Kevin

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Kevin Na went on to graduate from the Asian Tour to become a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, with a few adventures along the way.

Na was just 19 when he sealed his first tournament win, shooting a final-round 66 to claim a two-stroke victory at the 2002 Volvo Masters of Asia.

That led to him being named Rookie of the Year and he went on to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2004 season.

In 2010, Na qualified for the Masters and the U.S. Open for the first time and he landed his first win on the PGA Tour with the 2011 Shriners Hospital for Children Open.

After finishing T3 in the 2015 CIMB Classic, Na moved up to 19th place in the Official World Golf Ranking, a career best.

His next win didn’t arrive until 2018, a thrilling five-stroke victory at a Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. That long-awaited win was followed swiftly with two more successes in 2019, Na topping the leaderboard by four strokes at the Charles Schwab Challenge and collecting a second career win at the Shriners after a playoff with Patrick Cantlay.

His fifth and final PGA Tour title came at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January 2021 when, from three shots back with just six holes to play, he walked in multiple birdie putts, including on the par-5 18th hole, to claim victory at the Waialae Country Club.

Kevin Na played in 458 events in his 19 years on the PGA Tour.

In June 2022 he announced he was going to join the LIV Golf League.

Na was immediately installed as captain of Iron Heads GC and became one of the 12 original team leaders to tee off at LIV Golf London, when the series was introduced to the world.

While Iron Heads GC has been looking to improve each season, it turned a disappointing 2024 on its head with an amazing showing at the end of season at the Team Championship in Dallas.

Na and teammates Danny Lee, Jinichiro Kozuma and Scott Vincent fought their way past Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC in the quarterfinals and upset defending champion Crushers GC in the semis to be one of four teams in the hunt on the final day.

At one stage on the back nine, Iron Heads GC held the lead but eventually finished an impressive T2, a remarkable result considering how the season had fared in general.

Na was 33rd in the Individual Standings with the highlights being a sixth-place finish in Hong Kong and a T7 in Singapore.

Walk-in putts are a trademark of Kevin Na’s game – following a putt towards the hole, confident that the ball is going to land in the cup.

Sometimes Na can be just a little too keen and his hand is hovering above the hole before the ball has arrived.

In the third round of The 2019 Players Championship, Na's signature move went viral after he chased his 4-foot putt on the 17th green at TPC Sawgrass and arrived at the hole before the ball, just managing to stop himself from picking it up before it disappeared from view.

His playing partner Tiger Woods then sank a shorter putt and copied Na by leaping forward to retrieve his ball with a huge smile.

“I’ve always done it,” said Na. “Nobody thought it was cool until, you know, the Big Cat imitated me.”

Another viral moment that likely lives at the the top of Kevin Na’s ‘one to forget list’ is making a 16 on one hole at the 2011 Texas Valero Open.

His drive on the par-4 ninth hole veered right into trees and he took a penalty stroke to start again – and managed to fly his second drive back into the trees.

After bouncing the next shot off a tree, dropping a ball, hitting his own hand and at one stage whiffing the ball, he didn’t get back on to the fairway until his 12th stroke.

He eventually holed out for a 16, a record for the worst-ever PGA Tour score on a par-4 hole. “I look at it and I laugh at it,” Na said, a year later.

“Maybe I should have done a fist bump for a 16 when I made the 5-foot putt, it could have been a 17.”

Incredibly Na completed the round with a score of 80, eight over par, meaning he had been 4 under over the remaining 17 holes.

Kevin Na was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1983 and at age eight his family moved to the United States. He grew up in southern California and became an American citizen at 18 through his mother.

Today, home for Na is Las Vegas, Nevada, where he lives with wife Julianne and their daughter and two sons, near his home course at TPC Summerlin.

Na joked to Fairway To Heaven that he once complained to his dad about not being physically bigger, to which his dad replied: “You should be grateful you’re the tallest in the Na family at 5ft 11in.”