Why this quote about grinding on Tour is Colt Knost’s favorite

John Maginnes jokingly describes himself as the worst player to be fully vested in the PGA Tour’s retirement program. But despite the fact that he never won on Tour, the 53-year old played in 196 PGA Tour tournaments — and made 87 cuts! — before stepping away from full-time competition in 2005.

These days, Maginnes spends his time as a popular host on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio, as well as providing on-course commentary for PGA Tour Live. And in his appearance on this week’s episode of Subpar, host Colt Knost declared that Maginnes had one of the best quotes he’d ever heard, because it was so relatable to him: “Throughout my career, I knew that if I just got a little better or a little worse, that my life would have a better chance of making sense.”

“Living in that area, at 125 on the money list, that’s just a nerve-wracking place to be,” Maginnes said. “And I did, I got worse, unfortunately. Actually, I’m not so sure I got worse, it’s just everybody around me got better.”

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Maginnes attributed the increase in the level of play from 2000-2010 to improved equipment technology and the Tiger effect, where players started working out more.

“Everybody got better. Somehow I missed the boat,” Maginnes said. “I felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders when I stopped playing.”

“I agree with you. That’s why it’s a great quote,” Knost said. “And I’ve never heard anybody say it that way. It’s always like oh, if I just could have had this or that go my way. And it’s like, no, if I could have actually got a little s—-ier …”

For more from the Get Amongst It crew, including what it was like for Maginnes playing with Tiger Woods during his rookie season, and what pros thought of Woods when he first came out on Tour, check out the full interview below.

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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.