Kisner gets Masters course tips from 2007 champ Zach Johnson

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Kevin Kisner took a few opportunities this spring to play the course at Augusta National Golf Club, but his most recent round was very different. Kisner knew he wanted to utilize all of his resources heading into his first Masters Tournament, so he asked 2007 champion Zach Johnson to play a practice round with him.

On Sunday, days before playing in the Masters Tournament for the first time, Kisner played an early front nine with Johnson and Johnson's brother-in-law and returned to play the back nine after lunch.

"I got to pick his brain a bit. He's a champion, so it was a good experience," Kisner said.

The Aiken native said anytime he was back in the area, he would try to take some time to get over to the hallowed course, but Sunday was the first time he got to see the green speed in full effect.

Kisner has a game plan figured out already for the start of tournament play. He's going to go a bit conservative to start out. He plans on utilizing the future practice rounds to figure out where he can and can't miss shots.

"There's birdies to be made, but there's also a lot of bogeys," Kisner said. "I'm going to try to steer clear of the bogeys and just give myself a lot of looks at birdies and try to get the ball around the hole with the right speed and see if I can get a few to fall."

He will return to the course Monday at 10 a.m. to play nine holes and will play another practice round on Tuesday at noon. He will also be playing in the Par-3 contest Wednesday, which he said will be a good relaxer before the tournament.

One of a few products of the CSRA who will tee it up this week, Kisner is looking forward to the experience of having family and friends on hand to watch him in the first major of the season.

He said he hasn't really been inundated with request for tickets or questions about the tournament, partially because he said everyone is understanding of how difficult it is to get their hands on one of the most coveted tickets in golf. All of his went to family members who will descend upon Augusta to watch him.

"Looking forward to it, I think it's going to be crazy once I walk out there and it's thousands of people. Just to see it from inside the ropes; that's something I've never been a part of." Kisner said. "I look forward to, hopefully, putting on a show for family and friends come Thursday."

This article was written by Eric Russell from Aiken Standard, S.C. and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.