At 12 years old, Frankie Capan III watched intensely as he held a sign displaying the scores of Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Bill Haas at the 2012 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Mickelson gave the youngster one of his gloves but that wasn’t his most memorable moment as a volunteer at TPC Scottsdale. Instead, the aspiring golf pro was wowed by one of Watson’s drives on the 6th hole.
“He just hit like a 60-yard cut, kind of his patented cut,” Capan III said after working on his bunker game on Tuesday. “That shot is almost burned in my memory.”
Thirteen years later, Capan III is now a rookie on the PGA tour and, at 25, is making his WM Phoenix Open debut this week as one of the event’s five sponsor exemptions.
“I definitely enjoy being on this side of the ropes a little bit more, but it is just cool how things have come full circle,” Capan III said.
“There are a few (PGA tour events) I have had on my radar and really wanted to play in, and this was definitely one of them.”
Capan III was born in Minnesota but his family spent time in Arizona during the school year, he said, so he could play golf throughout the winter.
That move paid off as Capan III won back-to-back Arizona high school state tournaments in 2017 and 2018 golfing for Northwest Christian in Phoenix.
In his senior year, he beat the rest of the field by 10 strokes after shooting a final-round 59 on the Sonoran Course at the 2018 Omni Tucson National.
The back-to-back state titles didn’t surprise Capan III’s long-time golf coach Craig Waryan, who was expected to be at TPC Scottsdale this week to watch Capan play.
The pair began working together when Capan III was five. They’d have putting competitions, practicing chipping and use golf carts as obstacles to improve creativity in Capan III’s golf game.
Waryan said he could tell Capan III had a special mentality right away.
“He was so enamored with competition and doing better, he wanted to win,” Waryan said.
Frank Capan Jr., Frankie’s father, said his son fell in love with playing sports at a young age, whether it was hitting golf balls, throwing the football around or shooting baskets.
“I just felt athletics was his calling, so it’s fun to see your kids find something they’ve always embraced doing,” Capan Jr. said while watching his son on the driving range.
“The really exciting part is seeing that growth, development and maturation to where you continually just get more and more comfortable in the setting.”
Capan III earned his 2025 PGA Tour card by finishing third on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour points list. The only native Minnesotan with a PGA Tour card has made the cut in all three events he has played this season with his best result a tie for 12th at the American Express last month.
Waryan said Capan III has the potential to have a successful career on the PGA Tour due to his strong short game and scoring ability.
“I’ve worked with a lot of players, a lot of professional players and I’ve never seen anybody that has a talent that Frankie does,” Waryan said.
The PGA Tour newcomer is showing off his Minnesota roots this week by sporting a golf bag that features an embroidered Vikings logo. Capan III teased a jersey could come out on the 16th hole this week.
Capan Jr. said he thinks his son will embrace the rowdy atmosphere at TPC Scottsdale this week.
“He always wanted to play football, and this feels like more of a hybrid of a PGA tour and NFL event with the atmosphere,” Capan Jr. said. “I think he was excited about that too.”
Capan III will have a bit of a homefield advantage at TPC Scottsdale this week. He said he has played the course more than 20 times.
But that’s not all.
The Minnesota native will also have a large fan contingent this week made up of his dad, mom Charlynn — who doubled as his caddie for a chunk of his career — two sisters and lots of friends from school.
“I like to entertain people, I enjoy when a lot of people are watching,” Capan III said. “I have a lot of confidence in my game and what I’m able to do with the golf ball.”
Will McLernon is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Phoenix Open volunteer Frankie Capan III debuts
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