Jason Kokrak (born May 22, 1985) is an American
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
who plays in the
LIV Golf Invitational Series
LIV Golf () is a professional golf tour financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the score if every hole on a par-72 course were Birdie (golf), birdied ...
. Previously he played on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
.
Amateur career
Kokrak was born in
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...
, and played high school golf at
JFK High School in
Warren, Ohio
Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...
, where he twice led the Eagles to the Ohio state championship as Division III medalist. He went on to play college golf at
Xavier University
Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
and graduated in 2007. During his college career, he won both the 2006 and 2007 Ohio Amateur titles. Kokrak turned professional after graduation.
During the 2007
U.S. Amateur
The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...
, Kokrak led all players with a score of 137 during the 36-hole match play qualifier at the
Olympic Club
The Olympic Club is an sports club, athletic club and private social club in San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
First named the "San Francisco Olympic Club", it is the oldest sports club, athletic club in the United States. Established o ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. That same year, he made an appearance in the
U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, when he successfully came through sectional and regional qualifying.
Professional career
Kokrak has nine career professional victories, including four on the
eGolf Professional Tour
The eGolf Professional Tour, formerly the Tarheel Tour, was a third-level men's professional golf tour based in Charlotte, North Carolina with about twenty tournaments conducted annually in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and ...
. In 2010, Kokrak won twice and was the leading money winner on the tour. During that same season, he made it to the final round of
qualifying School
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
, earning conditional status on the Nationwide Tour. In 2011, he won the Championship at St. James Plantation and the Donald Ross Championship. Kokrak finished second on the eGolf Tour's money list despite playing in only three events.
In September
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Kokrak won his first Nationwide Tour event, the
Albertsons Boise Open in
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
. His 72-hole score of 266 (−18) at
Hillcrest Country Club included rounds of 68, 68, 63, and 67. Kokrak's third round 63 included consecutive birdies on holes one through six to open the round - one short of the Nationwide Tour record of seven. He won by two strokes and earned $130,500, which vaulted him from 70th to 13th place on the season's money list. Kokrak was an alternate and the last player to earn entry into the field.
On October 16, 2011, Kokrak notched his second Nationwide Tour victory within a month with a seven shot victory at the
Miccosukee Championship
The Miccosukee Championship was a golf tournament on the Web.com Tour from 2003 to 2012. It was played at the Miccosukee Golf & Country Club in Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and ...
with rounds of 63-66-69 and a final round 66. Kokrak was in the top 10 in the field in driving distance and putts per greens in regulation, and led the field in greens hit in regulation. The $108,000 first prize vaulted Kokrak to the fourth position on the Nationwide Tour money list and virtually assured 2012 status on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
.
On October 30, 2011, Kokrak finished the season with a T5th at the Nationwide Tour Championship with rounds of 67, 67, 75 and 75. His winnings of $36,500 solidified him as the 4th leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour with total earnings of $338,092 in only 16 events. Kokrak was able to compete on the PGA Tour in 2012 as a result of his play in 2011.
Kokrak made his first appearance as a member of the PGA Tour on January 12, 2012, at the
Sony Open in Hawaii
The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...
, where he finished 75th. On February 12, 2012, Kokrak notched his first top-10 finish in his PGA Tour career at the
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on three different courses, currently Pebble Be ...
with rounds of 68, 67, 72, and 70 for a 277 total, which gave him a 9th-place finish. He led the field in greens in regulation (GIR) with a 77% success rate and also led his Pro-Am team to an 11th-place finish. At the 2012
Frys.com Open, Kokrak finished in a tie for second, one stroke behind
Jonas Blixt
Jonas Blixt (born 24 April 1984) is a Swedish professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. He is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most recent win coming at the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Amateur career
Blixt ...
. For the week, he led the field in Greens in Regulation and was 9th in driving distance, averaging 309 yards on measured drives. His $440,000 in earnings for the week moved Kokrak up 50 positions to 117th on the PGA Tour money list, with two tournaments left in the 2012 season; moving him from no status for 2013 to a chance at keeping his Tour privileges. He would finish the season 119th on the money list.
Kokrak was featured in a four-page article, "The Making of a Bomber" in the March 5, 2012 issue of ''
Golf World
''Golf World'' was a weekly magazine covering the game of golf published by Condé Nast. It was in circulation between 1947 and 2014. Currently, ''Golf World'' still available in digital form and from May 13, 2019 to April 8, 2022, the brand has b ...
''. The article cited Kokrak's development as a junior golfer, his teaching influences, and insights into his equipment specifications.
In February 2016, Kokrak opened with rounds of 68-64 for a 10-under-par total to hold the 36-hole lead at the
Northern Trust Open
The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...
by one stroke. This was the first time in his PGA Tour career he had held a 36-hole lead. He finished the tournament tied for second, one stroke behind
Bubba Watson. This equalled his career best PGA Tour finish of a tie for second, which he also achieved back in 2012 at the
Frys.com Open.
In March 2019, Kokrak finished tied for second at the
Valspar Championship
The Valspar Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, northwest of Tampa, Florida.
History
The tournament was founded in 2000 as the ...
, one stroke behind champion
Paul Casey
Paul Alexander Casey (born 21 July 1977) is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Ranking. ...
. Kokrak's T-2 finish was his third career runner-up on Tour, and his first since the 2016 Northern Trust Open. Having made every cut since
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
in July, 2018, he notched three top-10 finishes during the four-event PGA Tour Florida Swing in 2019.
On October 18, 2020, Kokrak won the
CJ Cup at Shadow Creek for his first PGA Tour victory after nine years and 233 starts.
In May 2021, Kokrak won his second PGA Tour event at the
Charles Schwab Challenge
The Colonial National Invitation, titled for sponsorship reasons as the Charles Schwab Challenge since 2019, is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played annually in May in Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth at Colonial Country Cl ...
at
Colonial Country Club in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. Kokrak shot a final round 70 to defeat
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion.
Spieth's first majo ...
by two strokes. In November 2021, Kokrak won the
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open
The Cadence Bank Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in November. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the ...
at
Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Kokrak shot a final round 65 to win by two strokes.
Kokrak joined LIV Golf in July 2022.
Amateur wins
*2006
Ohio Amateur
The Ohio Amateur Championship hosted annually by the Ohio Golf Association (OGA) visits the a variety of courses in the state. The event is open to amateur golfers who are residents of the state of Ohio or attending a state university or college i ...
*2007
Ohio Amateur
The Ohio Amateur Championship hosted annually by the Ohio Golf Association (OGA) visits the a variety of courses in the state. The event is open to amateur golfers who are residents of the state of Ohio or attending a state university or college i ...
Tournament Results for the 2007 OGA Ohio Amateur
/ref>
Professional wins (11)
PGA Tour wins (3)
Nationwide Tour wins (2)
eGolf Professional Tour wins (5)
*2010 Cabarrus Classic, Bushnell Championship, Green Brothers Classic
*2011 The Championship at St. James Plantation, Donald Ross Championship
Other wins (1)
Results in major championships
''Results not in chronological order in 2020.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Summary
* Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2016 U.S. Open – 2017 PGA)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 0
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.
See also
* 2011 Nationwide Tour graduates
References
External links
*
*
*
Profile on Xavier University Athletics site
Big-hitting Jason Kokrak steps up in '12
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokrak, Jason
American male golfers
Xavier Musketeers men's golfers
PGA Tour golfers
LIV Golf players
Korn Ferry Tour graduates
Golfers from Ohio
Golfing people from Ontario
Sportspeople from North Bay, Ontario
Sportspeople from Warren, Ohio
1985 births
Living people