions. He continues to compete professionally and lives in North Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife, Raquel.
Media Contact
Company Name: Tom Pernice Jr.
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email
City: Scottsdale
State: Arizona
Country: United States
Website: https://www.tompernicegolf.com/
