LA JOLLA, Calif. – 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, sudden-death playoff that went two holes.
“I’m proud of myself and how I did,” van Wyck 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 3-over-par 75 Saturday on the North Course and then carding a 1-under-par 71 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 playoff.
Johnson was eliminated after the first playoff hole, and on the second playoff hole, van Wyk flushed his driver down the middle, then went straight at the flag with a 7-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 check from the Farmers Insurance Invitational’s $100,000 purse. Gagne and Johnson will split the first- and second-place payouts, each earning $22,500.
“He seems very mature for his age,” said Gagne, a 27-year-old Costa Rica native who played collegiately at LSU and played in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 U.S. Opens, the latter which took place at Torrey Pines’ South Course. “He’s got a lot of (club) speed. He’s very calm, cool and composed. I think he’ll do great things if he keeps progressing. Kids now they can hit it so far. Playing on No. 18, definitely I felt like it was a disadvantage because I really have to hit a good drive off the tee to get there in two, and he’s hitting an iron in, which is pretty nuts. He’s very talented. I’m happy that he won. He played great.”
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 2024-2025 Bridgestone APGA Collegiate Ranking as of October 30, 2024. By virtue of winning the White Sands Bahamas Men’s NCAA Golf Invitational last fall, 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 are 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 familiarize 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.”
Added Gagne: “On the APGA, this (event) is top notch. It’s either this one or the Cisco (Invitational at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach). These two are the best events we have all year. So I’m very thankful for Farmers and all their support for helping us get out here. It means a lot for us to have purses like this to allow us to keep trying to chase our dreams. It’s something to be proud of.”
This year’s event marks the sixth staging of the Farmers Insurance Invitational, which takes place in conjunction with the PGA TOUR’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. For the past several years, Farmers® has also provided an APGA Tour player with an exemption into the Farmers Insurance Open, with Willie Mack III receiving a spot in the 2025 field.
About the APGA Tour
The APGA Tour was established in 2010 as a non-profit organization with the mission to bring greater diversity to the game of golf. The APGA Tour Board of Directors works to accomplish this by hosting and operating professional golf tournaments, player development programs, mentoring programs and by introducing the game to inner city young people. In addition to conducting 18 tournaments awarding over $1 million in prize and bonus money in 2024, the APGA has organized a Player Development Program to aid young minority golfers as they work to chase their goals in professional golf.
