Austin Hitt’s mother flew to Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday morning to watch the closing holes of her son’s third round from a distance. She stayed out of his sight on purpose so she would not disturb him. By Sunday, as steady rain soaked The Federal Club, she knew in her heart how the day would end. Now, days after that significant moment, Austin Hitt shares what his father meant to him.

Speaking to The Shotgun Start podcast, Hitt was asked by Joseph LaMagna how he kept competing after losing his father. His answer took the conversation back to his first season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024.

“I flew from his funeral to Argentina on Wednesday. I missed the cut and played terribly. It shook me up, more so just all the off-course stuff I didn’t know was coming, and I kind of lost my footing there for that part of the season.”

After his father passed away in early 2024, Hitt flew to compete in the 119 Vis Argentina Open.

“He meant everything to me in my golf game,” he added. “He played in college, was an All-American, and got me into the game. And I feel like I learned so much, especially when he was sick, about—and I think I touched on this in one of the interviews this week—that I learned how to be more positive.”

A win at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship became Hitt’s first title on the developmental tour. A closing five-under 66 gave him a clear lead over 19-year-old Blades Brown, earning him $270,000. More importantly, it lifted Hitt from 22nd to sixth in the season points standings, well inside the top 20 needed to earn a 2027 PGA Tour card. The significance of the win was huge, especially as the venue sat about three hours from Salem, Virginia, where his late father grew up.

Austin Hitt’s relationship with his father was a sentimental one, and much was clear as he held back tears while speaking to the press after his win. He gulped before saying, “I wish he was here,” as he stood on the 18th green.

His father, Aubrey Milan Hitt III, known as Chip, started working at 12 and discovered golf through a job at his local course. He later played at Roanoke College, which inducted him into its athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. However, he was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma while Austin was still a sophomore at North Carolina. He fought the disease for six years and kept returning to the course just to watch his son play.

Austin Hitt finished his Tar Heels career with a 72.20 stroke average, the fourth-best in the program’s history. He said those years taught him how to stay positive. One big lesson his father modelled for him was to move on to the next one after a bad round and maintain a positive attitude.

But as Austin moved through the first few events of his rookie season on the Korn Ferry Tour, his father passed away on February 13, 2024. As Hitt shared, he had just opened the year with three straight 11th-place finishes, with his best friend on the bag. Naturally, the loss took a big toll on him, and he struggled to progress through the season.

Speaking on the podcast, Hitt shared one of the most memorable moments from one of the last rounds he played with his father. It included Chip’s best friend and Austin’s girlfriend, Mariana, who played golf at North Carolina.

“One of the last rounds we ever played together, it was me, him, his best friend, and my girlfriend Mariana, who played at North Carolina. He made a hole-in-one and shot 71. And he beat her that day. He was so excited. We got done and were sitting around having a drink after, and he’s like, ‘That’s it. It’s never going to get any better than that. That’s going to be the best run of my life.’

“And he passed away six months later. So he always brought a great attitude, even if he felt terrible, and I feel like I try to do that myself now.”

Hitt has tried to carry his father’s attitude into his professional career, and it was visible in Virginia. He opened with a 68, followed it with a 62, and entered the final threesome. His mother, Jennifer Hitt, arrived in time to watch him finish the third round, when he was just one shot behind Brown. Although he had barely slept, texts from his friends, including his former Carolina teammate Ben Griffin, carried the same message: Go win it.

On Sunday morning, Jennifer told Golf Channel she was already sure of the result.

“I said to myself, ‘He’s going to win this time.’ I knew it.”

Her son actually did. He opened with a bogey. Then his drive at the par-4 third looked bound for out of bounds until it struck a tree and bounced back into the fairway.That’s the moment he told the PGA Tour afterwards:

“Maybe my dad from upstairs was throwing the ball back into the fairway.”

He followed that with birdies on the eighth and ninth, then holed his approach for an eagle on the par-5 10th. He made a 50-foot birdie on the 14th to stay in front, and a short putt on the 18th clinched the title. After winning, he spotted his mother, and the two hugged. When asked about the person on his mind during a later interview, he named his father, visibly choking back tears. His mother later said the win definitely belonged to her husband that day.

For now, Hitt can look forward to the PGA Tour season starting in January. This time, he will arrive with a card, a first win, and a schedule he has watched since childhood, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his home state of Florida, an event he lists among his favorite golf memories.