The slogan the Day 1 co-leader used to take the lead at Wichita Open golf tournament
Wichita is one of the most anticipated stops on the Korn Ferry Tour for Kevin Roy, a professional golfer from Syracuse with aspirations of following in his father’s footsteps and playing on the PGA Tour.
Crestview Country Club has been a kind place recently to Roy, who has made the last two cuts at the Wichita Open and finished in ninth place at last year’s tournament.
Roy is off to another strong start after Thursday’s opening round, firing a bogey-free, 8-under round of 62 to finish Day 1 of the Wichita Open in a three-way tie for the lead with Tyson Alexander and Alex Chiarella.
“I don’t know, I just love the greens here,” Roy said. “I seem to roll some putts in here. My buddy and I have a pretty good slogan here: ‘High draws win Wichita.’ My favorite shot is a little baby draw. I’ve had some good success here and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Roy certainly had it going early on Thursday, making birdie on each of the three holes. He added a birdie on the Par-3 No. 8 just before his turn, then made birdie on four of the first five holes on the back-nine.
“Those kinds of rounds, you kind of just blackout,” Roy said. “I obviously know what’s going on, but just try to keep laughing. I’ve got a buddy on the bag and I’ve been wearing a hat all year that says, ‘Have more fun out there.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do. Hopefully we keep shooting some 8-unders.”
Another player who was having some fun on Thursday was Alexander, who won an event on the Korn Ferry Tour back in April and entered ranked No. 15 on the season-long points list. The 33-year-old Florida graduate also fired a bogey-free, 8-under round to grab a share of the Day 1 lead, which marked his career-low round.
“I’ve played here a few times, so I know the drill and I’m pretty familiar with this place,” Alexander said. “I like this place a lot.”
Chiarella made a late charge in the day playing in one of the final groups on the course, as he made birdie on the final six holes of his round to match his career-low round of 62. It was the first time in his career he has held a share of a lead after a round.
“That was a blast. I’ve never made more than six birdies in a row, so I kind of wanted to keep it going, but we’ll roll it into (Friday),” Chiarella said. “On the back nine, I was hitting it pretty close to the hole. We had a bunch of 8-to-10-foot looks, maybe like four or five in a row. I made a long one on No. 8, which was nice. That was a big curler, so that was a bonus.”
Also of note from Thursday’s opening round was the play of Ryan Grider, a Monday qualifier who survived a 4-for-3 playoff at Sand Creek Station. He finished two shots back from the lead with a 6-under round of 63 in just his second career start on the Korn Ferry Tour.
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