Kevin Na earned his first victory PGA TOUR on Sunday at
TPC Summerlin.
By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM Three times a runner-up. Five
times a third-place finisher. Kevin Na finally broke through with
his first PGA TOUR victory Sunday at TPC Summerlin. Na birdied
three consecutive holes late in his round, capped by a 40-foot bomb
on the par-3 17th, to put away a two-shot victory over Nick Watney
at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open near
his home in Las Vegas. “I'm just very excited about my first
win,” Na said. “It wasn't easy. Nick was coming right
behind me, looked like any time he was going to make a move, and I
tried as best as I could to stay one step ahead of him. I think the
putt on 17 basically sealed the deal for me.” The 28-year-old
who now has 29 top-10 finishes in his 211 career PGA TOUR starts
said this week didn’t really feel much different down the
stretch than his previous near misses. “Maybe a little bit,
but nothing ridiculous different, but I think I was a little more
comfortable,” Na said. “Maybe because I was in my
hometown, my home course, but I think I was definitely ready. And I
was mentally ready, physically ready, and it was just time for me
to win.” Na hopes this Fall Series victory leads him to more
successes a la Matt Kuchar, who won in the ’09 Fall Series
before leading the TOUR money list in 2010, and Bill Haas, who won
last year’s Fall Series Opener then went on to claim this
year’s FedExCup. “I told everybody, once I get my first
win, the wins are going to start rolling in,” Na said.
“And I think it's like that for a lot of the guys. You look
at a lot of the guys that have struggled, that have been good
players that have struggled for their first win, and once they get
that first win, it seems like a lot of guys go on and win a bunch
of tournaments.” Na won his lone Nationwide Tour event in the
western U.S. (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and now adds this victory
at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas for his second on the major U.S.
tours. If the home field advantage thing continues to work, Na has
a plan to broaden his range of victories. “Hopefully I'll
keep winning,” Na said. “(I’ll try to) keep
winning here, and if I want to win a tournament somewhere else, I
guess I gotta move to maybe Augusta or something.” For now,
Na will settle for his newfound residency among the champions of
the PGA TOUR.