Whether he expected to or not, a San Antonio native will continue his mountainous rookie season on the PGA Tour at The Open Championship Thursday in England.
Johnny Keefer, 25, is expected to play in all four majors as a PGA Tour rookie.
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The Open runs from July 16 through the 19 in Southport. It will be the first time in five years Keefer has competed in The Open after a top three finish at the Scottish Open punched his ticket last weekend.
His lone top 40 finish came at the most recent major, the U.S. Open. But whether or not he scores that high again, Keefer is appreciative of another opportunity to live out his dream — playing against the best on the world stage.
“It means a lot,” Keefer said. “I played the first three Majors and going into this week, I wasn’t in The Open. Not only a great result but also getting into The Open is just tons of fun.”
The way he found himself on The Open lineup couldn’t have been more exhilarating.
The Johnson High School product had an uphill climb to qualify heading into the Scottish Open, with only three spots remaining.
The course wound up leaving many of the top golfers scratching their heads. Scottie Scheffler, the betting favorite, didn’t even make the cut.
On the other side was an underdog story, and in came Keefer. Instead of falling back to the pack, Keefer played arguably his best golf of the season, shooting 13-under-par for his best finish of the season, and soon later, he was doing interviews with his usual ear-to-ear grin.
“I knew the position I was in,” Keefer said. “But at the same time, I knew if I just stuck to my process and committed everything, regardless of the result, I was ready to hang my hat on that.”
KSAT 12 Sports spoke with Keefer a year ago ahead of his first U.S. Open appearance. Now, as a full-time PGA Tour member, his ascension hasn’t slowed down.
“Coming out of college, I thought I might have to fight, grind for a few years and figure everything out,” Keefer told KSAT in June 2025, when he was still competing mainly on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“But it’s been a dream come true so far,” Keefer said. “The only thing better would be getting on the PGA Tour now and competing at this level on a regular basis. But I’m going to keep on working hard and keep on trying to make old self pretty happy.”
The 154th Open Championship tees off at 7:42 a.m. CT alongside Pierceson Coody and Keita Nakajima.
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