It took Kevin Na a decade to get his first PGA Tour victory after turning professional in 2001 at the age of 17. Then it took him nearly seven years to get his second last season at the Greenbrier. The third? That one he got in less than 365 days.
No.3 came on Sunday at Colonial, where Na has shot a few of the best rounds of his life in the last two years. A 62 and a 61 weren’t enough to get a win here a year ago, but rounds of 70, 62, 69 and Sunday’s 66 were enough for a four-stroke victory this year over Tony Finau. Na has now won twice on tour in a span of 10 months, a sign that his best golf may be ahead of him at 35 years old.
“It feels great,” said Na of the win. “Standing on the first tee, I looked at that wall [of winners at Colonial] and I imagined my name on it, and sure enough it’s going to be there.”
Walking in the winning putt is peak Kevin Na. pic.twitter.com/yYl4O4ICDJ
— Skratch (@Skratch) May 26, 2019
Some of the names Na may have been looking at include Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson. Not bad company to be in, and if you ask Na, he’ll tell you he knew he’d join them on that wall them at some point.
“Every year I come here I know I have a chance to win, and I knew before my career was over I was definitely going to win out here, if not multiple times. It’s nice to get one, and who knows, maybe I’ll win a couple more times before my career is over here.”
Finau was able to apply some pressure early, posting a two-under 33, but Na just got more aggressive anyway. He followed up his first bogey of the day at the seventh with a 20-foot birdie conversion at the eighth, and five holes later at the par-3 13th he took a dangerous line at the pin and stuck it nine feet from the hole. He missed the putt, but made a nine-footer for birdie at the next hole, and added one more for good measure at the 72nd.
Checking in one behind Finau were C.T. Pan and Andrew Putnam, who vaulted up the board with a four-under 66 to grab his third finish inside the top 4 this season. Jonas Blixt finished in solo fifth, while Rory Sabbatini and Ryan Palmer tied for sixth Jordan Spieth, who began the day in contention at seven under, finished with a two-over 72 to fall into a tie for eighth.
