Johannes Veerman says his dream is to play on the PGA Tour. (Dan Koett Photo)
Johannes Veerman is ranked 30th on the DP World Tour this year and has made the cut in 14 of 16 tournaments and has four top-10 finishes going into this week’s ISCO Championship at Champions at Keene Trace outside Nicholasville.
He’s the highest ranked DP World Tour player in the tourney field. He also played in the same event last year and made the 36-hole cut on what he called a “fun track to play” during Tuesday’s press conference.
“You can make a lot of birdies out here. You’ve got to put it in play. The rough was pretty penal last year, it’s a little shorter this year, but the greens have a ton of slope so if you get on the wrong side of the holes, it can be hard to make birdies,” he said. “It can also be hard to make pars.
“You can shoot 6, 7 under out here pretty easy not pretty easily, but everybody is really good so you can shoot 6, 7 under here pretty easily, but then you can also shoot maybe a couple over pretty easily before you know it.”
Veerman noted the rough was a little shorter and the greens were slower during practice rounds but expected that to change when tourney play started today.
Veerman, a 10-year professional, has mainly played in Asia and Europe.
“My mom is Indonesian, my dad is Dutch, so maybe it’s really fitting that I played on the Asian Tour and then on the European Tour. So when I was in Asia I was with my mom’s family a lot and being on the European Tour I got to see my dad’s side a little bit more,” he said.
“The variety of courses we play, it’s everything. It goes from all the kind of grasses that you could even think of that I didn’t even know existed. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I got through Korn Ferry Tour Q School the first go ’round, what would my first nine years as a pro look like. But I’m really happy for where I’ve been and what I’m doing right now. I think my story is unique in that sense and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”
He admits it is his dream to play on the PGA Tour against the world’s best players and knows a good showing this week and next week in Tahoe could enhance his chances of doing that.
“I think if you’re a real competitor, you want to play with where the best guys are playing. I think the only pathway for us in the immediate future is to win an event, so yeah, winning a PGA TOUR event is obviously also a dream come true,” he said.
Ten DP World Tour players will gain spots on the PGA Tour next year and Veerman has seen former DP World Tour players Matthieu Pavon and Robert McIntyre win on the PGA Tour.
“Most of the guys who have gotten their cards have gone over here and for the most part showed up and proven that the DP World Tour is a tour like stacked as well,” he said. “It’s really cool, really inspiring, but it kind of also is affirming that like we are pretty good, I’m pretty good. Sometimes maybe there’s a discrepancy of maybe a lower level tour in terms of quality, but the top10 guys that came up and showed up have proven it to be otherwise.”
The previous two years have not been Veerman’s best but he’s playing better this season and his goal this week is to put four solid rounds together.
“I think the strength of my game this year is probably my approach play, my iron play,” he said. “It could be better, it can always get better, but I think right now that’s where I would say I think I can hold my own.
“Off the tee, my driver game needs to be a little better. I have some speed, I have some length. Nothing crazy but it is respectable, but it does need to be straighter.”
