Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 23 July 2023

After a weekend defined by Open Championship dominance on the part of Brian Harman (definitely not an Umcee), a playoff in the opposite-field Barracuda Championship and, of course, a developmental golf devil in the details, it's that time of week again. You know, time to name the latest Upper Midwest Connection of the Week.

Last week, I noted nine Umcees in tour golf fields of significance. But it turns out I'd completely forgotten Iowa City-born, Cedar Rapids-raised, Drake University-educated 2015 Open champion Zach Johnson! Oops! Anyway, of the ten to play last week, Tom Hoge (#1 among Umcees heading into the week) missed the cut at Royal Liverpool by two strokes (+5 through Friday), but Johnson made it thanks to a -2 second round to get to +2 for the week to that point. Back in America, Erik van Rooyen and Troy Merritt both cleared the cutline at the Barracuda by a combined two points in a modified Stableford system. Van Rooyen just made it on a measly three points on Friday (eight Thursday), while Merritt scored thirteen the first two days. On the Korn Ferry Tour, Frankie Capan III made the weekend at the Price Cutter, but only because of a rain delay Friday.

All this was nothing compared with what befell the Umcee contingent in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. Of the five entrants with connections to the Upper Midwest, only Chippewa Falls, WI native and former University of Minnesota golfer Thomas Longbella made the cut. His fellow Wisconsinite, George Kneiser of Oconomowoc, missed by but one stroke. Derek Hitchner of Minneapolis didn't show up, and Harrison Ott of Brookfield, WI withdrew after one round for reasons unknown. And of course, we know about Justin Doeden.

So, what happened after the cut fell? Longbella was looking good on -10 after two rounds, but then he stumbled on Saturday and only mustered a 70 on Sunday, good for -1 to finish -7 (T43, fell to #33 in Fortinet Cup). Johnson failed to break par the last two days of the Open, finishing +5 (T55 but did move up to #150 in FedEx Cup). The going was better for Merritt on Sunday, but he couldn't get much going generally after his Thursday of 11 points, finishing with just 21 (T50, slipped to #130 in FedEx Cup). Seeing as how it's not how you start but how you finish, the logical choice for Upper Midwest Connection of the week is...

Erik van Rooyen.

Let's face it, it's not been the best year for the former Minnesota Golden Gopher from South Africa. After his injuries a year ago, many thought van Rooyen would bounce back this year. Alas, he came into the previous week's Scottish Open off seven straight missed cuts, and he hadn't had a top-10--make that top-30--finish since the Valspar Championship in March. Even though he made the cut at the Renaissance Club, he stumbled after doing so with back-to-back +3 rounds to finish T68 and plummet to #215 in the world. He put many of his droughts to rest, though, with a strong weekend in Truckee, CA with consecutive rounds of double-digit points. Ten points on Saturday raised his hopes of a good finish, which became a great finish with a fourteen-point Sunday. It sufficed to take him to a four-way T6 in the end, good for 52.5 points in the FedEx Cup and a twenty-place jump in the world rankings. He also climbed to #126 in the FedEx Cup standings, just one place out of where he'll need to finish this fall to retain his card.

Now he gets to return to the PGA Tour event held a stone's throw from where he went to college. He hasn't performed well so far at the 3M Open, but with the playoffs yet an outside hope, van Rooyen will be motivated to go up against some of the top Umcees in golf, as well as other luminaries like Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama and, of course, reigning champion Tony Finau, whose win at the 3M last year sparked a three-win stretch through the Houston Open in the fall. Game on!

Edward the Scop