Bryce Molder is one of the most popular and richest American golfer who was born on January 27, 1979 in Harrison, Arkansas, United States. Molder’s first season as a full-time player in the PGA Tour in 2007 was mostly ineffective, with only seven cuts in 21 events, and his one top-10 result was a T-6 at his season’s final Children’s Miracle Network Classic. In the end, Molder was back on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, where he placed 23rd on the list of money winners, making 19 of the 27 cuts and scored four top-10s which included a 2nd and 3rd place, winning $234,651.
At the 2011 Frys.com Open, after having secured his 2012 Tour card with five top-10 finishes in 25 tournaments, Molder defeated Briny Baird on the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff for his maiden PGA Tour win. The win capped a superb weekend of near-flawless play for Molder, who went bogey-free –13 in the final 43 holes of regulation play and –4 in the playoff. He sank a 12 foot putt for birdie on the final hole of regulation play to square things just after Baird, playing one group behind Molder, dramatically chipped-in from 38 feet from the green-side rough for eagle on the 17th hole, temporarily taking a one stroke lead. When Baird parred the 18th hole, the playoff ensued, with neither player – each seeking his first Tour win after years of trying – able to close the it out until Molder’s dramatic approach from 133 yards in the 18th fairway to six feet set up his conclusive birdie putt. The win extended Molder’s Tour membership through 2013.
In 2017, while attending the ceremony for his induction into the Arkansas Golf Hall of Fame, he announced his retirement from professional golf, saying “I had gotten to the point that it was just not fulfilling anymore”.
In the years that followed, Molder played in the Tour’s development league, known as the Nationwide Tour, without earning his PGA Tour card, until an exceptional year in 2006. His season in 2006 Nationwide Tour season included four top-10s, eight top-25s and one win and $205,413 of earnings. All of this put him 22nd on the final earnings list. The first time he won a professional title was in October 2006 during Miccosukee Championship. Miccosukee Championship.
Molder became a professional in the summer. He finished the third position in his very first Tour event which was the Reno-Tahoe Classic that ended up being won by John Cook. Although he had a great first experience at Reno Molder, however Molder was unable to earn membership on the PGA Tour money rankings in the fall and late summer of 2001. In the end, despite not being able to gain status at an Tour Qualifying school, he was able secure invitations from sponsors for Tour Events in the year 2002, resulting in a T-9 in the Compaq Classic in New Orleans and top-15 results at two additional events. He was also able to secure Special Temporary Member status after being a T-12 finish at the Buick Classic. In a note of the pressure that was present during the 18th hole on the final round of Westchester Country Club’s West Course, Molder, who was required to play the hole par in order to be able to qualify for the Temporary Card said, “Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to two-putt when you have to.” The remainder of the season his form from the spring didn’t last and he fell short of securing his place in the Tour for 2003 by just one spot in the money ranking.
In 2009 on the PGA Tour, Molder broke out in June at the St. Jude Classic, where he shot a second round 63 followed by a third round 65 and was one shot behind 54-hole leader Brian Gay going into the final round. Molder went on to finish in a tie for 2nd with David Toms on Sunday, four strokes behind the winner, Gay, for his best finish in a PGA Tour event at the time. A few weeks later, Molder finished fourth at the AT&T National, posting 272, five strokes back of winner Tiger Woods. The finish also secured a spot for Molder in the 2009 Open Championship. He finished the year ranked 63rd on the PGA Tour money list with eight top-25 and three top-10 finishes in twenty-one outings. He met with similar success in 2010 on Tour, with six top-10 and ten top-25 finishes in 26 starts.
