Kelly Kraft

Kraft has six starts remaining on his major medical extension. But it would take 195.965 points to earn full exemption for this season, no easy task. So, Kraft went to the Korn Ferry Finals to earn his 2021-22 PGA Tour card, which he did thanks to a T-7 finish at the Boise Open. The 32-year-old SMU product made just five of 17 cuts in 2020-21 and really struggled around the greens. His 284.8 driving distance average is a concern as well.

Kraft underwent hip surgery after the playoffs ended in 2019 and hasn't competed since. It's still unknown when Kraft plans to tee things up again and he may be eyeing the beginning of 2021. He's never gained strokes on the field from tee-to-green in any of his four seasons on Tour, so he's an incredibly risky option in season-long contests.

Kraft began his PGA Tour journey four seasons ago and has little success as he finished 165th in the FedEx standings. The following season, he parlayed his limited privileges into two top-3s and regained his card. In the two seasons since, he has posted a runner-up showing each year, which has kept him safely inside the top-125. The problem is, he plays nearly 30 times each season and generally ends up with a top-10 only 10% of the time. There doesn't appear to be a lot of upside with Kraft, which means he's not a good salary cap option this season.

Kraft has been the model of consistency over the past two seasons, Consistency from season to season that is. His past two seasons have been nearly identical and each has resulted in full playing privileges the following season. That's about where Kraft is right now however. He has a runner-up and a 3rd-place finish in each of the past two seasons, but he hasn't threatened to crack the top-30 on the PGA Tour. Conversely, he hasn't had to sweat out the top-125 either. He plays a lot, but doesn't make a high percentage of cuts. When he does make the cut however, there's a decent chance that he's going to make a run. At 29 years of age, with three years on the PGA Tour under his belt, he should be nearing his peak. The problem is, the peak doesn't look awfully high at the moment. Kraft will likely end the 2018-2019 season in a similar position to his previous two seasons.

Kraft failed to secure his full playing privileges during his rookie season of 2015-16 , but he made sure not to fail again during his second season. Kraft is anything but consistent, but from time to time, he's really good. Kraft proved as much when he finished runner-up at the AT&T Pro-Am in February and proceeded to back that up with top-5s at the Zurich Classic and the Greenbrier Classic. Kraft will need to show some more consistency in order to take his game to the next level, however. Kraft should improve this season, but not enough to justify a salary cap selection this season.

Kraft rode a rollercoaster last season. He struggled out of the gate in his first full season on the PGA Tour to miss four of six cuts but then went on a run at season's end, making five of six, including a T5 at the John Deere Classic. He still needed a trip to the Web.com Finals to secure his 2016-17 card but missed the first two cuts before a T5 at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship saved him. Perhaps more familiarity with PGA courses will help his consistency in his second year on tour.

Kraft, Southern Methodist University senior, won the 2011 U. S. Amateur, 2-up, over Patrick Cantlay.