‘Small steps’ lead to big opportunities for KFT player of the year Johnny Keefer

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA Tour is heading to the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California, the start of a final stretch for several players trying to keep their jobs for another year.

Johnny Keefer can only hope this is just the beginning.

The World Wide Technology Championship will be only his fifth start on the PGA Tour – two of which were majors – since Keefer turned pro last summer. The fact that he is number 53 in the world rankings and has one eye on a Masters invitation says something about what he has done.

Even more telling for the 24-year-old with endless energy and an easy smile is how he views the game. Keefer doesn’t talk about winning. He talks about the joy of competing, the same credo that Scottie Scheffler has relied on during his rise to number 1 in the world.

Does he have goals? Yes and no.

“The ‘no’ part is I don’t put too many expectations on myself. I just want to play, have fun and compete,” Keefer said. “But at the same time I do have goals, small goals to get me where I want to be. I hope I can become number 1 in the world, become a great champion, things like that. But for me the small steps are the most important.”

Small steps have already led to big gains.

That’s what brought Keefer to PGA Tour headquarters last week, along with nine other Korn Ferry Tour graduates who will be rookies in 2026. It was a full day of orientation, video interviews, photo shoots and then a surprise at the end when Keefer received a bronze trophy as Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year.

And to think, it was just 17 months ago when Keefer, a fifth-year senior at Baylor, was playing the NCAA championship at La Costa and wasn’t sure where he was going. The odds were in California’s favor for Q-School for the PGA Tour Americas, two steps away from the major leagues with minimum world ranking points and a total purse of $225,000.

But then he finished 11th at the NCAAs. That moved Keefer up four spots to No. 25 in the PGA Tour University rankings with 0.75 points. That earned him the final spot on the PGA Tour Americas, and he wasted no time once he got the hang of the level of competition.

Keefer shot 68 in his professional debut, not a bad start until he saw that that left him tied for 58th. Welcome to professional golf.

He finished in a tie for fifth place. In 10 starts in Canada, Keefer won twice, finished second four times and finished outside the top 10 just once. Then it was on to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he won twice more to top the points list and earn a PGA Tour card.

Where he goes from here is never easy to predict.

Matt McCarty won the Korn Ferry Tour points table last year. In his second PGA Tour start as a member, he won in Utah. Justin Suh (2022) was back on the Korn Ferry Tour after two years and Ben Kohles (2023) could follow that route.

“I try not to worry too much about bad shots and good shots,” Keefer said. “You’re never as good as you think you are, never as bad as you think you are. Don’t go too high or too low. I understand it’s a tough game and go from there.”

PGA professional Bryan Gathright of San Antonio remembers the little boy who came out for a lesson when Keefer first started high school.

“He was quite small until his senior year, but he moves great and he’s very, very strong for his build. He’s stronger than he looks,” said Gathright, who trained under the late Harvey Penick. “You can see it in their eyes… the attention to detail. He’s really sharp, really smart. The focus he has is ridiculous. We didn’t know he would be where he is today, but we knew he was special.”

The tour is handing out metal-covered tour tickets to celebrate the occasion of advancing to the major headliners, and Keefer received an additional gift: a lacrosse stick with “Tour Bound” engraved on it.

That was fitting, because lacrosse remains his first love. He played it as a child in Maryland, and continued to play it when his parents – both engineers who helped build the largest brewery in Mexico – moved to San Diego. There he started playing more golf. And then they moved to San Antonio, where lacrosse wasn’t that big.

“I went to the first two practices and the practices weren’t quite the same, the team environment wasn’t quite the same,” Keefer said. “I tried to travel with other teams and then said, ‘Let’s see how this golf thing goes.’”

So far, so good. His career average at Baylor (71.45) broke the school record set by Jimmy Walker, who won the 2016 PGA Championship and played on two Ryder Cup teams.

Now comes the biggest test, perhaps not in three weeks in Mexico or possibly Sea Island if he gets another waiver, but in 2026 against a range of top competitions.

Keefer is already at the US Open next year after leading the Korn Ferry Tour. A good week in Mexico could put him high enough in the world rankings to reach Augusta National, not bad considering he made his world ranking debut at No. 1,654 after his first pro start in Canada.

Golf doesn’t move as fast as lacrosse. That’s how it might feel for Keefer right now.