Kelly James Kraft (born October 5, 1988) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Kraft was born in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

. During his final year at Billy Ryan High School, 2006–07, Kraft served as team captain while earning All-District honors. While attending

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU), he played college golf for the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

. Kraft won the 2011 Trans-Mississippi Amateur in July. He then won the 2011

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

in August, beating world-number-one

Patrick Cantlay Patrick Stephen Cantlay (born March 17, 1992) is an American professional golfer. He had a successful amateur career and was the number one golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 55 weeks. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour as well as ...

in the final, 2 up. The win earned Kraft a spot in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

, U.S. Open, and

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

in 2012.Kelly Kraft captures U.S. Amateur Championship earning Open and Walker Cup spots
In September 2011, Kraft played on the

2011 Walker Cup The 43rd Walker Cup Match was played on 10 and 11 September 2011 at the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. Team Great Britain and Ireland won 14 to 12. Format On Saturday, there are four matches of foursomes in the ...

team. In November 2011, Kraft finished as top amateur at the

Emirates Australian Open The Australian Open, owned and run by Golf Australia, is the oldest and most prestigious golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The Open was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year. The winner of the tournament ...

, finishing in a tie for 19th.

Professional career

Kraft turned professional after competing in the 2012 Masters Tournament. In doing so, he forfeited his invitations to the 2012 U.S. Open and

2012 Open Championship The 2012 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 141st Open Championship, held from 19 to 22 July at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. Ernie Els won his second Claret Jug, one str ...

. Kraft played in eight tournaments on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

in 2012 through sponsor exemptions. He played on the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

from 2013–2015 with a best finish of second at the 2013

Mylan Classic The Mylan Classic was a golf tournament on the Web.com Tour. It was played for the first time in September 2010 at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The title sponsor was Mylan, a pharmaceuticals company bas ...

until his first win on March 15, 2015 at the

Chitimacha Louisiana Open The Chitimacha Louisiana Open was a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour from 1992 to 2022. It was played annually at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club in Broussard, Louisiana. The 2022 purse was $750,000, with $135,000 going to the winner. ...

. Kraft has three solo second place finishes on the PGA Tour: one in February 2017 at the

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually at Pebble Beach, California, near Carmel. The tournament is usually held during the month of February on two different courses, currently Pebble Beach ...

, finishing at –15, four strokes behind the winner

Jordan Spieth Jordan Alexander Spieth (; born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion. Spieth's first m ...

, the next in July 2018 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier finishing at −14, five strokes behind

Kevin Na Kevin Sangwook Na (; born September 15, 1983) is a Korean American professional golfer. He was a member of the PGA Tour until June 2022, when he resigned in order to join LIV Golf. He won five tournaments on the PGA Tour between 2011 and 2021. E ...

and the last in July 2019 at the

Barbasol Championship The ISCO Championship is a professional golf tournament in Kentucky on the PGA Tour; it debuted in 2015 as the Barbasol Championship, an alternate event to the Genesis Scottish Open in July. The first three editions of the tournament were played ...

finishing at −25, one stroke behind

Jim Herman James Robert Herman (born November 5, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Herman learned to play golf at the Shawnee Lookout course in Hamilton County. He graduate ...

Personal life

In April 2013, Kraft and Tia Gannon were married in

Sea Island, Georgia Sea Island is a privately-owned, seaside resort island in Glynn County, Georgia, part of the Golden Isles of Georgia, which include St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, and the mainland city of Brunswick. Since 2016, S ...

Amateur wins

*2008 Texas Amateur *2011 Texas Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Amateur,

, South Beach International Amateur

Professional wins (1)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

U.S. national team appearances

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

* *
Profile on Southern Methodist's official athletic site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Kelly American male golfers SMU Mustangs men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Dallas Sportspeople from Denton, Texas 1988 births Living people