Kisner ready to get ‘back in the fire’

KEVIN KISNER will aim to put his PGA major disappointment behind him today as the final event of the regular season tees off at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.

Kisner led or shared the lead for the opening three rounds of last week’s final major of the season at Quail Hollow before stumbling in the last round to finish seventh behind eventual winner Justin Thomas.

But while most of the PGA Tour’s top-ranked players are skipping the Wyndham this week, the 33-year-old Kisner is hoping to crown a recent run of steady form with a victory at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club.

“Playing well breeds playing well, in my opinion,” Kisner said yesterday. “Hopefully I’m on the rise up to a peak and that’s why I’m here, to get back in the competition, back in the fire.”

Kisner, the world No. 24, said he had already been able to draw positives from his failed flirtation with a first major victory.

“It’s always great to be in the hunt,” he said. “You learn about yourself, you learn about tough conditions, how you’re going to handle it.

“Any time you have that opportunity and it doesn’t work out you can re-evaluate things you can do next time ... It’s just extremely difficult to win. Major championships are much more difficult than regular PGA events.”

The intrigue around much of this week’s tournament will concern the players who are battling to ensure their participation in the FedEx Cup playoffs, the four-event postseason finale which begins next week.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who is currently 75th on the FedEx standings, hopes a solid performance at Sedgefield can help boost his position.

After next week’s event in New York, the field is whittled down to the top 70 for the second tournament. – AFP