NAPA, Calif.– Three years ago last month, Kevin Kisner was headed into a record-tying six-man playoff at the 2021 Wyndham Championship. Kisner was winless in five previous playoffs, but his caddie Duane Bock knew how to marshal his talents.
“Dewey reminds me that I won a playoff to get into match play against Ian Poulter the year I won (the 2019 WGC Dell Match Play), so he says that I’m 1-5,” Kisner said.
In his self-deprecating fashion, Kisner had the perfect response: “We’re not really increasing our odds to win in this playoff too much with six guys going at it.”
And what did Bock say after his boss made birdie on the second extra hole to claim victory?
“You beat five guys in this one so I think you’re 6-5 now,” Bock deadpanned.
Kisner’s victory nearly earned him a captain’s pick on the U.S. Ryder Cup team a few weeks later but Steve Stricker opted to go with an unproven, then winless pro named Scottie Scheffler instead. But Kisner, who thrived at the WGC Match Play, did get selected to the 2022 U.S. Presidents Cup team by Captain Davis Love III. In two weeks, he will be part of the team again but in a non-playing role as an assistant captain to Jim Furyk. In the last two years, Kisner’s game has slipped precipitously, dropping to No. 723 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and No. 198 in the FedEx Cup heading into the fall.
It’s a far cry from the gritty competitor who spent nearly eight consecutive years beginning in June 2015 inside the top 50 in the world (minus three weeks), winning four Tour titles, playing on two Presidents Cup teams and earning nearly $30 million under the tutelage of instructor John Tillery. Beginning in 2014, he helped Kisner get wider at the top with his transition and quiet his legs. Kisner jumped from outside the Tour’s top 100 to 38th in driving accuracy in 2015.
Of course, it’s that level of precision that has abandoned him in recent years. Even a victory at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular season FedEx Cup event, wouldn’t have been enough to lift Kisner, 40, into the FedEx Cup playoffs, which is why he agreed to serve as NBC’s lead analyst for the three playoff events. He’s been a popular fill-in this season for Paul Azinger as an analyst, working events in Hawaii, Phoenix, and the Players Championship previously to great fanfare. A guaranteed paycheck to do TV — albeit much smaller than he could possibly make between the ropes — is ripe for the taking if Kisner…
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