Will Wilcox Opens Up About Addiction

When it comes to athletes, it is not unusual for them to have some sort of health struggle.  Just this year, the PGA saw a handful, with Tiger Woods undergoing multiple surgeries, Billy Horschel going through something similar, and Gary Woodland’s health struggles coming to an end.  Recently, Will Wilcox opened up about his own health struggles, that being an addiction he battled for the majority of his career.

Wilcox On The PGA

Wilcox joined the PGA in 2014 and was doing well for himself on the field.  In the course of three years, he had 72 starts, making the cut in 38 of them.  He never won a PGA event, but that was not for lack of trying.  He made the top 10 eight times and was the runner-up once.  At one point, Wilcox scored a hole-in-one at the TPC Sawgrass.  His performance was great enough that he found himself in the top 100 on the Tour.  However, he has been struggling with an addiction the entire time, and that era is fuzzy for Wilcox.

Wilcox Opens Up

Wilcox’s addiction started at the age of 13 when he was introduced to opioids.  This also means that he was caught in the throes of the ongoing opioid crisis as it was beginning.  Wilcox described the effects of his addiction on his life as follows:

“I’d gone from a top 100 PGA Tour player making millions to living in a van down by the river,” Wilcox says. “I was a drug-addicted loser that nobody wanted to look at or speak to. I was forgotten trash.”

Wilcox went on to say that when he revisits courses, he can’t remember how each one was set up.  Even if he made the top 25 on that course, he still struggles to find where the next hole is.  

Recovery

After losing his Tour Card in 2016, Wilcox lost his career earnings to his addiction, and decided it was time to seek help, and went to rehab.  By this point, any enabler had already left his life.

“All the people that used to be bad influences in my life are all dead or in prison. That’s just how that lifestyle works, especially with fentanyl. But then, when you come out on the other side and people see me, it’s an amazing transformation.”

Since going to rehab, Wilcox has overcome his addiction and has recovered.  He says that he not only looks better, but also feels better too.  According to Wilcox, he is much more energetic too, “like a million dollars.”

From Player To Caddie

Today, Will Wilcox is a caddie for Sungjae Im.  It’s not quite what he used to do, but it is honest and important work.  He still gets to work in the sport he spent so much time with and likes what he does.  It is a shame that his career as a player ended the way it did, but his career as a caddie has been a fresh start.  If his time with Im is anything to go by, he has been a stellar caddie.