Australia’s Karl Vilips has always maintained a close connection with his father, no matter where in the world he’s competing

The other day I was throwing away a golf-ball box, and I had a flashback to being 6 and digging through the golf course’s bins to find those boxes. I needed them for the balls my dad and I found and sold to the local country club. We once bartered 3,000 used golf balls for a set of junior clubs. It took two years, but we did it.  

My parents divorced when I was a baby. My dad and I lived off his pension from a career as a migration agent. He was a scratch golfer. He saw my talent and dedicated his life to my golf. I had a really active mind as a kid. On the golf course, I could focus that mental energy into the next shot. My dad coached me and started a YouTube channel to raise money with the goal of playing in the US Kids World Championships in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The second time I went, I won my age group.  

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People started to notice. We moved around Australia accepting various offers for course access and housing. Our finances were thin. When I was 14, we got the ultimate offer. I accepted an opportunity to train in the US. I missed my dad, but I was young and obsessed with the game, loving being able to play and practise as much as I wanted. Soon, living far from home wasn’t hard for me. It wasn’t until I was older and winning bigger tournaments that I started to think, Man, Dad should be here seeing this. 

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When I was 15, I won the Southern Amateur and gold at the Youth Olympics. I committed to Stanford University. Tiger Woods was my idol. 

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College golf was a wake-up. You think you’re playing well shooting 75 on a hard golf course, but the other guy is carding the easiest 69. You think, How did he do that? I started working with Colin Swatton and still work with him. We focused on consistency. Then something clicked. I went from a stack-and-tilt swing to turning my sternum a bit more into my right side and setting the club with a little more wrist hinge.   

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On the final hole of the NCAAs, I hit a bad drive and made bogey. I slipped from sixth in the PGA Tour U rankings to 10th. That cost me Korn Ferry Tour status, though I got PGA Tour Latino Americas starts. After graduation, I played a couple of events but knew it wasn’t the right style of golf for me. I’m more of a bomb-and-gouger. It was a gamble, but I came back to the US and played Korn Ferry Monday qualifiers. 

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I missed the first week. The next, I got a sponsor’s invite into a qualifier that was only 12 guys for one spot, instead of the usual 80 for four. I won it and finished in the top 15. That got me into the next week – another top-15. In my third event, I finished second. My fourth event, I won.  

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My dad was at the Korn Ferry finals when I got my 2025 PGA Tour card. He was emotional. I was excited. We both felt that all the sacrifices we’d made were paying off.  

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Last December, right before my PGA Tour season was about to start, I did a rep on the bench, and something felt wrong. After an X-ray, the doctors said it was a stress fracture. I wouldn’t be able to swing a club for months. I was so upset. My dream had been ripped away. For weeks, the people around me kept telling me to see another doctor until finally I listened. Indeed, it was a bulging disc, which meant a much shorter recovery. I’d be able to play in February.

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I had some money. I had already signed with TaylorMade and Sun Day Red. I couldn’t believe I was the first tour player sponsored by Tiger’s clothing line. But I was scared, wondering if my body would move differently, if my speed would be gone. I was lucky to have friends around. I was living in Jacksonville, Florida, with a former Stanford teammate, Ethan Ng, and there were several young pros in our complex. I got really into cooking. 

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My first 18-hole round back, I shot 80. I was going to Mexico for a PGA Tour event in two weeks. My body couldn’t handle a lot of reps, so the training we did in those two weeks was very focused.  

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Surprisingly, I made the cut in Mexico. The next week, I shot three rounds in the 60s. When we got to Puerto Rico, I told my caddie that I felt like I did when I won on Korn Ferry – that I couldn’t see me making any bogeys.  

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Everybody was making birdies. But I showed a new level of control. I didn’t press, knowing my opportunities would come and I would capitalise on them. On the last hole, I had a wedge in my hand and told my caddie I was going to start it way right and pull it 40 yards back towards the flag. That’s not what any caddie wants to hear, but I did it. I won my first PGA Tour event by three strokes. Walking off the green, with everything going on, I ignored a call from a Jupiter, Florida, number. I’d missed my first chance to talk to Tiger, who was calling to say he was proud of me.

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I have goals for my career, like reaching No.1 and winning the Masters, but right now, I just want to get my dad (Paul) moved over from Australia and start repaying him for everything he’s done for me. 

Photograph by Zach Scheffer