Kevin Kisner’s walk-and-talk was stuffed with insights — and deadpan humor.
NBC Sports
For over a decade, we’ve recognized Kevin Kisner as a PGA Tour participant.
Last week, we noticed him as a broadcaster.
This week? Slightly little bit of each.
Kisner was again on track at this week’s Sony Open, his first occasion of the 2024 PGA Tour season. His opening spherical didn’t go significantly properly; he shot five-over 75. But to his credit score, that didn’t preserve him from doing a walk-and-talk with the Golf Channel crew throughout Friday’s second spherical — an interview that yielded a couple of interesting nuggets.
Had Kisner recovered from his broadcasting debut?
“I guess not!” he exclaimed. “You boys put me through too much wringer. I’m five over, I’m getting lapped.”
Last week, the Kisner one-liner that received probably the most consideration was directed at Jordan Spieth as he stood over a brief putt:
“It’s three feet, Jordan, just knock it in, bud.”
But truly taking part in golf, Kisner mentioned, seems to be much more aggravating than calling the motion. He received a impolite reminder of golf’s cruelty on the second gap of his second spherical, when he stuffed his strategy to four-and-a-half ft. He missed that putt, leaving himself three-and-a-half ft. He missed that one, too.
“I think it’s karma,” Kisner mentioned. “Jordan Spieth is as home scratching on that [voodoo] doll, getting me.”
His wild day hadn’t stopped there.
“I got to the sixth tee and at the top of my backswing my driver shaft snapped in my grip,” he mentioned. “So I’m hitting some random driver now.” The substitute driver, he added, was left in his locker by a model that needed him to check theirs.
Despite the close to certainty that he would miss the minimize, Kisner mentioned there was a lot to work on as he completed his spherical and regarded to subsequent week’s American Express.
“Obviously my driver broke, so it’s a little bit tough out here today, hitting a driver I’ve never hit. But I’m going to keep working on the things I’ve been working on and see if I can get in the groove here on the back nine with 7 to go to lead into next week,” he mentioned.
After hitting the inexperienced together with his strategy shot, he obliged NBC Sports’ Dan Hicks in calling the pictures of his taking part in companions.
First got here Tyrrell Hatton: “I love playing with Tyrrell,” he mentioned, then watched his shot off the membership. “I think it’s too far to the right — I was right again. I’m pretty good at this.”
Then got here Gary Woodland, who was within the fairway bunker. Kisner predicted he would skip an 8-iron to the again pin, taking additional membership and flighting it in low. When Woodland discovered the entrance of the inexperienced, Kisner expressed his disappointment.
“He didn’t hit enough club. I would’ve put him on more club, if I was his caddie,” Kisner mentioned, nonetheless deadpan.
Then got here what I believed was Kisner’s most interesting revelation. Asked by NBC Sports’ Mark Rolfing for any taking part in classes he may need discovered from calling the motion, Kisner supplied this:
“I think I need to start watching PGA Tour Live or the early coverage and start making more notes on putts,” he mentioned. “Once you start watching guys putt you can really pay attention to what the greens are doing and where guys miss a lot of putts over and over again.”
It’s one thing I’d observed listening to Kisner name the motion at Kapalua; he marveled on the manner one professional after one other appeared to overlook comparable putts in comparable methods. On what I bear in mind because the ninth gap on Saturday, as an example, he remarked that gamers stored underreading the break from the center of the inexperienced.
So this statement raised a query I’ve at all times been interested in — do execs watch the early protection, in search of clues? From a purely informational standpoint, there have to be one thing to be taught. If a putt is breaking persistently greater than gamers assume, as an example, or if everyone seems to be arising quick on a par-3, they might modify accordingly. But there are dangers to that strategy, too, figuring out each participant’s sport is completely different and so are the methods they learn putts and flight pictures — and figuring out that the one factor about assured about situations is that they’ll change. There’s additionally the matter of gamers’ preparations for rounds, that are intentional and specific and will get disrupted by the distraction of plotting rivals’ missed putts.
Still, in a sport with margins this skinny, any likelihood at a possible edge is intriguing.
Kisner hung up with Golf Channel, off to complete off a decent second-round 71. But not earlier than getting a couple of phrases of encouragement from Hicks, his now-occasional coworker:
“Just knock it in, bud.”
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