Michael Gellerman has a fondness for the Wichita Open.The city’s premier golf tournament is where Gellerman, who calls Sterling, Kan. home, made his first start as a professional golfer in 2015 after graduating from the University of Oklahoma.

“It’s great,” Gellerman says of the Wichita Open. “They do an incredible job. All the player dining, how we are treated, the fan experience on (holes) 17 and 18 with the big grandstands. It has always been special to me. I made my first pro start here. It’s always really fun to come back.”

Syndeo is sponsoring Gellerman for the Wichita Open.Gellerman shot even par for the first round of the 2019 tournament, a score he says he was displeased with.He’s hopeful for a lower score in the second round on Friday.“I’ll have to make up some ground,” Gellerman says. “I’ll just have to get it going quicker and hope I can get into a nice groove. We all know in this sport, it’s not a given, so I’m just going to keep working hard and making progress and hopefully getting better each day.”Ideally, he’d like to have a repeat of the last time he played a golf tournament close to home.Gellerman won the KC Golf Classic on May 12, his first tournament championship on what was then the Web.com Tour.The development tour for the PGA was renamed June 19 as the Korn Ferry Tour.