A player who once got the better of Jordan Spieth in a sudden death playoff has now gained his PGA Tour card for the very first time in his career.
Despite his poor recent form, Spieth has been one of the most successful players on the PGA Tour over the past decade, with 13 wins to his name including three major championships.
The mere fact that a man with Spieth’s talent and ability is struggling right now is proof of just how hard it is to make it at the very highest level of the game.
Spieth still hopes to become the world number one again, but he’s a long way from that right now.
One of the biggest challenges he will face is keeping up with the exceptionally talented crop of new players coming onto the Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour.
Korn Ferry Tour points leader John Keefer will have status on the PGA Tour next year, along with 19 other players.
Incredibly, Keefer could play at The Masters next year due to his current top-50 world ranking position.
However, there are plenty of other top-level talents to keep an eye on ahead of the 2026 season as well.
Jeffrey Kang reacts after officially becoming a PGA Tour player
Kang has played five PGA Tour events in his career, making just one cut. However, he had never held full status on the PGA Tour until now.
When speaking on the Monday Q Info Podcast, Kang discussed gaining his PGA Tour card for the first time at the age of 34.
When it was put to him that he is now officially a PGA Tour player, Kang responded with delight.
He said: “I think you are the first one to say it to me in person, so it feels really good. I am really proud of myself. It’s a life-long goal to call yourself a PGA Tour player. So it feels awesome.“
Kang was then asked what kept him going through the tough times.
The 34-year-old responded: “I think it’s that belief you get from reaching a certain level and a certain point of your career, knowing where you have been and seeing the players that you have played with have success on the big tour quite early.
“I think that had a big part in my belief in myself that I can do this too.
“And just being home and seeing the people that I have around always telling me that I have the game, I just need to get out of my own way. To let it happen. But obviously it’s tough when you have gone through the struggles and you have scar tissue from either playing badly or failing and you feel like you are falling further and further behind.
“So it’s not easy but I think always telling myself that you can get there, you have been there and you just need to keep at it.“
Jeffrey Kang beat Jordan Spieth in a playoff before driver yips struck
It was way back in 2012 when Kang defeated Jordan Spieth in a playoff.
Kang, who was a USC sophomore at the time, finished the Amer Ari Invitational at Waikoloa Beach Resort at 11-under par, tied with Texas Longhorn, Spieth.
However, Kang birdied the first play-off hole to win the tournament.
It was a huge win for the USC golfer at the time but things were about to go downhill very quickly for him.
Kang got the driver yips out of absolutely nowhere and could not keep the ball on the golf course.
The now 34-year-old began hitting either a huge block which started right before drifting even further right or a massive overcorrection from that shot which resulted in severely damaging snap hooks.
In his last ever college event in 2014, Kang tied for 150th in a field of 155 players.
However, after a lot of hard work with his instructor, Dana Dahlquist, Kang changed his wrist action and release pattern through impact.
Now, a decade later, Kang has finally reached his very own version of golfing immortality by earning status on the PGA Tour for the very first time.
What an incredible lesson that is in both resilience and persistence.
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