Central New York’s Rising Star Kevin Roy

The name Roy has been synonymous with golf greatness for many years in the Central New York area. Jim Roy etched his name into many amateur record books and earned honors on both the PGA and Champions Tours before being enshrined into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. One of Jim’s fondest memories was edging out son Kevin by 4 strokes to win the 2008 The Post-Standard Amateur. Kevin was just 18 years old at the time, had just graduated from Bishop Ludden High School and was headed off to Long Beach State to begin his golf journey. He earned 1st Team All-Big West honors as a senior, was college teammates with PGA Tour winner Xander Schauffele, turned professional in 2012 and then struggled for quite a long while. Kevin caught his break- through moment by finishing 21st at the 2019 Qualifying School and earned Korn Ferry Tour playing privileges the following season. The Korn Ferry season ended up extending for a 2 year-long season (’20 and ’21) due to Covid. Kevin made an impressive 29 cuts over 46 events, highlighted by a 5th place finish in the Veritex Bank Championship. Kevin caught fire in 2022 finishing runner-up at the Wichita Open, made 8 straight cuts to close out the year and successfully earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 24th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list.

While making the PGA Tour was a dream come true for Kevin, 2023 brought on many hardships as he struggled mightily to compete against the game’s best players. He made only 9 cuts over the course of 31 events, but he did have a moment in the sun by finishing 8th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. This garnered him his 1st Top 10 PGA Tour finish and a healthy payday of $177,000.00.

Which brings us to 2024, where Kevin recently made his 80th career Korn Ferry Tour start at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay. Kevin opened the week with rounds of 67 and 68 to remain inside the Top 10 headed into the weekend. The heavy winds began to blow and the field’s scores were sent higher during the 3rd round. Kevin’s 3 under par score of 69 propelled him into a share of the lead (his 1st ever 54 hole lead) as they headed to the final round. Kevin was quoted on his mental approach after his round. “I’ve been working pretty hard on my mental game with my mental coach, Brian Cain. It’s nice to see some good stuff coming from it. Try not to get too high when things are going good and not to get too low when things are going bad. Just trying to kind of, what we call it, stay in the ‘green light’ and I think I’ve done a really good job at that so far. Whatever happens tomorrow, we’re just going to try to stay in the green light as much as possible.”

Kevin got off to a slow start making the turn with 2 bogies and 2 birdies and fell to 4th place with just 9 holes left to play. He then tapped into his inner green light and closed the tournament with 3 straight birdies, finished with a 4 under par round of 68 and finished in solo 2nd place. He secured 300 points on the Korn Ferry Season Long points list, cashed a paycheck for $90,000.00 and shot up to number 474 on the Official World Golf Rankings.

With more stellar play on the Korn Ferry Tour, Kevin is poised to return to the PGA Tour next season and compete at the game’s highest level. For now, he resides in Lakewood Ranch, Florida with his family and loves being branded as Central New York’s rising star.

Don Brown

Don has been playing this great game for nearly 50 years…loves the challenge that a new round brings, the grind of holding together a quality round, the lifetime of friendships forged, the beautiful scenery to enjoy and of course a cold beer or two on the 19th hole. He's the proud host of the Penn Masters Golf Championship for 28 years, the country’s largest amatuer golf getaway…also known as the ‘Greatest Event in All of Golf.’ He resides in Liverpool with his wife Lauren and has two daughters in college curently at The University of Tampa and Fransican University of Steubenville.