Johnny Keefer tied for seventh Sunday at the RSM Classic, capping off what can only be described as a dream year. The Korn Ferry Tour’s points winner claimed two victories on the development circuit and racked up 10 worldwide top-10s, rocketing up the world rankings. Monday morning, he reached a career-best No. 47. While tournaments across the globe remain before the year ends, the 24-year-old isn’t obsessing over a potential Masters invite, which would come his way if he stays inside the top 50.
“Either way, the beginning of next year is super important,” Keefer said. “If I don’t get it, then I still have a few months to go get it. And if I do, then I have that in the back pocket, but I still need to keep playing good golf.”
Keefer’s professional surge since turning pro two summers ago has been remarkable. But alongside his career-best golf, he’s also faced his greatest personal challenge. As Keefer was preparing for the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School last December after a dominating summer in Canada, his cousin, Robbie Urban, was undergoing tests to identify the cause of some health problems.
Urban, the only child of Rob and Chi Urban, had been a standout lacrosse player at St. Anthony’s, a Catholic high school on Long Island. He’d chosen to pursue a finance degree at Providence College, and Keefer says Urban was considering trying out for the Friars’ lacrosse team. But Urban never made it back for his second semester. Doctors diagnosed him with Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and began treatment immediately.
Throughout Urban’s cancer battle, Keefer maintained contact, though their communication changed as the disease progressed. Phone calls gave way to texts, which became less frequent as cancer and chemotherapy weakened the once-vibrant athlete, who spent significant time in intensive care.
“There were days where he didn’t even have the energy to hold up a phone,” Keefer said. “It was just really hard to see him as a shell of himself.”
Keefer paused to swallow before continuing, “It was quick.”
Urban died on Feb. 25, roughly three months after diagnosis. He was just 19.
When it happened, Keefer was flying to South America for the fifth KFT event of the season. His parents, John and Judy, flew from San Antonio to New York with other family members, but Keefer couldn’t get back in time. He stayed in Argentina and tied for 37th. Meanwhile, hundreds of students gathered at Providence’s St. Dominic Chapel for a memorial. When Urban had registered for classes in June 2024, he was photographed holding a postcard that read: What do you hope to find at Providence? To learn to be independent and build a successful career in life.
St. Anthony’s added Urban’s initials and jersey number, 52, to their helmets for the remainder of the season. The Friars went on to win their sixth straight Catholic High School Athletic Association Class AAA title in May, rallying from three goals down at halftime.
“Robbie was taken from his family and friends too soon,” said Rev. Simon Teller, the college’s chaplain. “As I was standing at the altar on Friday, praying and mourning for Robbie, I was overwhelmed with one thought: For every one of us, life is fleeting.”
Keefer, who wears a green ribbon on his hat during rounds in Urban’s honor, understands that truth now more than ever.
“Life is precious and golf’s not everything,” Keefer said. “I had my fair trials in college with not playing very well and identifying myself with just golf, but this serves as a really good reminder on a daily basis that there is a lot more than just scores and to just enjoy life, because it can be taken away at any point.”
A couple months after Urban’s death, Rob and Chi Urban traveled to Arlington, Texas, in late April to watch Keefer compete for the first time. Keefer fired a second-round 61 before finishing the Veritex Bank Championship at 30 under to win his maiden KFT event by three shots.
“A lot of things went my way that week,” Keefer said. “That was a sign from Robbie.”
Keefer already has at least one major start locked up for next year, the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, just 50 miles from where Urban grew up. The Urbans will be there too.
And like he has for the past nine months, Robbie will be looking down, sending signs.
