When I created my Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honour, I promised I wouldn't limit myself to any given tour or tours. This is especially critical to determine who it has been for weeks when it seems activity is down. Last week was one of those weeks.
In the whole wide world of men's tour golf, a mere three Umcees competed last week: Tom Hoge on the PGA Tour and Frankie Capan III and Tripp Kinney on the Korn Ferry Tour. There was no PGA Tour Canada event, as that circuit is on a fortnightly hiatus ahead of next week's Manitoba Open and the following week's CRMC Championship near Brainerd in my home state of Minnesota. Let's look at how they performed...
We start, of course, with Hoge. The Fargo product made the FedEx Cup playoffs for the fourth straight year despite the tightening of criteria (just seventy this year as opposed to 125 in past years). Despite being very overlooked, Hoge started out with promise, carding an opening -3 by shooting 67 at TPC Southwind in Memphis at the FedEx St Jude Championship. Even the next day wasn't too shabby, as he also broke par with a 69. Unfortunately, it hit the fan Saturday with a 73. Hoge was in danger of missing the BMW Championship this week (fifty this year made it, down from seventy in the past) for the first time since nearly losing his Tour card in 2019 before birdieing the last three holes somehow on Sunday. His -4 finish dropped him to #48 (from #46) in the standings, so he has a lot of work to do to make a second straight trip to East Lake.
Meanwhile, Capan entered the Pinnacle Bank Championship in Omaha at #38 in the KFT Points List but slipped one spot as a result of his performance. This was because he struggled at the weekend with rounds of 73 and 72, both over par (+2 and +1, respectively). It's clear Capan was outshined by Tripp Kinney, who actually trailed him with one round to go. But then Kinney rattled off six birdies Sunday, and only a bogey on his fourth-to-last hole kept him from building on his jump to #178 (from #233) in the points list this week at the Magnit Championship in New Jersey before next week's KFT Finals opener at the Boise Open. With all that said, though, the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week for last week is...
Kate Smith.
You didn't think I follow women's golf, did you?! Well, an Umcee is an Umcee, and Smith counts as one.
Hailing from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and a local five-time high school state champ at the Double-A level in the state girls' golf tournament, Smith entered last week's Four Winds Invitational in South Bend, Indiana without a top-five finish in her as yet short professional golf career since graduating from the University of Nebraska in 2022. Well, she got not only that, but a place on the podium with Gabi Ruffels of Australia (who won for the third time on the Epson Tour, which is the LPGA Tour's equivalent of the KFT) and fellow runner-up Becca Huffer. Indeed, had Smith recorded birdie at the last, she would have added $6400 to her winnings of $16 020. As it stands, Smith had been teetering towards falling outside the top 35 on the order of merit on the Epson Tour, known appropriately as the Race for the Card. This is important because, unlike the PGA Tour, the majority of promotees to the LPGA Tour come via qualifying school finals, AKA Q-Series.
How is this so? Only ten cards are awarded directly via Epson Tour money, while twenty are given to the top finishers at Q-Series. If a golfer has to play Q-Series, she had better finish top 35 on the Epson Tour if she isn't already an LPGA Tour member to gain direct entry upon applying. As a result of her career best showing, Smith moved from #30 to #19 in the Race for the Card!
This week, the spotlight will inevitably be cast upon Olympia Fields near Chicago, as the BMW Championship goes down to determine the thirty Tour Championship participants. That said, let's not lose sight of the fact that the KFT is also wrapping its regular season as the PGA Tour did a couple weeks ago. Hopefully Frankie Capan III can snap out of his funk and get to the top 30 by season's end, earning a card on the PGA Tour.
Edward the Scop
No comments:
Post a Comment