PGA TOUR Americas in the news: Johnny Keefer among three victorious alumni, Jay Card III victorious at KIA Open

In his first summer as a professional in Canada, Johnny Keefer went door-to-door, or province-to-province, rather, knocking.

Last season, the door opened at the Manitoba Open where Keefer bested Neal Shipley to claim his first career victory as a professional. At the date of his first win, Keefer had finished in the top 10 six times before breaking through.

This season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Keefer finished in the top 10 three times before his win yesterday at the Veritex Bank Championship in his home state of Texas.

Keefer’s highest score of the week was a 5-under 66 in the third round, which he backed up with a bogey-free 7-under 64 in the final round on Sunday. Keefer finished the weekend at 30-under par, three strokes clear of the field. The Baylor product made 31 birdies over the week, which also ranked as No. 1 in the field.

Heading into the final round, Keefer knew the importance of the opportunity at hand.

“I knew the expectations, I knew volunteers and spectators were going to be all around,” Keefer said during his post-victory interview. “I think when it came to just playing my own game, it's no different from any other final round. I understood that being close to the lead was a privilege and it was great.”

With his second professional win, and first as a Korn Ferry Tour member, Keefer continues to build on his already impressive resume. After claiming the final spot in the top 25 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, Keefer has played in 20 PGA TOUR-sanctioned events, where he has made 19 cuts, with 13 top-10s and two victories.

The 2024 Fortinet Cup Champion also moved into the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking and is now ranked as the No. 92 player in the world.

Keefer vaults into the No. 2 spot in the Korn Ferry Tour points list after starting the week at No. 11. The top 20 players in the Korn Ferry Tour points list at the end of the season will earn PGA TOUR cards.

On the PGA TOUR, prior to venturing down to the Bayou for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Andrew Novak finished as the runner-up in his last two starts at the RBC Heritage and Valero Texas Open and Ben Griffin had finished in the top 10 three times. In the TOUR’s lone team event of the season, Griffin and Novak teamed up to chase down their first career win on TOUR.

The winning duo began their professional careers on PGA TOUR Canada, Novak in 2017 and Griffin in 2018. Now the pair is further linked with a win in the PGA TOUR’s lone team event.

Novak currently sits at No. 6 in the FedExCup, while Griffin comes in at No. 21 after the victory in New Orleans.

In addition to PGA TOUR Americas alums winning on their respective tours, Jay Card III claimed his first win as a professional at the KIA Open in Quito, Ecuador. Card won for the first time in his career after carding opening rounds of 66 and 63 in tough conditions at Quito Tenis y Golf Club and moves up to No. 2 in the Fortinet Cup points list.

Keefer is in the field this week at the Tulum Championship at PGA Riviera Maya in Tulum, Mexico, while Griffin is in the field at the CJ CUP Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. Card is in the field at the Diners Club Peru Open at Los Inkas Golf Club in Lima, Peru.