In links golf debut, PGA TOUR rookie Johnny Keefer plays way into British Open

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Johnny Keefer's face sank.

Cornered by an official from The R&A moments after his finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, Keefer was asked whether he had officially entered The Open Championship, now theoretically past the deadline. His face provided the answer.

No, he hadn’t. His life flashed before his eyes until The R&A official interjected.

Don’t worry, Johnny. You didn’t need to before, but you do now.

Keefer played his way into the final major championship of the season, the last opportunity to do so via the Open Qualifying Series, finishing tied for third at The Renaissance Club. Michael Thorbjornsen and Victor Perez were the other two top finishers who earned spots with their finish this week.

“He could have played a little rookie card,” Keefer said, laughing about the interaction. “There are not a lot of things I know, and he could have probably played a nice little prank on me.”

Once Keefer enters The Open, he just needs to figure out how to get to Southport, about a four-hour drive from North Berwick (he doesn’t currently have a rental car). He’ll also need to find a place to stay (good luck, it’s not easy on 12 hours’ notice).

They are problems he will happily sign up for, given that he briefly considered not coming to Scotland at all. Keefer made the trek over without any guarantee that he would be playing beyond this week. He wasn’t in The Open, and the odds of finishing in the top three in a loaded field of PGA TOUR and DP World Tour players are not high. Keefer hadn’t amassed many great results in recent months either. Others in a similar position withdrew to stay stateside and play the ISCO Championship this week and the Corales Puntacana Championship next week.

So why did Keefer come?

Well, he’s the type to bet on himself. The reigning Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year has loads of game and has shown it in spurts, mainly with a T3 finish at the Texas Children’s Houston Open this spring. He insists he played well at the John Deere Classic last week despite missing the cut. This result will all but assure he keeps his card and gives him a puncher's chance to make the playoffs, as he is now ranked 72nd in the FedExCup. It also means he will play all four majors as a TOUR rookie, a tough feat to accomplish.

The other reason? Keefer, 25, had never played links golf. Not on vacation or in competition, even as a top junior and Division I college player.

Keefer landed in Edinburgh on Monday morning and went to North Berwick West Links that afternoon, one of the world's most famous links courses. Not a bad place to christen your first round in the birthplace of golf.

Keefer believed his game would suit the style, but you don’t know until you try it. He walked around North Berwick in amazement, playing shots in 30 mph gusts on golf holes that have remained iconic for decades. For a golf nut, it’s nirvana. Keefer was feeling it, unable to wind down and shake off the jet lag as he had hoped.

“You get off the plane, go to Edinburgh, try to tire yourself out, tire yourself even more on North Berwick, which is pretty hard to do because you are kind of like, eyes wide open, this is sick,” Keefer said.

It had little effect on his debut at the Genesis Scottish Open. He played nine holes each on Tuesday and Wednesday and set off on Thursday for his first competitive round in the linksland. Keefer shot 68-68 to make the cut comfortably, then posted 6-under 64 before play was halted for the day on Saturday, rocketing up the leaderboard. His 67 on Sunday was arguably his best, securing his exemption at The Open and hanging around contention until Tom Kim pulled away late, naturally adapting to the different style of play.

“I think I’m creative in the sense of, like, I can use the contours and use the wind to kind of help create the shots I want,” Keefer said.

His links-golf honeymoon will last another week, assuming he can find his way down there and, of course, enter the actual field.

Get on that, Johnny.