The commitments are starting to trickle in for the Greenbrier Classic, with the 19th-ranked player in the world and seven other recent Tour champions declaring their intention to play on the Old White TPC.
Kevin Kisner plans to play in his fifth Classic. He joined a four-way playoff in the last Classic, in 2015, but struggled to chip onto the 18th green and was eliminated in the first playoff hole.
Since then, he has done quite well, grabbing two PGA Tour victories, two runner-up finishes and 10 top-10s. After his sixth-place finish last week at the Memorial Tournament, he is ranked sixth in the FedExCup points standings, and finished 23rd last year.
The other latest commitments:
n South Korean Si Woo Kim won The Players championship, the PGA Tour's flagship event. At age 21, he became the youngest to do so. He is 31st in the world rankings and 23rd in the FedExCup, and returns to The Greenbrier for the first time since 2013, when he was 18.
n Marc Leishman is having a career year so far, with a win and three top-10 finishes. That has raised his world ranking to 37th and his FedExCup ranking to 14th.
n Jonas Blixt, the 2013 Classic Champion, most recently won the pair-oriented Zurich Classic of New Orleans, partnering with Cameron Smith. It was the third Tour victory for the 33-year-old Swede, and he has four top-25s this season and is 45th in the FedExCup.
n D.A. Points, is one of 16 golfers who have played in all six Classics, finishing tied for fourth in 2010. The 40-year-old veteran won on this state's soil in the Web.com Tour in 2004, the Pete Dye West Virginia Classic. This season, he captured the Puerto Rico Classic, his third career win.
n Canadian McKenzie Hughes is one of three rookies with a win this Tour season and is 19th in the FedExCup.
n Another Tour winner this season, 47-year-old Rod Pamplling, plans to make his fifth visit. The Australian has rebounded nicely from a slump that sent him to the Web.com Tour for two years.
n Brian Harman also has a win, topping Dustin Johnson to take the Wells Fargo Classic in Wilmington, North Carolina. With three other top-10s, he stands 10th in the FedExCup.
Those players join two other world top-50 players, Phil Mickelson (23) and Bubba Watson (34). John Daly, a six-time Classic entrant who recently won a PGA Tour Champions event, also has committed.
The formal entry deadline for the 156-man tournament scheduled for July 3-9 is Friday, June 30.
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.