Jason Kokrak

Jason Kokrak: How he landed with LIV Golf

Jason Kokrak’s big-hitting reputation once earned him the nickname ‘Bomber,’ but there is much more to his game today as he has evolved from being a bright young talent on the junior circuit, to a three-time PGA Tour winner and now a four-season LIV Golf veteran with Smash GC.

Although he was known for his power drives it wasn’t always the best approach. “Once I got on the Pro circuit I wanted to be more consistent,” Kokrak told Fairway To Heaven, LIV Golf’s official podcast.

“I took a little bit of yardage off the drive and didn’t swing as hard for the fences so to speak. I learned to hit a straighter shot because I used to play a huge draw.

“It’s about adapting yourself, your own game and your mentality to try and get better and better every year.”

Success before LIV Golf

Kokrak turned professional in 2008 and enjoyed early success playing in golf’s development levels.

His earnings from 16 events on the 2011 Nationwide Tour (now known as the Korn Ferry) saw him promoted to the PGA Tour the following season.

Kokrak soon hit the headlines in 2013 by making a hole-in-one on a par 4 at Seaside, Georgia, with an almighty 409-yard drive on the fifth hole during the McGladrey Classic.

After several near misses in and around the top four of the leaderboards, he eventually landed his first big prize with the 2020 CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.

Having broken into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, success at Shadow Creek sparked a run of three tournament wins over 13 months with Kokrak adding victories at the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge and the 2021 Houston Open.

As he prepared for a new adventure with LIV Golf, Kokrak was able to look back on a hugely successful 13-year career on the PGA Tour.

Winning influence of caddie David Robinson

Jason Kokrak is quick to praise his long-term caddie David ‘D-Rob’ Robinson for helping him to improve his accuracy on the greens.

“We’ve been together for about seven years now,” Kokrak told Fairway To Heaven.

“Everybody needs to get themselves a D-Rob. He has a wealth of knowledge, loves the game of golf and is an incredible player in his own right.

“The guy is unbelievable on the greens. I was never a good Bermuda green reader, I grew up with Bentgrass greens so I can see that style much better.

“He’s very visual and picks up on things very quickly. How you’re putting on a certain day or paying attention to other people’s putts, how they’re breaking, how they’re slowing down.

“It’s pretty impressive just to listen to him.”

The ‘accidental’ Canadian

It comes as a surprise to golf fans to discover Kokrak was born in North Bay, Canada, especially as his father ran a dry-cleaning business in Iowa.

“My mum just happened to be up in Canada visiting family and I was born up there,” Kokrak says.

“Everybody’s like ‘wait, are you Canadian’ and I say ‘well yes, I’m Canadian, my mum’s Canadian and I’m happy to be born there’, but I’m a US citizen now and have been since I was 12 or 13 years old.

“Everything that I know is in northeastern Iowa, almost where I live now.”

Jason Kokrak’s life away from the course and how do you pronounce his last name?

Jason Kokrak will celebrate his 40th birthday in May 2025 with wife Stephanie and their two sons.

Stephanie works as an assistant teacher having graduated from the University of Akron, Ohio, with a degree in Early Childhood Development.

The couple spent their early married life living in Charlotte, North Carolina, but moved back to Hudson, Ohio in 2019.

For those who want to know how to pronounce the Kokrak family name, it’s with hard K’s and a soft O, to give you ‘Koe-crack’.