Former Ryder Cup star retires from golf for heartbreaking reason

The last cut Victor Dubuisson made on the DP World Tour wasn’t long ago. It was in August, at the Czech Masters.

Dubuisson’s rounds of 70-68-75-77 were good enough for 69th place and a €3,700 payday. The tournament was one of eight Dubuisson played in this year. He WDed from his two most recent tournaments, the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, after posting opening-round 77s.

That’s why seeing Dubuisson’s name being on the list of players in the LIV Golf Promotions field wasn’t that surprising. He played in 2023 without a full exemption, and although he’s had a number of bright spots in recent years, the 33-year-old Frenchman’s recent form seemed far-removed from the game that won him two DP World Tour titles at the Turkish Open in 2013 and 2015, and made him a Ryder Cup star in 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland, where he went 2-0-1.

But before teeing off in his attempt to qualify for LIV’s 2024 season of play, Dubuisson pivoted in shocking fashion. He didn’t just withdraw from the tournament, he announced his intention to retire from professional golf.

According to French newspaper L’Equipe, Dubuisson cited his lonely lifestyle as his primary motivator for leaving the tour grind behind.

“The solitude had become extremely heavy,” he told L’Equipe. “I started from nothing, so I’m extremely satisfied with what I’ve done. I see myself as a little kid with my little bag and my Decathlon clubs.

“I wasn’t at all predestined to have this career,” he continued. “A lot of people will say that I could have done more and that I could have been world No. 1. But my strength is being satisfied with what I had. I’m happy with that. I don’t live in regret to dwell on all the time.”

Dubuisson says he hopes his future will include more meaningful interaction.

“I spent 15 years alone on the Tour, curled up on myself,” he told L’Equipe. “I missed contact with people. So it’s just simple human relationships around golf that I want to have.”

Dubuisson will close his pro golf career with two wins, 35 top 10s, and a total of 10 million Euro in winnings on the DP World Tour.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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