Editor’s note: “In Case You Missed It” is a GGP+ feature that highlights a story from Global Golf Post‘s Monday magazine.
In May, incoming Clemson University freshman Jackson Byrd made his PGA Tour debut at the Myrtle Beach Classic at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club and advanced to the weekend. The same can’t be said for his dad, five-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd, who missed the cut by a stroke.
“I think I may have hinted at [me making the cut and him not] one time and he got frustrated with me for something I didn’t do around the house,” Jackson said.
Jonathan isn’t just a father, he’s a competitor.
“Everybody I talked to was like, ‘How great is it that your son made the cut? It probably didn’t matter that you missed it,’” the elder Byrd said. “I’m like, ‘No, it sucked. I got beat by my son.’”
The Byrds are a golf family, and it’s not just Jackson and Jonathan. Jordan Byrd is Jonathan’s older brother and now Jackson’s head coach at Clemson. He’s been coaching for 20 years. All three have a love of the game in their blood.
“It’s just what we’re good at,” Jackson said. “We’re not good at too many things but golf is one of them.”
Everything started with Jim Byrd, father of Jordan and Jonathan. Jim was an athlete. He played football at the University of North Carolina and coached wrestling for a bit after graduating.
“He loved golf,” Jordan said of his dad, who died of cancer in 2009. “He got introduced to it later on in life after college. He became a very good player, pretty much self-taught. I think he got down to about a 2 handicap.”
The Byrd brothers immediately fell in love with the individual side of golf, where they could compete against not just others, but against themselves.
“It suited me,” Jonathan said. “I like to practice and to be by myself. It’s a cool oasis to be out there in my own head visualizing shots and practicing.”
Jonathan says he had that “younger brother grit” when it came to competing against Jordan. Before long, Jonathan started to distinguish himself as the best golfer in the family.
“It didn’t take him long to beat me,” Jordan said. “The last time I was better than him was probably when I was 14.”
Fourteen was also an important age for Jonathan. It’s when he started outdriving his dad and beating him.
“It was a sad day when we started hitting it by him and his game started to decline,” Jonathan said. “That was hard for him. But I know what that’s like now because my son hits it way farther than me.”
“I remember following Davis Love and Greg Norman. It’s like, ‘Man – this could be a job.’” – Jonathan Byrd
Fourteen is also when Jonathan decided he wanted to be a tour pro. The Byrd family lived in Columbia, South Carolina, an hour and a half away from Augusta National, and they had the opportunity to go to their first Masters.
“I remember following Davis Love and Greg Norman,” Jonathan said. “It’s like, ‘Man – this could be a job.’”
In 1995, Jordan started at Furman University, and, two years later, Jonathan went to nearby Clemson. While in college, the brothers played against each other four times and shot the same score the first two. Jordan says that while his parents didn’t pick sides, they had to pay a little more attention to him.
“Later my dad told me that he would go down one side of the fairway and my mom [Jo] would go down the other side of the fairway because they knew they were going to have to look for a ball at some point,” he said. “They probably didn’t have to do that with Jonathan.”
Jonathan’s career took off. In 1999, he won the Northeast Amateur and made the Walker Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup teams.
“It was a summer that proved to me that I can do this,” Jonathan said. “I think you have to win at every stage to feel like you can move to the next one.”
In 2000, Jonathan turned pro, earning his PGA Tour card in 2002 and winning his first title, the Buick Challenge, later that year. Still, Jonathan said his dad had doubts that he could make it as a pro. This all changed at the 2003 Masters, when Jonathan played in the third to last group on Sunday and finished T8.
“He looked at my brother on the first tee and was like, ‘I think he’s going to make it. I think he’s going to be alright,’” Jonathan remembers.
Jordan also pursued a career in professional golf, playing mini-tours from 1998 to 2000. Ultimately, it wasn’t for him, and he joined the corporate world in 2001.
“The mini-tours do a great job of separating who should be out there and shouldn’t be out there,” he said.
But Jordan still yearned for golf. Then, almost out of the blue, he was offered an opportunity to join Clemson as an assistant coach in 2005. Jordan jumped at the chance.
“I don’t think there’s any way I’m at Clemson without Jonathan [having been] there,” Jordan said. “Jonathan has helped me tremendously in my career and now he’s helping me even more with Jackson.”
“In the back of my mind I was thinking that he doesn’t want to do what I do. I always had this idea that he’d be a professional baseball player.” – Jonathan Byrd
When Jackson was born, Jonathan had no intention of pushing the game he loved onto his son.
“I kinda wanted him not to play golf,” Jonathan said. “In the back of my mind I was thinking that he doesn’t want to do what I do. I always had this idea that he’d be a professional baseball player.”
But Jackson grew up around golf and traveling to his dad’s tournaments.
“I loved traveling,” Jackson said. “It was really cool seeing all the different places like Palm Springs, Pebble Beach or Hawaii. I missed a lot of school.”
Jonathan looks back on those times fondly. One memory, when Jackson was around 5, stands out. It was at the B.C. Open in Endicott, New York.
“It was the first time he walked all nine holes,” Jonathan said. “I get emotional thinking about it. Every time I looked over it was kind of like a high five. I miss that little kid who was following me around at tournaments. Now I’m the one following him.”
Jackson started taking golf seriously at age 8 and started playing tournaments at 9, inheriting the Byrd competitive gene and, eventually, the desire to go pro. Jonathan was his son’s swing coach until Jackson was 12 and still wants to help in any way he can.
“I keep telling him to blaze his own trail,” Jonathan said. “I kind of envy him being 18 and having his whole career ahead of him.”
“It’s a great honor to be a part of something that’s bigger than yourself and getting to play in front of a lot of people has always been the goal.” – Jackson Byrd
And Jackson is blazing his own trail. He’s a three-time AJGA champion and has represented the United States on the Junior Ryder Cup, Junior Presidents Cup and Toyota Junior World Cup teams. He says he hopes to represent his country more in the future.
“It’s a great honor to be a part of something that’s bigger than yourself and getting to play in front of a lot of people has always been the goal,” he said.
In November 2024, Jackson signed on with Clemson for the 2025-26 season. He chose his dad’s and his uncle’s school despite other offers.
“I’ve been a Clemson fan my whole life,” Jackson said. “[The recruiting process] might have worried my dad and uncle but I wanted to take a realistic look at other schools. I just thought Clemson was the best option for me.”
But before graduating from high school, he achieved another dream: playing in a PGA Tour event. He got into the Myrtle Beach Classic on a sponsor exemption.
“I felt pretty comfortable all week and my dad did a good job being there for me during the prep but distancing himself during tournament time because we both know how to play,” Jackson said.
Jonathan is proud of what his son has accomplished so far and believes Jackson can go on to do great things. However, he’s more proud of Jackson’s character and wants his son to enjoy the ride.
“When it’s all over, it’s the friendships and memories you make that are important,” Jonathan said. “Being the No. 1 golfer in the world is a great goal but keep enjoying it.”