'I won't ever forget it' KU's Broin reflects on historic PGA major debut

PINEHURST, N.C. (KSNT) - KU's Gunnar Broin made history over the weekend, becoming the first Jayhawk to play in a PGA major while actively a student-athlete.

However, his historic week didn't stop there. Broin made the cut, shooting two under on the tournament's second day, including a sweet birdie from off the green, to buy himself the full-weekend stay.

Broin finished +16 after four rounds, tying for 70th in his major debut.

"Going into the week I didn't really have any expectations," Broin told 27 News. "It was my goal to make the cut, I believed I could make the cut. I knew the course already from previous years and playing tournaments there... The course is brutally hard..."

Broin was on the outside looking in after his first round, shooting +5 on the opening day.

"Going out for that second day I knew I needed a low round," he said, adding he was thankful for the morning tee-time which allowed him to find success before the course was too firm and fast.

He calls the entire experience a dream come true.

"It was everything I hoped it would be and more," he said. "...I was like 'Holy crap, this is so cool. This is a dream.' ... It was really cool... to make the cut and do it like I did was pretty cool. It was a wild week and weekend and I wouldn't have traded it for anything."

Broin, who will return to Lawrence for his fifth and final season of college golf in 2024-25, says professional veteran and fellow Jayhawk Gary Woodland was incredibly helpful. Woodland won the U.S. Open in 2019.

"He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and he just so happens to be one of the best golfers in the world," Broin said of the Topeka native Woodland. "He texted me, even the week before after I qualified, every time I texted him he was just so happy for me... It felt like I was on top of the world and that's just what he does."

Broin says KU head men's golf coach Jamie Bermel prepared him well for the big stage and helped him build a foundation to have an opportunity to succeed.