Living in the fairway: Baylor's Johnny Keefer seeing sustained success in first full PGA season
McKINNEY, Texas — The eighth hole at TPC Craig Ranch doesn’t look too intimidating from the tee.
With a wide, dead-straight fairway and a couple of small bunkers about 300 yards down the right side, it was an inviting shot for the pros that teed it up at the CJ Cup Bryson Nelson this weekend.
Johnny Keefer made things difficult during his first round on Thursday.
After playing his first seven holes in 1-over par, the Baylor alum and PGA Tour rookie watched his 332-yard drive on No. 8 drift well left and end up in the deep rough, closer to the onlooker watching from their backyard than the fairway.
“I started off a little rough,” Keefer said of his first round. “I missed some short putts. I was giving myself some opportunities, but I really wasn’t capitalizing early. I didn’t hit a great shot on eight. It was a total mud ball, and it was a total guessing game.”
Mud ball, schmud ball.
Keefer launched his second shot to within eight feet of the pin and made a short birdie putt to get back to even par for the day.
“I was just trying to get it close to the front edge,” Keefer said. “It kind of jumped a little bit. I hit it to about eight feet, and I finally made a putt. That just kind of opened the floodgates.”
His fist bump when the putt rolled in wasn’t quite to the level of Tiger Woods, but it came close.
Keefer followed that up with a birdie at the par-5 ninth, and then made four more birdies on the back nine, including closing with back-to-back birdies on par-3 17th and par-5 18th to shoot 5-under 66 in the first round.
He shot 2-under on Friday to make the cut, and then rocketed up the leaderboard with rounds of 67-63 on the weekend to finish tied for ninth, his second-best finish in 15 starts on the PGA Tour.
Keefer has played in all three PGA Tour stops in Texas since getting his Tour card, including shooting a 6-under 64 in the final round to finish 15-under and a career-best T3 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March.
“I’m just a little bit more familiar,” Keefer said. “It feels a little bit more like junior and college golf. I wouldn’t say I see a Texas event and start screaming and jumping, but I feel more comfortable in my routine.”
Keefer’s professional golf career has been ascending like a rocket ship since he left Baylor in 2024.
He finished tied for 11th at the NCAA Championship as a senior, the Bears’ highest-ever individual finisher at the event, which helped him finish 25th in the PGA Tour U standings and earn full status on PGA Tour Americas.
In his one season on that tour and his first as a professional, he finished No. 1 in the Fortinet Cup standings with a win and four runner-up finishes, earning Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2025 season.
In his one season on the Korn Ferry Tour, he was utterly dominant, finishing first on the money list to earn a PGA Tour card for the 2026 season, leading the KFT in top-five finishes (six), top-10s (nine), and top-25s (15) across his 23 starts, while breaking the Korn Ferry Tour record for single-season scoring average (67.95).
He was named the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year after two victories and two runner-up finishes.
In his first full year on the PGA Tour, he’s made nine cuts across 15 events. He is up to No. 79 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings and moved up three spots to No. 74 in the Official World Golf Rankings after his Top-10 finish at the Byron Nelson.
“It’s different,” Keefer said. “I’m not in every elevated event, so your schedule is up in the air a little bit more than what you would hope for. I’m hoping in the future that it’s a little bit more set in stone. I’m just going with the flow and sticking to my routine.
“Regardless of where I am, it’s just golf. I’m just trying to shoot the lowest scores that I can, regardless of where I am.”
He’s played in some pretty high-profile events, including three majors.
Keefer qualified for the 2025 US Open by way of earning one of the seven spots from the Dallas qualifying event last May, and made the cut at his first major at Oakmont, finishing in a tie for 61st.
After finishing in the Top 50 of the OWGR last year, he played in his first Masters last month, but missed the cut. He made the cut at the PGA Championship at Aronimink two weeks ago, finishing 79th at 9-over.
“I look at it from a growth perspective for me,” Keefer said. “They’re big-boy courses, and you’ve got to hit a lot of different shots. You’ve got to be smart and aggressive in some spots. There are levels to this game, and being able to play in those and even play the weekend, I’m gaining some valuable experience.”
He will play in the US Open later this summer at Shinnecock alongside former Baylor teammate Cooper Dossey, who qualified for his first major last week Monday at a qualifying event in Dallas.
“All the Dossey boys are like brothers to me,” Keefer said. “It was great to see Cooper get through with no sweat. We’re planning on some practice rounds. We’ll have a good time at Shinnecock.”
Baylor still holds a part of Keefer’s heart.
His bag is emblazoned with a golfing Sailor Bear, and his yardage book says Sic ‘Em. As he was walking off the 18th green on Thursday, a few ‘Sic ‘Em!’ shouts got Keefer to point and smile.
While he’s not much of a trash talker when he’s paired with another Big 12 alum, he’s not afraid to flash his green and gold.
“I’m really thankful for Baylor,” Keefer said. “I talk to (former head coach Mike McGraw) a lot. Especially in Texas, it’s nice to hear some chants and all that. I pay attention to Baylor sports all the time. I don’t think I’ll ever not be proud to be a Bear and represent Baylor.”
——————
Originally published: https://wacotrib.com/sports/college/baylor/article_7939955f-1049-4385-8930-def83b80250e.html