Homeless Golfer Mike Sweeney Qualifies For Korn Ferry Tour Event, Venmoed Thousands Of Dollars To Help Cover Expenses

Published|Updated

Mike Sweeney is homeless and was recently living out of his car until it stopped running. While his living situation isn't by choice, it is part of the journey of chasing his dream of one day playing on the PGA Tour, and after Monday qualifying into this week's Korn Ferry Tour event he's a step closer to making that dream a reality.

Sweeney shot 7-under on Monday before earning a spot in this week's HomeTown Lenders Championship in Huntsville, Alabama via a playoff. He spent a large chunk of his savings on the $500 entry fee and has an opportunity to make his money back, and then some, in his first-ever start on the Korn Ferry Tour.

While earning a spot in this week's tournament is quite an accomplishment, you make exactly zero dollars doing so. Sweeney is still faced with lodging, food, and other expenses this week in Huntsville, but golf fans around the world have stepped in to help out in a major way.

Monday Q, who is the gold standard of mini-tour coverage, recently spoke with Sweeney about his accomplishment and shared the golfer's Venmo account with his 131,000 followers on Twitter. Around two hours after sharing his account information, Sweeney had received close to $10,000.

The 26-year-old is currently working in the cart barn at The Florida Club and couch-surfing with friends. Before his job at the golf course, he worked at a bowling alley, a Subway, an equestrian club, and even started rapping a bit under the name MikeyD860.

READ: PAT PEREZ’S TOUGH GUY ACT AND CONSTANT BASHING OF THE PGA TOUR HAS OFFICIALLY GOTTEN OLD

The 2014 Hyundai Elantra he called home for quite a while has stopped running and actually had to catch a ride with a fellow pro to get to the Monday qualifier. He's in Huntsville without a car, but the friendly donations he received will certainly help cover the cost of any Ubers or gas money he needs to give to whoever he hitches a ride with to the course.

What's wild is that there are plenty of other professional golfers living exactly like Sweeney is, minus the rapping part maybe, who are barely scraping by and living out of their car.

Hopefully Sweeney's magical run continues and he makes the cut in Huntsville to pick up a paycheck.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.