Kokrak tied at top after 1st round

October 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

MIAMI

After a whirlwind two months on the Nationwide Tour that put Warren golfer Jason Kokrak on the cusp of the 2012 PGA Tour, the JFK grad took off last week for a needed break. Only to catch a cold, too.

He returned to the Nationwide Tour Thursday and much of the field may have wished he still had a cold.

Kokrak fired an 8-under 63 to lead after the first round of the $600,000 Miccosukee Championship.

With the longest driving average in the world, it was not his 340-yard drives that led him Thursday.

“The putter was working today,” said Kokrak after his round. “I had a par save from 8 feet, then I dropped a couple of 10- and 15-footers early — and from there, things got really comfortable.”

The day included an incredible hole-out on the No. 7 par 4. The hole measured 320 yards to the front of the green, Kokrak said. His drive flew the green and landed in water behind the green. With about a 35-yard chip back to the green, he had his work cut out just to save par. But his chip found the bottom of the cup for a birdie.

For the day Thursday, he shot 5-under on the par 4s, 2-under on the par 5s, and 1-under on the par 3s.

But it’s a low-shooting field through Day 1. One other player is tied at 8-under, five players are at 6-under, and many more are at 5-under.

Kokrak, 26, plays on the Nationwide Tour, the level just below the PGA Tour. The season’s Top 25 players advance to the PGA Tour next year. He started Thursday in 15th place on the Top 25, with $193,592 in earnings. Kokrak would be the first Valley native to earn a PGA Tour card in almost 30 years.

If he makes the cut to this weekend, he’s guaranteed some part of the $600,000 purse. There is one more event next weekend before the season-ending $1 million Tour Championship, where every player gets a prize cut. Only the season’s winners are eligible for that event, and Kokrak won Sept. 18 in Boise, Idaho.

It’s been a blur since that win, and Kokrak said he needed the break and time back at his home in Charlotte, N.C. Before taking last week off, he missed the cut the week before in Texas.

“It’s been a whirlwind for me, and my head was not in it for a bit there,” Kokrak said. “I needed a bit of a break. Seven tourneys in a row is a lot. But I was blessed to get the win and took the chance of an off week. Had I not won, I would have needed to play to make the top 25.”

The life-changing turn has been different, but fun.

“It’s been pretty crazy, but nothing I hadn’t hoped for. It’s just a little bit more expected about me,” he said, referencing meeting with volunteers, kids, tourney officials — and signing more autographs.

“And lots of phone calls ... Lots of management groups trying to help. And I had a lot of people to get back to on the phone. It took me a week to do that,” said Kokrak.

He even stayed away from the clubs for a bit, too. He hit balls in Orlando on his way down to Miami, then played in the Wednesday pro-am.

Kokrak tees off just after noon today. You can follow his round on pgatour.com.