RIDGELAND, S.C. – There’s the competition on the PGA Tour featuring the world’s best golfers battling each week for titles, prize money and points.
Then there are smaller contests within the grander scope, perhaps more for pride and bragging rights than anything else.
For Kevin Kisner, a native and resident of Aiken, South Carolina, it would be very cool to win an event in his home state. South Carolina has an annual tour stop on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Kisner, on the PGA Tour since 2011, has come close to being fitted for a tartan jacket, including a playoff loss to Jim Furyk in 2015.
“I always wanted to be the first one to win Harbour Town, and Wesley Bryan snuck in and got me on that one,” Kisner, 37, said Wednesday.
Bryan, a Columbia, South Carolina, native, captured the 2017 Heritage as a PGA Tour rookie to become the first South Carolina-born champion in the tournament’s then-49 years of existence.
“We’ve got another chance this week, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to have a chance to win,” Kisner said.
This week is a one-time opportunity as Congaree Golf Club makes its PGA Tour debut by hosting the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. The tournament replaced the RBC Canadian Open on the 2020-21 schedule after the Toronto event was canceled because of logistical issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kisner has made four previous visits to Congaree, a private course north of Ridgeland near the town of Gillisonville in Jasper County.
“It’s a fantastic place to come and practice and work on my game. For me, they have an awesome practice facility, and the golf course is topnotch,” Kisner said. “The hospitality and the service they provide to all ambassadors and the PGA Tour has been topnotch. So I think we’re all fortunate to be here.”
Kisner is one of several PGA Tour players associated with the club as Professional Ambassadors. Congaree Foundation programs support golf, academic and vocational skills and opportunities for children, which closely aligns with the mission of the Kevin and Brittany Kisner Foundation in Aiken.
“We recommend a child in our area that we feel is worthy of coming down to participate in their foundation schooling that they have throughout the summer,” Kisner said in reference to the signature program, Congaree Global Golf Initiative.
That program helps high school golfers from around the world learn how to pursue and earn college scholarships. For golfers fresh out of college and new to the professional ranks, they can turn to seasoned veterans such as Kisner.
Davis Thompson plays his shot from the third tee during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 18, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Davis Thompson just completed a highly decorated amateur career with his final season at the University of Georgia. He’s making his pro debut this week and had breakfast on Tuesday with Kisner, UGA Class of 2006.
“I was asking him for advice,” Kisner said. “He’s playing better than I am right now, so I was hoping he could help me.
“These kids are so prepared to play the PGA Tour now,” he continued. “They walk around with their protein shakes and TrackMans, and they’re ready to hit it 350 yards. I don’t think they need any advice.”
So what did they talk about?
“We were just cutting up, talking about Georgia,” Kisner said with a smile.
Thompson had his turn with a video press conference on Tuesday and was asked about the consistent success of so many former UGA golfers on the PGA Tour. Former Bulldogs Greyson Sigg and Thompson’s college roommate, amateur Spencer Ralston, qualified Monday for next week’s U.S. Open.
“Definitely gives us a lot of confidence that we’re kind of in the same fraternity and then we kind of feed off each other and congratulate each other. So I think it’s pretty healthy,” Thompson said.
Though he’s not a Georgia guy, Dustin Johnson could have been if he had listened to Kisner, his old friend and competitor as juniors in the Palmetto State.
“Tried like heck to get him to transfer from Coastal Carolina to come to Georgia, and that would have been something special, too,” Kisner said Wednesday.
The world’s top-ranked player, Johnson was born 37 years ago this month in Columbia, S.C. He is playing the first two rounds in a grouping with Kisner, so the whole first-to-win contest might come up in conversation.
“Obviously, it’s my home state,” Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s where I grew up. It’s kind of where I honed my skills throughout my early days all through college. Yeah, it would mean a lot to win in South Carolina.”
Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz