Justin Hicks, PGA, Readies for First Senior PGA Championship

BRADENTON, FL. – Justin Hicks will be playing in his first Senior PGA Championship, but he didn’t arrive at The Concession Golf Club without major experience.

The 51-year-old Wellington, Fla., resident played in two majors on the PGA TOUR last year – qualifying for the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. That’s more majors in 2025 than anyone else in the Senior PGA Championship field except Zach Johnson and Padraig Harrington, who both played in two majors as past champions.

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“They were two of the more memorable ones for me just because both golf courses were absolute beasts, especially Oakmont, and Quail Hollow,” said Hicks, who has played in nine majors. “Everything about your game was really tested.

“Majors are always exciting because you know that you're going to have the best players in the world at those events. The courses are going to be immaculate like this one is this week. It's going to be a really good test. There's just more excitement in the air with these types of events as opposed to your standard tour events.”

One of the disadvantages Hicks faces this week is unfamiliarity: He never saw The Concession until making a trip last weekend. Then again, The Concession has only hosted one event on the 50-and-older tour, the 2023 World Champions Cup.

There won’t be much local knowledge on display this week on a course co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.

“There's a little bit more strategy to this course than a typical week,” Hicks said. “And then there's just a lot going on, whether it be on the greens or just off the greens. Balls are not always going to stay on the greens, and even if you do hit it on the green, there's a chance with some of the slopes that it will kind of funnel off, much like Pinehurst. There's going to be a lot of challenges for the players this week.”

Hicks, a PGA Teaching Professional at Stonebridge Country Club in Boca Raton, has been playing well enough to earn last year’s Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year Award, as well as South Florida PGA POY. Hicks Monday-qualified for last month’s James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational at Broken Sound Club.

He was in the top five late in the second round before settling for a T24 after a final-round 76. He wasn’t upset afterward.

“Playing well in Boca definitely gives me a lot of confidence to say, all right, look, you've got the abilities,” he said. “When you actually go out there and you walk it and see that you're competitive, it helps your own mind understand, hey, look, we've got some tools that we can probably do some pretty good stuff with.

“If I count the number of rounds that I'm playing versus what these guys are playing, it's not a very fair fight in that regard. This is still kind of my preseason.”

Hicks has enlisted former PGA TOUR member Tom Gillis of Jupiter to caddie for him this week. Gillis plans on caddying for rookie George McNeill the rest of the year.

“It definitely helps to have a veteran like Tom on the bag,” said Hicks, whose major moment remains being tied for the lead after the first round of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. “Tom will really help me this week.”

Hicks, among the 35 PGA Professionals on the Corebridge Financial Team, said he doesn’t want to enter the Senior PGA with expectations.

“I'm going to just try to go out here this week and play great golf and see where that lands me,” he said. “If I try to think too much on this, like I should make the cut and I should finish in the top whatever, that's usually when I kind of fall flat on my face.”

Featured pairings: Among the marquee pairings for Thursday’s opening round are former major champions Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson and David Toms (1:19 p.m., 10th tee), Padraig Harrington, Alex Cejka and Ernie Els (12:57 p.m., 10th tee) and defending champion Angel Cabrera, Steven Alker and Bob Sowards, PGA (first tee, 8:03 a.m.).

Chip shots: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis played in Tuesday’s Pro-Am alongside 2016 Senior PGA Champion Rocco Mediate … PGA of America officials said the 349-yard 12th hole likely will be shortened to a drivable par-4 on the weekend … Jay Haas withdrew Tuesday. His spot was taken by Andrew Johnson.