TUCSON, Arizona — "I thought everybody else was different, and I was the normal one," said Billy Mayfair.
A five-time champion on the PGA Tour, Billy Mayfair's other claim to fame is that he's the only golfer to have beaten Tiger Woods in a playoff.
"We never knew that Tiger was going to turn into Tiger at the time," said Mayfair.
There were wins, and while almost every golfer gets frustrated when things don't go his or her way, Mayfair's wife, Tami, noticed that his behavior was different.
"Facial expressions and communications with people were probably my hardest things," said Mayfair.
Mayfair's struggles came to a head during the 2019 Invesco QQQ Championship. It was at that tournament when he had a disagreement with officials that led to his disqualification.
"I have to look back at it now as a blessing because it made me realize I needed to get tested, and do some things about it.
At the age of 53, Mayfair did get tested and learned he had been living with high-functioning autism.
"It cleared a lot of questions that I had," said Mayfair. "When I read about autism and how my brain works, things started making a lot more sense to me," said Mayfair.
Now 56, Mayfair competes on the PGA Tour Champions, which, this week, visits Omni Tucson National for the Cologuard Classic.
"The biggest thing for me now is when I get tired and frustrated and it starts kicking in, I catch myself," said Mayfair.
Mayfair says he encourages anyone who thinks they might have autism to see a neuropsycologist.
"My biggest thing is if you think there is something wrong, go get tested and find some things out."
