Wells Fargo Notebook: Aiken’s Kisner ready to close out first win

For a guy who has yet to win on the PGA Tour in 92 events over four years – with a season on the Web.com Tour in 2013 sandwiched between them – Kevin Kisner sure has made a name for himself in the past month.

The Aiken native and resident birdied the final hole of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island on April 19 to get into a playoff with Jim Furyk, and birdied the first playoff hole before Furyk beat him with a birdie on the second hole.

Sunday at The Players Championship, Kisner birdied two of his final three holes to get into a playoff with Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia, played the playoff 1 under to outlast Garcia and lost to a Fowler birdie on the fourth playoff hole.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game,” Kisner said. “I’m hitting the golf ball really solid, working it both ways, seeing every shot and hitting them. So it's one of those stretches in your career where you know you're playing well, you're hot so you better keep playing and do it as long as you can. Hopefully it will last the rest of the year.”

Kisner had an 11-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation at TPC Sawgrass to win, and it glided over the right lip of the cup on the high side of the hole. “I still can't believe that putt don't go in on 18,” Kisner said. “It was whirlwind. I enjoyed every bit of it. It’s a lot of fun to be in the mix. It was obviously a great atmosphere to be a part of, super cool setting there on 17 to be in a playoff and have all those fans going crazy and looked like we put on a heck of a show. It was just super cool event.”

Kisner, 31, is a 2006 Georgia graduate who won twice on the Web.com Tour, but it has taken him time to contend on the PGA Tour.

With a tie for fourth early in the season at the McGladrey Classic, Kisner has earned nearly $2 million this year and is 21st in 2014-15 FedExCup points. And he’s looking to get into contention again this week.

“That's what we hit all those golf balls on the range for and practice for is to be in that situation and, you know, that's the kind of stuff I live for is to be in the moment and to pull the shots off,” Kisner said. “… I felt like I've had it two out of the last three weeks and I've done just about everything I can. One of these days I'm going to shoot 65 on Sunday and come up and somebody is going to hand [a trophy] to me.”

Kisner, who went hog hunting with Boo Weekley and a couple caddies on Monday, could be poised for another big week. After missing the cut in his first three appearances at Quail Hollow, Kisner tied for sixth last year with scores of 66 and 68 in the second and third rounds, and played in the final twosome Saturday and penultimate twosome Sunday.

“I feel at home here,” Kisner said. “Both my parents grew up in Charlotte. I spent a lot of time in this area of my life. My brother-in-law is a member here. I’ve played the golf course a bunch. Love the golf course; it sets up perfect for my game.”

A win for golf

Considering his popularity, particularly among millennials and young fans of the game, Fowler’s win could result in a boost to golf, especially if he continues to contend and win tournaments more frequently.

Fowler finished in the top five in all four major championships last year, but for all his popularity, he has two wins on the PGA Tour – The Players to go along with his 2012 Wells Fargo title.

“He’s a great player and really an asset to the PGA Tour if he can play well and win,” Phil Mickelson said. “Last week’s win at The Players is a big win for him and a big win for the tour because he’s able to kind of transcend just the game of golf and really reach out to a lot of young kids that are kind of on the fence about the game. He has that ability to get outside of golf. He just has that charisma and it’s exciting that he’s playing well.”

Alongside Grace

Rory McIlroy had a special pro-am partner on Wednesday.

Sixteen-year-old Grace Vaughan of Chesnee, who has been battling a blood disorder, won a First Tee essay contest to play in the pro-am and have her choice of pros, and she chose McIlroy, who she said is her favorite player.

Vaughan had her spleen and gallbladder removed when she was 7 after they were affected by her disorder. She called Wednesday “the best day ever.”

“I wish every pro-am was like that,” McIlroy said. “[Grace] has got an amazing background and story. Just to let her come out here and enjoy the day as best as she can, that makes me feel good that I can sort of give something back.”

McIlroy pens letter

McIlroy has played in the Memorial Tournament hosted by Jack Nicklaus every year since 2010.

But with McIlroy playing in five consecutive events culminating with the Irish Open at Royal County Down, which his foundation is hosting, and the Memorial falling the week after that event, the world’s top-ranked player had to inform Nicklaus he wasn’t playing this year, and did so through a letter.

“I thought it was the right thing to do, given Jack’s stature in the game, to write to him saying I wasn’t playing the Memorial. But then I bumped into him at the Bear’s Club on Monday,” McIlroy said. “The first thing he said to me was that he’d received my letter and I said to him that I wanted to write to you rather than phone or just advise the Tour, so he seemed pretty taken back to get my letter and that made me also feel good.

“I have played the Memorial every year since coming over here so he was happy and I told him I’m already looking forward to the event next year.”

McIlroy plans to take two weeks off following the Irish Open and return to action at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

Sports stars align

The date change of the Wells Fargo this year has created a confluence of sports stars and big sporting events in Charlotte this week.

In addition to the world’s No. 1 golfer being in town to compete, NASCAR stars such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson are in the Queen City for a NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night, and both Michael Phelps and American rival Ryan Lochte are competing in the USA Swimming Arena Pro Swim Series from Thursday through Sunday at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Wells Fargo Notebook: Aiken’s Kisner ready to close out first win."