When Air Force graduate Kyle Westmoreland last year became the first academy alum to compete in the U.S. Open, then-Falcons golf coach George Koury described it as the ultimate.
“For me and the Air Force golf program, this is it. This is the big highlight,” Koury told The Denver Gazette.
Well, Westmoreland took it one step further — somewhere else Air Force golf had never gone.
Westmoreland, an Air Force cadet from 2010-14, earned his PGA Tour card on Sunday with a dramatic finish at the Korn Ferry Tour finals.
He’s the first Falcon with a Tour card.
Koury, who coached Westmoreland at Air Force, said Monday: "So proud of him. You can imagine the text chains (with Air Force alums) circulating down the stretch. Whew!"
“It’s the craziest situation you could imagine,” the 30-year-old Westmoreland told reporters at Victoria National Golf Club in southern Indiana.
Westmoreland has said it was his junior year at Air Force when he set a goal to play on the PGA Tour. After completing a five-year service commitment and attaining the rank of captain, the Texan set off on a golf career. Good decision.
Sunday, Westmoreland earned the final spot in The Finals 25 — the players who made the Tour cut. He birdied the 72nd hole, then waited 2 hours to learn if he would slip in the back door.
"I think I lost years of my life. I think I lost some hair," Westmoreland said of the wait.
Westmoreland's stay on the PGA Tour begins Sept. 15 at the Fortinet Championship at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.
“Happy to be a member of the PGA Tour,” he said.
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