Westmoreland hopes long relationship with The Patriot pays off in Compliance Solutions Championship

By Ken Macleod

As a graduate of the Air Force Academy, it’s a natural that Kyle Westmoreland would find a friend in Col. Dan Rooney, founder of the Folds of Honor and former USAF fighter pilot.

Westmoreland was an early participant in the Patriot Cup and plans to have Rooney help take care of his daughter the week of the Compliance Solutions Championship, the third leg of the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs scheduled Oct. 2-5 at The Patriot in Owasso, the home of the Folds of Honor and a club Rooney helped found. The Folds of Honor is now one of two official charities of the event along with Autism Oklahoma.

Because of his participation in the years the Patriot Cup was held, Westmoreland knows the Patriot better than most of the rest of the field of 120 that will begin that week, with 75 advancing to the KFT Finals the following week in Newburgh, Ind., in pursuit of 20 PGA Tour cards for 2026.

At this writing Westmoreland is 29^th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and very much in contention for one of those cards. He earned his way onto the PGA Tour through the KFT in 2022-23, playing in 32 events but missing the cut in 22 of those. He is ready for a second chance.

Knowing the caliber of his contemporaries on the Korn Ferry Tour and the relative welcoming nature of The Patriot, Westmoreland expects the scores to be low that week. How low will depend on green firmness, pin positions and wind or lack thereof.

“It’s a beautiful, fun course,” said Westmoreland, who noted the downhill par-3 ninth with the green just behind the clubhouse as one of his favorites. “I started coming here in 2013 when there was no clubhouse and it gets better every year.”

Westmoreland first connected with Rooney when he won The Patriot collegiate event in college and the relationship has grown from there. He is a strong supporter of The Folds of Honor, which awards scholarships to veterans killed or wounded

For players in his position, the challenges are multiple. With fully exempt positions on the PGA Tour cut from 125 to 100 and Tour cards awarded by the KFT cut from 30 to 20, the competition for spots on the PGA Tour has increased and the odds have decreased. Then if you get there, you likely cannot play in elevated events or majors so the opportunities to keep your card the first year out are limited even more than when Westmoreland had his opportunity in 2022.

“With cards limited going up and cards limited staying up, the Korn Ferry Tour has gotten much more competitive and it will continue to do so,” Westmoreland said. “I’m thankful to be on this tour and thankful to be playing here. We’re just trying to get our card and move back up.”

Fans who attend the Compliance Solutions Championship will see some of the most competitive golf on the planet, golfers whose games are PGA Tour ready and sharpened by a season of intense jousting for position.

Tickets, volunteer opportunities and information on all aspects of the event are  available at https://compliancesolutionschampionship.com/  The tournament is in the first year of a three-year contract with Compliance Solutions as title sponsor, fulfilling an original five-year contract of which the first two years were at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course in Norman. The event now will have four days of television coverage on Golf Channel as well.