Kelly Kraft

This article is about the golfer. For the US Ambassador, see Kelly Craft.

Kelly Kraft
Personal information
Full nameKelly James Kraft
Born (1988-10-05) October 5, 1988 (age 36)
Denton, Texas, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceDallas, Texas, U.S.[1]
Career
CollegeSouthern Methodist University
Turned professional2012
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins1
Number of wins by tour
Korn Ferry Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament62nd: 2012
PGA ChampionshipT48: 2019
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2018

Kelly James Kraft (born October 5, 1988) is an American professional golfer.

Amateur career

Kraft was born in Denton, Texas. During his final year at Billy Ryan High School, 2006–07, Kraft served as team captain while earning All-District honors. [citation needed]

While attending Southern Methodist University (SMU), he played college golf for the SMU Mustangs.[citation needed]

Kraft won the 2011 Trans-Mississippi Amateur in July. He then won the 2011 U.S. Amateur in August, beating world-number-one Patrick Cantlay in the final, 2 up. The win earned Kraft a spot in the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, and Open Championship in 2012.[2][3] In September 2011, Kraft played on the 2011 Walker Cup team. In November 2011, Kraft finished as top amateur at the Emirates Australian Open, finishing in a tie for 19th.

Professional career

Kraft turned professional after competing in the 2012 Masters Tournament. In doing so, he forfeited his invitations to the 2012 U.S. Open and 2012 Open Championship.[1] Kraft played in eight tournaments on the PGA Tour in 2012 through sponsor exemptions. He played on the Web.com Tour from 2013–2015 with a best finish of second at the 2013 Mylan Classic until his first win on March 15, 2015 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open.

Kraft has three solo second place finishes on the PGA Tour: one in February 2017 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing at –15, four strokes behind the winner Jordan Spieth, the next in July 2018 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier finishing at −14, five strokes behind Kevin Na and the last in July 2019 at the Barbasol Championship finishing at −25, one stroke behind Jim Herman.

Personal life

In April 2013, Kraft and Tia Gannon were married in Sea Island, Georgia.[citation needed]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (1)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Mar 29, 2015 Chitimacha Louisiana Open 67-70-68-65=270 −14 1 stroke South Korea Lee Dong-hwan

Results in major championships

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament 62
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T58 CUT
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship T48
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship CUT T47 C CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Garrity, John; Stricklin, Art (April 23, 2012). "Pro Move: U.S. Amateur champ Kelly Kraft had a blast at the Masters, but he gave up exemptions to the U.S. and British Opens to make a run at a Tour card, a tactic that could become common". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  2. ^ "Kelly Kraft beats Patrick Cantlay to win U.S. Amateur golf title". Los Angeles Times. August 28, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.[dead link]
  3. ^ Kelly Kraft captures U.S. Amateur Championship earning Open and Walker Cup spots Archived 2012-06-04 at archive.today
  4. ^ a b "US Walker Cup Team 2011". The R&A. Archived from the original on December 14, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.