Jason Kokrak has been involved with golf since his dad and grandparents introduced him to the game at the age of three.
He led John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, to two Ohio High School State (OHSAA) Championships and was twice OHSAA State Tournament Division III medalist. He was voted 2003 OHSAA Golfer of the Year and was recruited by 40 Division 1 colleges.
He could have attended any big-time collegiate program but decided to stay in Ohio and attend Xavier University.
“I knew I was going to get playing time (at Xavier). I knew I could go to an Oklahoma State or some of the other big-time schools and play … but I wasn’t sure if I was going to play all the time during my freshman year. I wanted to go to a school where I knew I was going to play a lot … and I didn’t want to go too far from home … but I didn’t want to be too close to home either.”
While at Xavier, the program grew to a top 40 program in the NCAA and he was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year as a Freshman.
In 2008, after graduating from Xavier and earning a degree in communications, he joined the professional ranks. He won a few minor events, but two wins on the on the Korn Ferry Tour (Web.com Tour) in 2011 earned him his PGA Tour card for the 2012 season.
In 2020, he recorded three top 10 finishes including a tie for third at the Charles Schwab Championship. In all, he posted seven top 25 finishes, with 11 made cuts and earned over $1.4 million. He qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive year and finished at No. 42 in the FedEx Cup standings.
He started the 2020-21 season on a high note by firing a first-round 68 at the U.S. Open. His second-round 71 left him in sixth place after 36 holes. Two more rounds of 77-72 left him tied for 17th at the difficult Winged Foot course.
Since he joined the PGA Tour in 2012, he has entered 231 PGA Tour events with total career earnings of over $13 million.
More importantly the strong performance at this year’s U.S. Open is significant because it was his 150th made cut, which makes him 100% vested in the PGA Tour Retirement Plan. With the increase in purses over the past 20 years, full vesting in the PGA Tour Retirement Plan is an important milestone for tour pros.
Ohio native Jason Kokrak continues to improve and his recent finish at the U.S. Open may just give him the confidence boost he needs to reach the winner’s circle in 2020-21.
