For the first time since the week of Scottish Open, there were multiple Upper Midwest connections in tour golf playing in Europe, and both made the cut at their respective events. But before we get into Umcees abroad, I'd like to recap what happened at the CRMC Championship in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota with special attention given Upper Midwest connections in action there.
With the PGA Tour on its fortnightly hiatus following the Tour Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour taking another week off beyond that stretch until its Finals resume with the Simmons Bank Open, I was able to shine my stateside spotlight on the CRMC pretty brightly, especially since it is the final regular-season event in the history of the PGA Tour Canada. Chinese prospect Yi Cao ran away with the title by eight strokes (-22), soaring from #55 to #9 in the Fortinet Cup and having a legitimate chance at a double bye in Q-school proper (that is, excluding prequalifying, which begins next week at three sites with five more over the following two weeks).
For the Umcees in the field, it wasn't nearly so rosy. Among players who didn't withdraw, Matt Boldy of the NHL's Minnesota Wild finished dead last on +19 at the cut; but he was just doing it for fun, I guess, since he was on a sponsor's exemption. Tom Lehman Jr fared better, but his +4 didn't cut it either. Blaine, Minnesota's Caleb VanArragon, who plays collegiately for the Valparaiso Crusaders (unless they changed their nickname), fared even better but missed the cut by a single stroke on +1. The most heartbreaking finish for any Umcee was reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Thomas Longbella, whose streak of seven straight cuts made ended when he failed to break par on the closing par 5, also finishing +1, and he fell just outside the top 25 to #26 on the points list.
That left four for the weekend. Harrison Ott had a chance to secure his status for 2024 on the new PGA Tour Americas, but mediocre +1 rounds on Thursday and Saturday meant even a final-round -3 couldn't save him from having to go back to Q-school this fall. A double bogey on 15 Sunday also didn't help. George Kneiser may have seen his hopes of direct entry into Final Stage die with a poor final-round +2. He should have enough points to make Second Stage, though. Derek Hitchner had impressive middle rounds of -4 on Friday and Saturday, but a moribund 70 on the par-70 course actually dropped him to #45 on the list (from #38). Still, he has PGA Tour U privileges to fall back upon, assuring him of playing Second Stage, too. The tragic irony of the best performance from an Umcee at the CRMC, though, was that it wasn't enough to secure a spot in Calgary this week. Jordan Hahn of Janesville, Wisconsin, who in fact is a former Wisconsin Badger, tied for 15th and jumped from #86...to #63. Only four points shy of making the final Fortinet Cup Championship! What one shot can do.
The only other Umcees in tour golf last week played in Europe. Angus Flanagan, who played collegiately at Minnesota, made the cut at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden. Unfortunately, the break from playing that proved his ally at first--a long break due to a waterlogged course--ultimately proved his enemy, as he suffered six bogeys against only one birdie on Sunday, as he played 25 holes each of the last two days of the tournament. At least he can say he's four for four on the Challenge Tour. But there was one Umcee who not only made the cut, but truly showed up at the weekend, to post his second-best European Tour result of the 2023 season. As one of the current "big three" Umcees along with Tom Hoge and Troy Merritt, this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week needs no introduction...
Erik van Rooyen.
The former Minnesota Gophers golf captain from South Africa captures his second such honour after a T8 at the Omega European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Yes, that's the crazy outfit he wore for his final round Sunday.) Even his worst round, which went down Friday, broke par with a -1 on 69 strokes, and he made the cut with two strokes to spare. Again, though, the weekend saw him truly kick butt with eight birdies Saturday to move from 33rd to 16th on the leaderboard. Then, on Sunday, he had his best round of the week with a -5, suffering only one bogey at No 2. He even got an eagle at 14 and closed with a difficult sand shot to find the green in regulation within a few feet of the hole. I saw the latter shot on the NBC Sports website since the linear Golf Channel was covering the Walker Cup (whose previous edition had involved Flanagan during his time with the Gophers, as he played for the British Isles). It was a much-needed top-ten showing for van Rooyen, who had slipped to #235 in the world rankings and is now #211, and he climbed to #149 in the Race to Dubai. He joins Longbella as the only two-time recipients of the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week plaudit.
This week is the final week before the PGA Tour commences its first true fall series since 2012, the year before it adopted the short-lived wraparound schedule that expired with this year's Tour Championship. In the meantime, though, we have the PGA Tour Canada's swan song in Calgary at the Fortinet Cup Championship to follow. Three Umcees made it in Kneiser, Longbella and Hitchner. Meanwhile, on the European Tour, the Irish Open takes over the K Club in County Kildare, Ireland, with van Rooyen and Tom Hoge as the Umcees at that event. Finally, as of this writing, Flanagan has an outside chance at making the Challenge de Espana. He was a high alternate, but he is also playing a Clutch Pro Tour event in his native England, which might create a scheduling conflict for him. Stay tuned.
Edward the Scop
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