Headline: Bay State Native and Former MGA Champion Kevin Johnson Prepares to Compete On His Third Major Professional Golf Tour in 2017

For Immediate Release: February 27, 2017

Kevin Johnson won the Massachusetts Open Championship in 1986 (below) and now his sights are set on a PGA Tour Champions card in 2017.

Norton, MA — April 25.

That is a date that has been circled on Kevin Johnson’s calendar for quite some time. That is the day when the 49-year-old Pembroke native will turn 50 years old and thus be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions.

While many professional golfers dream of competing against the top senior players in the world, Johnson is looking to add yet another chapter to his career which began at Silver Lake Regional High School and has seen him travel the world and play on two of the biggest golf tours in the world.

His story was so compelling (and unique) that Web.com Tour senior digital producer Kevin Prise chose Johnson as the competitor whom he would caddie for at The Honda Classic’s qualifier held last week.

CLICK HERE to read Prise’s account of his day spent with Johnson learning about the life of a professional golfer during a competitive round.

Prise first became acquainted with Johnson in 2012 when he served as caddie for him at the Price Cutter Charity Championship. The one-day job was part of Prise’s senior journalism project at Syracuse University, but it proved to be an experience that he would not soon forget.

Johnson is not someone that many forget.

He captured the Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship title in 1984. Two years later, he won the 1986 Massachusetts Open Championship in what he recalls even today as “one of [the] bigger wins” of his career.

Indeed, that victory set the stage for back-to-back Massachusetts Amateur Championships in 1987 and 1988 as well as the 1987 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship title.

During that stretch, he earned the Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year honor four times (from 1985 through 1988) and became only one of five amateurs to have ever won the Massachusetts Open Championship title since it began back in 1905.

A dominating collegiate player, Johnson was a three-time All-American in golf for Clemson University and was rightly inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2002.

His professional career began in 1990.

Since that time, Johnson has made most of his career earnings on the Web.Com Tour where he won six times, twice during the 2009 season. In 2009, he finished 13th on the Nationwide Tour money list to earn his 2010 PGA Tour card.

The current south Florida resident last played on the Web.com Tour in 2014 and currently competes in Monday qualifiers as he prepares his game for the PGA Tour Champions. His most recent qualifying attempt had been for the Club Colombia Championship by Servientrega, three weeks ago, where he missed by six shots.

Staying true to his roots, Johnson has returned “home” for the past three years to compete in the Massachusetts Open Championship.

In 2014 at Weston Golf Club, Johnson said this about the only event offered by the MGA that is open to both professional and amateur competitors.

“This has always been one of the best in the country,” said Johnson. “I don’t think we realized as kids how good it was.”

Last June, Johnson finished T17 at the 2016 Massachusetts Open Championship, which was held at Worcester Country Club.  

Returning to the Bay State is no doubt a new priority for Johnson in 2017.

Once he turns 50 years old, Johnson will be looking to secure his PGA TOUR Champions card as well as one of the coveted spots available for the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Championship, which will be held at Salem Country Club on June 26 through July 2.

Dreams of playing on his third major professional golf tour and winning a second career USGA Championship title on his hometown soil begs the following question:

“Is it April 25th yet?”