Kisner in position to earn TOUR card after victory
By John Dell, Nationwide Tour Insider
The list of great golfers who grew up and still reside in Aiken, S.C., a city with around 30,000 people, isn't very long. And Kevin Kisner could be headed to the top after his win in Sunday's Mylan Classic on the Nationwide Tour.
"Yeah, maybe I'm creeping up on that list," said Kisner, a 26-year-old rookie who became the 18th different winner on the Nationwide Tour this season.
It was Kisner's first victory since he won three different times on the mini-tours after turning pro in 2006. The former University of Georgia All-American, who graduated in 2006, is playing in his first full season on the Nationwide Tour.
The $108,000 he pocketed was the largest payday of his young career and it moved him from 50th to 14th on the money list. He's been so busy the he hadn't made any plans for any big purchases, though.
"To be honest, I haven't thought much about that," he said. "After the win on Sunday I got up on Monday and flew out here to Salt Lake City so it's been kind of a blur, but a good blur."
The Nationwide Tour, with eight tournaments left on the schedule, heads to the Beehive State for the Utah Championship presented by the Utah Sports Commission starting on Thursday at Willow Creek Country Club in Sandy.
Kisner did have time to get in nine holes on Tuesday, but said his first order of business was answering the 97 text messages he received after the victory.
"After I won there was about a three-hour time-slot there where I just had my phone shut off," he said. "Then when I turned it on there were nearly 100 messages, so I turned it off again because I didn't want to start answering them and not get to them all."
Instead, he took his time answering the messages, and was touched that so many people reached out.
"It's kind of cool because you don't really know that many people actually care," said Kisner, who had has girlfriend, Brittany DeJarnett, and a couple of other friends from Aiken there when he won on Sunday. "She's only been to about six or eight tournaments but I was glad she was there for that first win."
Kisner has a tough time explaining how he turned it all around in one week. He didn't exactly head into the Mylan Classic on a roll. He had missed four of six cuts, but he never lost hope that things would turn around.
Kisner says the hardest part to learn over the long course of a season is to stay patient. This past week in Pennsylvania he did just that by shooting three straight 68s and a 67 on Sunday that was good enough to beat Geoffrey Sisk by a shot.
"The competition is good out here," he said. "You can play well and think you've found something and the next thing you know you are still finishing 15th. So it's definitely a process you have to kind of get through yourself."
Kisner says there hasn't been just one thing he's changed. He has focused more on his weaknesses when practicing, though.
"It's easy to practice the things you are strong at, so I tried to work more on my short game," he said.
On Sunday the 16th hole was one of those defining moments. He hit his 9-iron approach a little too far and had a delicate chip, but it's the kind of chip he felt comfortable pulling off because of the hours of practicing.
"I hit it to about four feet and made the par putt," he said. "And that was really big, especially needing a par like that and being able to get it."
The shot of confidence he has after winning in his 26th career start on the Nationwide Tour is something he hopes will carry over.
"I want to win again, there's no doubt about that," he said. "Obviously I think it makes you feel like you belong out here."
While Kisner was putting the finishing touches on his victory there was a pretty big crowd gathered around a television at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken. Tom Moore, who has been the director of golf there for 30 years, says the members have been talking about Kisner's win all week.
"Kevin grew up here and was about 7 or 8 when he started playing and we've followed him in high school and when he was at Georgia and now on the Nationwide Tour," Moore said. "We knew he would eventually win it was just a matter of time."
Kisner is in great position to earn his PGA TOUR card for next season if he can stay inside the top 25 on the money list by the end of the season. He's never played in a PGA TOUR tournament.
Kisner also said he's heard from his parents that there was quite a celebration at home after his victory.
"I heard some friends of my parents showed up at their house and had some champagne," he said. "I guess there was some buzz around town after I won so that was nice to hear."
John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 17 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FANTASY
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 