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Marcus Byrd is this year's recipient of the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption for the 2023 Genesis Invitational, which starts on Thursday, February 16th, at Riveria Golf Club.
Tournament host Tiger Woods made the announcement regarding the exemption, which has been awarded every year since 2009 in honor of Charlie Sifford, reflecting the progress made toward promoting diversity in golf.
Byrd started playing golf at the age of three under the supervision of his father, Larry Byrd, who was also his biggest supporter. Marcus Byrd is a native of Washington, D.C. Having attended Middle Tennessee State University, Byrd played a crucial role in their consecutive conference championship wins in 2018 and 2019. However, he faced a difficult period after sustaining injuries in a car accident, which caused him to miss the remainder of the 2018 season.
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Nonetheless, upon his return in 2019, Marcus Byrd made the most of his opportunities and emerged victorious in the Puerto Rico Classic and the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship. As part of the team, he played a pivotal role in securing victories in various competitions, such as the conference championships and the NCAA Regionals.
Unfortunately, Byrd's father died in 2020 due to COVID-19 complications, soon before he turned professional. Marcus' mother, Karen Jefferson, has been disabled following a serious car accident she had when her son was nine years old.
Byrd is mainly seen playing on the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Tour. His life isn't easy as he neither owns a home nor a car and has spent most of his time on the road for the last couple of years.
Marcus Byrd has two victories, and five runner-up finishes in his last eight starts on the APGA Tour. Two weeks ago, he scored a 3-over 75 in the final round of APGA's Farmers Insurance Invitational to win the tournament. This earned him $30,000, the most significant sum of his career. He also received an exemption for the Honda Classic next week.
Golf's minor league players don't have stable earnings and depend on the events with no specific contract. If they fail to make the cut in the event, their participation isn't even worth it. Byrd has lived such a life.
"He'll have to sign my scorecard anyway"- When Tiger Woods ignored Marcus Byrd's autograph request
Marcus Byrd recalled an old incident when Tiger Woods ignored his request for an autograph. This happened a long time back when he was just a kid, and he, accompanied by his father, went to watch his favorite golfer at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Golf Club.
"I remember one day when I was going out there with my Dad - we always did - and I was had on the old Tiger outfit: red shirt, black shorts. And I had a picture I wanted him to sign. And, when he was coming down, he was obviously going to The First Tee, so he was pretty busy and just kind of, you know, walked by," recalled Byrd in the press conference.
However, kid Byrd showed much more maturity than his age and decided to use this as motivation.
"I told my dad one day when I make it to the Tour, he’ll have to sign my scorecard anyway, don’t really need the signature right now. That was just kind of a thing to keep pushing me forward to getting to where I am," added Byrd.
