Long And Short Of It: Na, Kokrak Charge Hard For QBE Win

The Mutt and Jeff of the QBE Shootout — diminutive Kevin Na and burly Jason Kokrak put on a Sunday show at Tiburon that was simply amazing.

Up until Sunday’s best-ball (four-ball) finale, it looked like team Aussie — Jason Day and Marc Leishman — had things under control.  They shot the best scramble score on Friday (16-under) then followed it up with an excellent modified alternate shot effort (eight-under) and they built up a three-shot lead at 24-under par.  Indeed, their lead grew to four shots early in the final round but they didn’t anticipate an incredible birdie-blittz by the Las Vegas guys — Na and Kokrak.

No one saw Na and Kokrak coming — after all, they were only even par through five holes with a single birdie and a bogey (major mistake in this format).  “We got off to a poor start,” Na admitted.

Then something crazy began.  Na started doing that Kevin Na stuff where he hits it close to the hole then starts walking in putts from all sorts of places.  Not one, not two, not three but a mind-boggling seven straight birdies from the little guy.  “I started making birdies and I said (to Kokrak) ‘when are you going to show up?'”  To which the long-hitting, streaky Kokrak replied:  “I’ll be there on the back nine when you need me.”

That amazing run by Na started at the sixth hole and carried on through the 12th.

Then it was Kokrak’s turn.  He birdied 13 and the par five 14th and at that point it was nine straight birdies that shot them into the lead at 30-under par for the tournament and nine-under for their round.  Day and Leishman were stuck in neutral while the birdie-prone team of Billy Horschel and Sam Burns were throwing birdies at everyone.

There would be no boring blowout this year like the one engineered by Harris English and Matt Kuchar in 2020.  No, this was a fight to the finish between Na/Kokrak, Horschel/Burns then late in the day, English and Kuchar got in the mix when English holed at 10-footer for eagle at the par five 17th and got his team to 31-under.  But it wouldn’t be good enough in this birdie-crazed stretch run.

Na and Kokrak’s run finally came to an end with a par at the 15th but they saved a little something-something for the finish.  At the par three 16th, Kokrak stuffed one in gimme range then the big guy birdied 17 to put the Vegas guys 32-under.

Heading into that last hole there was still more magic from Na and Kokrak.  Both hit nice drives, Na stuck his approach to 12-feet, Kokrak was even better, his was just inside seven feet.  Na finally missed a putt but as Kokrak said earlier in the day, he was there for his partner.  His birdie attempt was in from the moment it left his blade and that final birdie was good for 60 — 12-under par with a bogey on the card!

They finished 33-under and left the two teams behind them needing eagles at 18 to tie and those never came.

“We have opposite style games,” Na said of him and his partner in a major understatement.  Na is a shorter hitter and an extremely skilled wedge player and putter.  Kokrak used to be known primarily for his length off the tee but when he added an inch to his putter, he found a winning formula on the PGA Tour and has collected three wins in the past two seasons, including two in 2021.

“It worked out perfect,” said Na.  “We ham and egged it very nice.”

Things got a bit emotional for Na at the trophy presentation when he recalled losing two friends over the past few months.

Nevertheless, the two first-time partners found that they have amazing chemistry and had a finish like none other in the event — they birdied 12 of the final 13 holes to blow past everyone.

Simply amazing.

QBE Shootout Results: