In the 2010 PGA golf season, keep an eye out for Kevin Na. He finished 15th in Fed Ex Cup standings last year and is already off to a hot start, making the cut at the Sony Open and finishing in 8th place at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (a nice payday of $150,000). For those of you who don’t know who Kevin is, he is a South Korean born golfer whose family moved from South Korea to the United States when he was 8 years old. He was one of the top junior golfers in the country and was so talented that he ended up skipping his senior year of high school and turned pro in 2001. Since then, Kevin has had much success on the PGA tour proving he can play with the best and finish at the top. You can follow him on Twitter at @thekevinna or his facebook fan page.
Kevin Na finished in 3rd place today at the PGA Players Championship in Ponte Verde Beach, Florida. After making a big push in the second round, Kevin was able to stay near the top of the leaderboard despite a rollercoaster 3rd round. He was among a dozen players, including Tiger Woods, who all had a chance to win the tournament in the final round. Kevin and fellow 3rd place finisher, John Mallinger, earned a nice paycheck a little over $500,000 on Mother’s Day 2009.
Kevin Na started the day in the final group with Kenny Perry at the FBR Open with a very good shot of winning his first PGA tournament. On the 72nd hole, Kevin had a makable birdie putt to tie for the lead and push him into a playoff. As the ball rolled closer to the hole, the ball started to slow down and then curved left. That one inch prevented Kevin from a chance at winning the FBR Open.
I’m kind of upset. I gave it my best. I got off to a terrible start. I couldn’t have gotten off to any worse start. The way I hung in there, I was pretty proud of myself. I played solid — I couldn’t have hit it any worse. I was all over the lot. I mean, I’ve got a great short game, and I just made every putt I could except the last one.
Kevin has been on the PGA tour for the last 5 years and for 3 of those years he was the youngest player on tour. After some setbacks with a wrist injury, it looks like Kevin is poised to make inroads this year on tour. Could he be the next Anthony Kim? Time will tell but he’s building confidence with strong finishes like today.
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Kevin Na started the day in the final group with Kenny Perry at the FBR Open with a very good shot of winning his first PGA tournament. On the 72nd hole, Kevin had a makable birdie putt to tie for the lead and push him into a playoff. As the ball rolled closer to the hole, the ball started to slow down and then curved left. That one inch prevented Kevin from a chance at winning the FBR Open.