Multiplayer Monday

Four or five nights a week, Derek Chang settles in for a few hours of video games. It is the longtime pro’s escape after an exhaustive day of caddying at Dallas National, where he works to keep his professional golf dream alive. 

2,200 miles away in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, account executive Greg Mazerolle settles in for some gaming after he helps put his two daughters to bed. 

Chang and Mazerolle met virtually almost five years ago while playing Call of Duty online. Since then, the pair have teamed up to take on others in the popular game. Mazerolle estimates the two have gamed together nearly a thousand times in that span. 

During that time, the pair came to know each other well. Mazerolle played college golf and currently holds a +4 handicap. Golf was an easy topic of conversation. The two also bonded over discussions about life, marriage and having children. Although they never met IRL (in real life for the olds) they were good friends.

The day before the Monday qualifier for the Americas Tour event in New Brunswick, the two met for the first time. Mazerolle decided to caddie for Chang as he attempted to qualify into his first Americas Tour event. 

When the Americas Tour schedule came out in February, the pair discussed Chang meeting for the event, but Chang wasn’t sure he would make the trip. Money is tight and qualifiers are expensive – especially a Monday qualifier 2,200 miles away. But early last week, Chang decided to make the trip. Mazerolle promised he would make the hour-long drive from his house to guide Chang around the course.

Chang and Mazerolle met for the first time at a Sunday practice round at West Hills Golf Club, the site for the Monday qualifier. Although Mazerolle was going to caddie the next day, Chang encouraged him to play during the practice round, and Mazerolle shot a 70. When I asked Mazerolle if he beat Chang, he replied, “Nah, he beat me by one or two.” A few minutes later, I got a text. “I guess we tied,” Mazerolle wrote. “I was just talking with him. We are playing Call of Duty.” 

After the round, they headed to a local brewery and enjoyed dinner and a few beers. 

Mazerolle assumed the role of caddie the following day as Chang attempted his third Monday qualifier of the Americas Tour season. Chang was 2 under at the turn, but a bogey on the par-4 10th left Chang with a difficult task on the back nine if he was going to win one of the eight spots available. 

Chang got to work and with birdies on 12, 13, and 15, Chang was just one outside the number needed to avoid a playoff. On the par-5 18th, Chang was nervous and hit a poor 4-iron approach that left him with a 50-yard chip for his third shot.

After a great chip, only a six-footer for birdie remained. If Chang made the putt he was in; a miss meant a playoff. Chang had lost in a playoff at the last Monday Q, and wasn’t excited about the prospects of another playoff. Mazerolle’s only other caddying experience was at the 2011 Transitions Championship in a pro-am, and he was dealing with nerves of his own.

“I closed my eyes,” Mazerolle says. 

Chang rolled in the putt, earning his first start in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since a Korn Ferry Event in 2020. 

“If you get through, I’m taking the week off and will be on the bag for you,” Mazerolle promised Chang last week. On Monday afternoon, Mazerolle called his boss and asked for the week off.

On Thursday, Derek Chang and Greg Mazerolle will again team up as they have nearly a thousand times before. 

This week's battle will be a different kind.