In his first tournament on the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour, 23-year-old Kieron van Wyk made history. The College of Charleston senior captured the APGA Tour’s season-opening Farmers Insurance Invitational on Sunday at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South), becoming the first amateur golfer to win an APGA event since the tour started in 2010.
A native of South Africa, Van Wyk made par on the 18th hole in regulation, then birded the same hole twice in a three-man play-off that went two holes.
“I’m proud of myself and how I did,” van Wyk said. “I played well yesterday, and I just struggled a little bit mentally on the greens. I knew I had the game to compete and win out here coming off a good season I had last semester. Yeah, I’m proud of myself. Only good things can come from this.”
Having never set foot on Torrey Pines prior to this week, Van Wyk made the most of his first visit to the West Coast, shooting three-over-par 75 Saturday on the North Course and then carding a one-under-par 71 on Sunday on the more difficult South Course. Despite a bogey on the 17th after he pulled his driver off the tee, he rebounded with a par on the 18th and then watched as Luis Gagne and Chase Johnson both birdied the 18th to enter into the play-off.
Johnson was eliminated after the first play-off hole, and on the second play-off hole, van Wyk flushed his driver down the middle, then went straight at the flag with a seven-iron from 187 yards, and chipped from the fringe off the back of the green to within two feet for a tap-in birdie that sealed his victory.
Because Van Wyk is an amateur, he will not take home the $30,000 winner’s cheque from the Farmers Insurance Invitational’s $100,000 purse. Gagne and Johnson will split the first- and second-place payouts, each earning $22,500.
Van Wyk already has a bright future ahead of him in golf. He earned his spot in the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational as the top player in the 2024-25 Bridgestone APGA Collegiate Ranking as of October 30, 2024. By virtue of winning the White Sands Bahamas Men’s NCAA Golf Invitational last autumn, he secured an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open this March.
Last season marked the third consecutive year that van Wyk was named First Team All-Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). He was the individual conference champion in 2022, making him the first Black golfer in CAA history to win medalist honors at the league tournament.
The support of the APGA Tour and its players is part of an ongoing effort from Farmers Insurance to advance its commitment to grow the game of golf. The national insurer supports the APGA Tour and APGA Foundation to help provide assistance for players at all stages of their journey.
“I think the APGA is doing really good stuff,” van Wyk said. “I think as a young professional or soon-to-be professional, you need as many opportunities as you can. It’s tough out here to play as a pro. You need those opportunities to get yourself going and familiarise yourself with the environments and everything that it has to offer. I’m truly grateful for all that they do and the opportunity that they’ve given me this week.”
