First off, apologies for not posting earlier this week. My Mondays have become increasingly hectic with driving range and other practice, and I had been shorted on sleep the night before. Perhaps the desire to play D&D again has cost me some rest, as I haven't been able to indulge in it since 20 April. The NFL Draft was a week later, followed by my trip to see one of my best friends in Philadelphia for a few days the week after that. Also, I was following the Leagues Cup last night, as Minnesota United won a second straight penalty shootout, this time over Toluca. I told you I like soccer as well as golf! The Loons are now only two wins away from next year's Concacaf Champions Cup, one of which would have to come over Nashville. In any case, at least until the end of my league season, I will probably post more often on Tuesdays than Mondays.
But back to golf. Last week was the conclusion of the FedEx Cup regular season, and as expected, (at least) two of the big three Umcees are going to the FedEx Cup Fall, which starts next month with the Fortinet Championship. Erik van Rooyen missed the cut by two strokes, and Troy Merritt, who did make the cut but stumbled on Sunday, saw his streak of five straight playoff qualifications come to an end--and not just because of the stricter criteria for qualifying. On the Korn Ferry Tour, Monday qualifier Andre Metzger, who has some connection to the Sioux Falls area, missed the cut despite a -3 Friday, while Frankie Capan III failed to improve in the order of merit, remaining at #38.
It was at the Windsor Championship on the PGA Tour Canada in its last week before a fortnight's hiatus, then, that top-level Umcee performances were to be found last week. We start with Monday qualifier Van Holmgren. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota and a graduate (I think) of Wayzata High School, Holmgren went to North Dakota State for a few years before transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University. Did you know that, at 6'8", he is the tallest player in PGA Tour Canada history? He started out strong, posting -5 and -2 rounds on the workweek before struggling with a +4 weekend. Next, Jordan Hahn (no relation to James) hails from Janesville, WI and went to the nearby University of Wisconsin. He broke par all four days but only mustered -1 Sunday and finished T44.
Two other Minnesota connections finished much higher up the leaderboard Sunday. Derek Hitchner, native of Minneapolis and alumnus of Pepperdine, was a PGA Tour U third team laureate this past spring by finishing 14th on that list. This ensures he'll start Q-school in the second stage rather than the first regardless of where he finishes this season. He broke 70 all four days, highlighted by a 6-under 65 Friday. But given a Fortinet Cup rank of 35th, it's unlikely over the last three events of the season that he'll crack the top five to skip second stage, which renders a top-25 finish in the list irrelevant for this season. Fortinet Cup placement is relevant, though, for this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week...
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| Thomas Longbella at the Windsor Championship. |
Thomas Longbella.
Moving to #26 in the Fortinet Cup and to the cusp of the top thousand in the world rankings, the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin native and University of Minnesota product saved his best for last, carding a bogey-free -7 Sunday, including five birdies on the back nine. He could have cracked the Fortinet Cup top 25 if he'd taken better advantage of the par fives, as he missed birdies on two of the three, but he's still got time to secure a second straight first-stage bye, as he has made six successive cuts on PGA Tour Canada. He'll look to keep working toward that goal over the last three events--the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg, the CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minnesota (yes, PGA Tour Canada runs an event stateside) and the Fortinet Cup Tour Championship in Calgary.
As for next week's honour, there'll only be four Umcees up for it, two of whom--Tripp Kinney of West Des Moines, Iowa and the aforementioned Andre Metzger--got in via open qualifying. There are also two regulars: Tom Hoge, who returns to action after sitting out the last two weeks, his spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs secure, and Frankie Capan III, who resumes his quest for a PGA Tour card at the Pinnacle Bank Championship.
Edward the Scop
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