Ben Kohles rose six days ago in Greenville, S.C. with a dream.
In the next three days, he thought, he’d have ample opportunity to see at least one of his golf dreams realized. Probably through a victory at that afternoon’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, where Kohles awoke with a healthy lead . But maybe through U.S. Open Final Qualifying in Maryland on Monday afternoon, where he was scheduled to play.
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The whirlwind that has followed in the last six days has proved so totally disorienting, so remarkable, that Kohles never even considered the possibility he’d wake less than seven days later having achieved both of those dreams. And if that’s true, it’s impossible to believe he saw this weekend coming, where Kohles finds himself contending for his first-ever PGA Tour victory.
I mean, how could he have seen it coming? Six days ago, he wasn’t in the field.
So what happened to take Kohles from there to here, rising on Saturday morning T14 at the RBC Canadian Open? Well, it all started on Sunday evening at the BMW Charity Pro-Am, where the latest sign of Kohles’ resurgence as a 35-year-old touring pro arrived in the form of a four-shot victory. As Kohles collected his hardware, Korn Ferry Tour camera crews were rolling as he sprang into motion: Literally running from the trophy ceremony to his car, where a 90-minute drive up to Charlotte International Airport and a short flight to Washington-Reagan Airport awaited.
Kohles made his flight and arrived in Rockville, Maryland — the site of Monday’s final qualifying effort — late on Sunday night. With adrenaline still riding high, he grabbed a few choppy hours of sleep. He woke the next morning before 6 in order to make it to the golf course in time for his 8:32 a.m. tee time, and soon after, began the all-day test of guts that is U.S. Open Final Qualifying.
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He might not have felt it, but Kohles’ game traveled with him to Woodmont Country Club, where he fired a 7 under score over 36 holes to clinch the second of four qualifying spots for the U.S. Open. He hustled into the scorer’s tent to the side of the range at Woodmont shortly after 7:30 p.m. — 11 hours after his opening round began — and then made a quick call back home to share the good news: It was time to book travel for Shinnecock.
“I feel like my head is still spinning,” he said. “It’s easily the craziest 24-hour stretch of my golf life.”
With his qualifying result settled, Kohles quickly jumped into action again: This time boarding a flight from Maryland up to Toronto, where he was one of the alternates for the RBC Canadian Open.
“It’s obviously not too far from next week up here, so I thought I would have a pretty good chance to get in on Monday or Tuesday,” Kohles said. “No one really withdrew.”
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Eventually, on Wednesday, the phone call came — Kohles was one of the final alternates into the field at TPC Toronto. He picked up right where he left off on Thursday, firing an opening-round 67 to put himself in the mix heading into Friday. Then, his exhaustion caught up with a second-round 71. On Saturday, though, Kohles locked into form — shooting a bogey-free, five-birdie, third-round 65 to vault himself to 7 under for the tournament, good for T14 as of the time of this writing.
It was, not counting practice rounds, Kohles sixth competitive round in the last six days. Five of them have come in under par.
Time will tell of Kohles’ third-round effort was enough to push him into legitimate contention come Sunday afternoon in Toronto. But there is little doubt he’ll be playing for a hefty paycheck by the time the balls get in the air.
Come Sunday evening, there might be time for a few minutes of reflection of all the good that has come into his life over this one truly wild week. But not too many of them.
He’s due in Shinnecock on Monday.
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