Johnny Keefer making steady gains up the ladder and now starts his biggest test on PGA Tour

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The PGA Tour heads to the southern tip of Baja California in Mexico, the start of a closing stretch for several players trying to keep their jobs another year.

Johnny Keefer can only hope this is just the beginning.

The World Wide Technology Championship will be only his fifth start on the PGA Tour — two of them were majors — since Keefer turned pro last summer. That he is No. 53 in the world ranking and has one eye on a Masters invitation speaks to what he has done.

Even more telling for the 24-year-old with endless energy and an easy smile is how he looks at the game. Keefer doesn't talk about winning. He talks about the joy of competing, the same credo Scottie Scheffler has leaned on during his rise to No. 1 in the world.

Does he have goals? Yes and no.

“The ‘no’ part is I don't like to put too much expectation on myself. I just want to play, have fun and compete,” Keefer said. “But at the same time, I do have goals, small goals to get me where I want to be. I'm hoping I can get to No. 1 in the world, be a major champion, all that. But the little steps for me are what's important.”

Little steps already have led to big gains.

That's what brought Keefer to PGA Tour headquarters last week with nine other Korn Ferry Tour graduates who will be rookies in 2026. It was a full day of orientation, video interviews, photo shoots and then a surprise at the end when Keefer was presented a bronze trophy as Korn Ferry Tour player of the year.

And to think it was just 17 months ago when Keefer, a fifth-year senior at Baylor, was playing the NCAA Championship at La Costa unsure where he was going next. The odds favored California for Q-school for the PGA Tour Americas, two steps away from the big leagues with minimal world ranking points and a total purse of $225,000.

But then tied for 11th at the NCAAs. That moved up Keefer four spots to No. 25 in the PGA Tour University ranking by 0.75 points. That gave him the final spot on the PGA Tour Americas, and he didn't waste any time once he grasped the level of competition.

Keefer shot 68 in his professional debut, not a bad start until he saw that only put him in a tie for 58th. Welcome to professional golf.

He wound up in a tie for fifth. In 10 starts in Canada, Keefer won twice, was runner-up four times and only once finished out of the top 10. Then it was on to the Korn Ferry Tour, where he won twice more to lead the points list and earn a PGA Tour card.

Where he goes from here is never easy to predict.

Matt McCarty won the Korn Ferry Tour points list last year. In his second PGA Tour start as a member, he won in Utah. Justin Suh (2022) was back to the Korn Ferry Tour after two years and Ben Kohles (2023) could be headed that route.

“I try not to get too into bad shots and good shots,” Keefer said. “You’re never as good as you think you are, never as bad as you think you are. Don’t get too high or low. I understand it’s a tough game and just go from there.”

PGA professional Bryan Gathright in San Antonio still remembers the pint-sized kid who came out for a lesson as Keefer was just starting high school.

“He was pretty small until his senior year, but he moves great and he's very, very strong for his build. He's stronger than he looks,” said Gathright, who trained under the late Harvey Penick. "You see it in their eyes ... the attention to detail. He's really sharp, very smart. The focus he has is ridiculous. We didn't know he was going to be where he is now, but we knew he was special."

The tour hands out metal-plated tour cards to celebrate the occasion of moving on to the big leads, and Keefer got an extra gift — a lacrosse stick that had “Tour Bound” engraved on it.

That was fitting, because lacrosse remains his first love. He played it as a kid in Maryland, and he stuck with it when his parents — both are engineers who helped build the largest brewery in Mexico — moved to San Diego. That's where he began playing more golf. And then they moved to San Antonio, where lacrosse wasn't quite as big.

“I went to the first two practices and the drills weren't quite the same, the team environment was not quite the same,” Keefer said. “I tried traveling with other teams and then said, ‘Let’s see how this golf thing goes.'”

So far, so good. His career scoring average at Baylor (71.45) broke the school record held by Jimmy Walker, who won the PGA Championship in 2016 and played on two Ryder Cup teams.

Now comes the biggest test, maybe not in Mexico or possibly Sea Island in three weeks if he gets another exemption, but in 2026 against a slate of top competition.

Keefer already is in the U.S. Open next year from leading the Korn Ferry Tour. A good week in Mexico could move him high enough in the world ranking to get to Augusta National, not bad considering he made his world ranking debut at No. 1,654 after his first pro start in Canada.

Golf doesn't move as quickly as lacrosse. It can feel that way for Keefer at the moment.

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On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf