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CLAYTON KELLER
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COURTESY ARIZONA COYOTES
Coyotes’ MVP mixes hockey, golf to perfection By John Davis
layton Keller is the first to admit that he is better at shooting a puck in the net than hitting a golf ball on a green. However, he has shown that he is quite adept at both as a scratch golfer and one of the brightest young stars in the National Hockey League. Keller, 21, was selected seventh overall in the 2016 NHL draft by the Arizona Coyotes and quickly proved it to be a wise pick. Displaying a “Keller instinct,” he led the team in scoring each of his first two seasons and is in position to make it a three-peat in 2020. He set virtually every Coyotes rookie scoring record, was named the team’s most valuable player and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given to the most proficient first-year player in the NHL. Last season, he became the youngest All-Star in franchise history. Keller, who led his Boston University team in scoring as a freshman, is known as a rink rat and always is one of the last players to leave the ice after practice. The team rewarded that performance and dedication with a rare eight-year contract extension in September that is worth $7.15 million per season and runs through 2028. The rigors of an NHL season leave little time for golf, but when it ends, he and several teammates hit the links around the Valley in a game he began playing at 8 years old in his hometown of St. Louis. At 13, he made his first hole in one and, since moving to Arizona, 16 | AZ GOLF Insider | PREVIEW 2020
As a scratch golfer, Arizona Coyotes star Clayton Keller carries a big stick.
has teed it up with the likes of PGA Tour players Chez Reavie and Colt Knost. Last year, he participated in a Special Olympics event at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he was paired with Amy Bockerstette, a collegiate golfer and disabilities advocate with Down syndrome. Bockerstette is the first person with Down syndrome to receive an athletic scholarship to attend college. She plays her golf at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix. The next day, Amy captured the hearts of the golf world by making a par on the famous 16th hole, which she played with Gary Woodland in the pro-am. A video of their interaction, in which Amy repeatedly said, “I got this,” went viral and has garnered more than 44 million page views. Recently, AZGOLF Insider caught up with Keller to talk about his two favorite sports, life in the NHL and the state of the Coyotes. What was your introduction to golf? When I was real young, my dad used to play on weekends with his work buddies. So I started tagging along and took lessons to try and get better, and I still see that same guy
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when I’m back home. He follows my career, so I stay in close contact with him. I used to go with my dad to this short-game practice area, where he would hit 400 balls a day, just chipping and putting for hours at a time. That’s how I developed a good short game and that’s really the best part of my game. When the Coyotes drafted you, were you excited to be going to an area with great golf? Definitely. That was a big-time bonus for sure. I was so excited to be here, first of all, to play hockey. And then knowing there are so many great courses, plus having the Waste Management Phoenix Open here, that was just one more great reason to be able to come here and play.
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So, you made a hole in one when you were 13? Yes, I did, and it was pretty cool. I was golfing with my dad and two of his work buddies. It was kind of a windy day out and I had about 160 yards, hit a 6-iron and it went right in. I had been playing for about five years when that happened, and the best part about it is that I was golfing with my dad at the time.
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