Kevin Kisner is surprise contender at Butterfield Bermuda Championship

Kevin Kisner has spent plenty of time on TV on the weekends on the PGA TOUR, albeit in the broadcast booth as an occasional analyst for NBC/Golf Channel.

Getting on the air with a club in his hands? Erm, well, that’s been tougher.

“Well, obviously it's been a long stretch of bad golf,” Kisner, 40, said after shooting a bogey-free 66 on Friday to reach 9-under halfway through the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, three behind leader Justin Lower.

The winner of four PGA TOUR titles, including the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and (most recently) 2021 Wyndham Championship, Kisner has plummeted to 865th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Having missed 16 cuts in 21 starts this year, the two-time U.S. Presidents Cup team member got a uniform at Royal Montreal this year as a captain's assistant.

Kisner has been asked repeatedly if he plans to move into the broadcast booth, where he has earned rave reviews, on a permanent basis.

“Oh, I think it’s just a hobby for now,” he told Golfweek. “I still want to play full time.”

Whether he can summon the game to do so is an open question. Kisner’s exempt status will run out at the end of this season; he’s presently 202nd in the FedExCup Fall.

The top 125 after The RSM Classic next week will be exempt for full-field events in ’25.

This week has at least been a step in the right direction. Kisner, who parted ways with longtime instructor John Tillery, is finally seeing some of the improvement in the heat of competition that he’s been showing for months back home. His best shot Friday was probably a long eagle putt that dropped at the par-5 17th hole.

“Yeah, when you feel comfortable over the shots and it's not blowing 40 miles an hour, it's a lot more fun,” he said. “Today was a whole array of weather that we had. It was not nearly as difficult as yesterday, but at times it felt just as difficult.

“It was fun to get the juices going,” he added. “It's fun to see the TV guys and radio guys actually show me instead of not – instead of just saying hello and passing.”

Keeping it going for two more days will be a daunting task given the fickle nature of his game, to say nothing of the weekend forecast. A storm was expected to roll in Friday night, bringing rain and wind, followed by a windy final round on Sunday.

“Oh, I think 100 percent the next two days the weather's going to be a factor,” Kisner said. “Even the locals are talking about it, so you know it's not going to be great.

“Just going to take a bunch of perseverance and patience,” he continued. “Got to basically just deal with it and hopefully I can deal with it better than others.”

Adversity? Please. Kisner is used to it. For him, the broadcast booth will always be there, and whatever happens this weekend, Bermuda has at least proven this: The good stuff is still in there.