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From the Air Force Academy to the Winners Circle
Former Air Force Captain Kyle Westmoreland talks about his Korn Ferry Tour Success
By Jim Bebbington
Kyle Westmoreland, the former captain in the U.S. Air Force and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, is hoping that his first victory on the Korn Ferry Tour this winter leads to more success.
Westmoreland, 33, picked up his first win of his Korn Ferry or PGA Tour career on Feb. 9 at the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia. He won the $180,000 first-place check with the help of two outstanding Friday/Saturday rounds (scores of 64 and 61) sandwiched by 1-under rounds of 70 on Thursday and Sunday.
He said he swapped to a new putter before play began in Bogota, but otherwise played his usual game and just had more success.
“It was a great checkpoint,” he said in an interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. “It’s not what our final goals are, but getting the win is great. I thought I should have gotten it done a few times last year. It’s nice to win early on this tour. A win guarantees a job for minimum a few years.”
The PGA Tour is moving to a new structure next season that will reduce the size of some fields, which has a trickle-down effect on the Korn Ferry. It all boils down to the number of slots open for players in the Tour’s two top leagues are going to be fewer, and wins like this one put Westmoreland in a good position to continue to compete.
“I’m looking forward to continually trying to get better. I have some goals I want to accomplish both on and off the course,” he said. The season is early and there’s plenty of golf still to play, but the win rocketed Westmoreland up the Korn Ferry Tour points list, putting him in 3rd place.
Westmoreland has been grinding on professional golf tours since leaving the Air Force in 2019. He is the first U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to earn a PGA Tour card. At the Air Force Academy, he played on the golf team and won four tournaments. He served five years in the Air Force’s finance department after graduating in 2014, leaving active service with the rank of captain.
He has played primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour but earned one season on the PGA Tour in 2022/2023. He played in 32 events but made the cut in just ten. His best finish was T-27 in the Cadence Bank Houston Open.
He said his goals run the gamut – from professional and technical goals in golf to simply being a good dad.
“Winning helps me kind of have the confidence that that,” he said.
This time of year, the Korn Ferry plays many tournaments in South and Central America. But come spring and summer, he hopes he and his wife Erin can pack up their 8-month-old son Wyatt and travel together through the U.S. stops.
He and Erin lived for a few months in Broomfield after Westmoreland left the Air Force and before they moved back to South Carolina, playing Walnut Creek and other local courses. He said he plans to return to Colorado this summer for the Ascendant presented by Blue Korn Ferry tournament at the TPC Colorado course in Berthoud.
“It’s one of my favorites of the year,” he said.
Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content at Colorado AvidGolfer and can be reached at [email protected]
Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.
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