Robert L. “Spike” McRoy
Class of 2009
Spike McRoy struck his first golf shot at eight and never stopped chasing the next one. At Grissom High he helped win a team state title as a junior, then claimed the individual championship as a senior—early proof that he could deliver under pressure. Alabama offered a scholarship, and McRoy spent four years in Tuscaloosa learning two essentials: a simple, repeatable swing under coach Conrad Rehling and a commitment to fitness under coach Dick Spybey, whose 5:30 a.m. weight-room sessions the team “thought we hated—but really loved.” McRoy capped his college career by winning the 1990 Ragin’ Cajun Classic in Lafayette.
He remained amateur briefly to compete in his fourth U.S. Amateur, reaching the Sweet 16, then earned his PGA Tour card at Q School in 1991. For the next decade-plus he bounced among the PGA Tour, the Hooters Tour, and the BUY.COM/Nationwide Tour, stacking wins and lessons: the Alabama Open in 1992; Hooters Tour victories at Louisville’s Seneca Park (1995) and Orlando’s Ridgewood Lakes (1996); and a breakout 2000 season on the BUY.COM Tour with wins at Dakota Dunes and the Tour Championship in Dothan, Alabama—securing Player of the Year honors.
McRoy teed it up in five U.S. Opens, making the cut in three, including 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2 when Payne Stewart authored his iconic victory. In 2002 McRoy earned his signature PGA Tour triumph at the B.C. Open in Endicott, New York, validating years of persistence on golf’s toughest circuit. He also checked off a dream start at the 2004 Open Championship at Troon.
A grateful son of Huntsville, McRoy credits parents, sisters, teachers, coaches, and fellow pros for the scaffolding of his career. With wife Rica and their three children, he remains rooted in North Alabama—still competing, still mentoring, and still chasing the next pure strike.
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