"There's Bigger Stuff in Life than Golf"

 Normally I would preface my rationale for designating my Upper Midwest Connection of the Week with a rundown of Umcees involved in golf on the week, followed by those who missed out on the weekly honours and then my honoree, with an explanation of their accomplishments. I would also normally post this Wednesday, not only to consolidate the information I have regarding Umcees in action but because I run a busy schedule. But not only is this week's honoree an obvious choice, but there is a heartrending story beyond the ropes...as in thousands of miles beyond the ropes.

As I have mentioned several times on this blog, Erik van Rooyen is an Umcee by virtue of having enrolled at the University of Minnesota from 2009 to 2013, turning pro back home in South Africa upon graduation. Van Rooyen was a nineteen-year-old newcomer to Minnesota when he hopped off the plane at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport back in 2009, and according to his post-World Wide Technology Championship at Diamante presser in Los Cabos, Mexico, the first fellow-frosh to welcome him was a Blue Earth, Minnesota native named Jon Trasamar. As it turned out, Trasamar was also a golfer committed to the Gophers, and the two quickly bonded as roommates. Trasamar was redshirted off the bat as a true freshman, while van Rooyen played right away; but one year later, van Rooyen's future caddie, Alex Gaugert of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, joined the duo on the team. The year after van Rooyen graduated, Trasamar and Gaugert helped the Gophers win their most recent team Big Ten title.

(Side note: I attended the U the same three years that all of these guys were on the men's golf team. No, I didn't play sports. I was too nerdy at the age at which one must pick sport up to play it competitively at any level, but nerdy in the way that I could understand its statistics and have an appreciation for its stories.)

Erik van Rooyen embraced Alex Gaugert after the final putt dropped.

Meanwhile, van Rooyen got married to a former Gopher hockey cheerleader named Rose, and Trasamar served as best man for the occasion. Even after the U of M, the two and Gaugert kept in touch. Trasamar met a woman of his own named Allie in 2016 and married last year, as he slogged through one failure to translate decent minitour success--including a Dakotas Tour win, three years before van Rooyen broke through at the Eye of Africa PGA--to Q-school after another, whereas his teammate from South Africa progressed from the Sunshine Tour to the Challenge Tour to the European Tour to the PGA Tour--with plenty of major appearances and several cuts made to boot. And then came the great shock:

Jon Trasamar, then aged 31, had melanoma.

At first, Jon put it into remission. He did well enough, in fact, to enter a prequalifying event for the John Deere Classic this summer (he didn't make the main Monday qualifier). But on Halloween in Cabo, as van Rooyen and Gaugert prepared for their latest stage in the quest to retain EVR's PGA Tour card in the FedEx Cup Fall, tragedy struck, as noted in an SMS to the two: The cancer had returned, metastasizing to stage IV and disseminating throughout Trasamar's body.

To be sure, van Rooyen had been battling his own demons during the summer. At one point, he'd missed seven straight cuts and nine of eleven to necessitate FedEx Cup Fall participation. And despite three top-30 finishes to open the fall series, along with a couple good showings on the DP World Tour, he was only #125 in the points list for purposes of eligibility coming into the week--dead last among the fully exempt. But to hear that a teammate, a fellow-professional, a friend was dying all too young...it all mattered not. Erik now knew what he needed to do to see Jon, perhaps for one last time.

At first, it looked like a good-but-not-great showing for van Rooyen and the continuation of the grind at this week's Bermuda Championship, followed by next week's RSM Classic. EVR had six birdies but also two bogeys for an opening -4/68. His hopes of seeing Jon seemed as dead as those people whom Mexicans honoured that day as they do every 2 November. But an opening eagle the next day sparked Erik, and he had two more birdies to climb to -8. It was on the back nine, though, that he found his groove, and he was in the driver's seat heading to the final hole of the round, a fourth straight cut on the FedEx Cup Fall (and sixth straight worldwide) nailed down. Disaster then struck when he shanked his final tee shot into the penalty area, took a drop and, two shots later, landed his fourth shot in the bunker greenside. He tried to get up and down for bogey but missed the bogey putt for a 7. Still, he was in contention when play was suspended, his -12 four adrift of four-time Tour winner Camilo Villegas. (Incidentally, Villegas has suffered heartache in recent times, as he lost a 20-month-old daughter a few years ago. No-one should have to bury their child, ever.)

Van Rooyen started out with an even more promising first six holes for round 3, recording four birdies and, for the second straight day, an eagle--all against his only bogey of the day at the par-4 4th. He then ran into some difficulty afterward, not recording a single score other than par the next nine holes. Meanwhile, nine-time Tour winner Matt Kuchar was cruising along on -24 after a third straight birdie at the par-5 14th. It looked like la decima was Kuchar's to win. And then the fun started.

On the very next hole, Kuch screwed up his tee shot, but that wasn't the worst of it. He then struck the ball into the penalty area, where he tried to get up and down, but he was forced to drop twice afterward before succeeding on the third try for an 8 against a par 4. He also bogeyed the following par-3 to drop into a tie with Villegas, who had made back-to-back birdies to move one clear of van Rooyen. (EVR also had made birdie at 16). Villegas then three-putted 17 to give Kuch a brief solo lead, but then gained back a share to tie on -19--again, one ahead of Erik. Those three would be the final group for Sunday.

The final round started forgettably for van Rooyen. He found the fairway off the tee but then landed in the greenside bunker and needed two tries to get out, losing his birdie putt and then missing his par, while Kuchar and Villegas made birdie. Though EVR would make birdie at the next hole, a par 3, his only other birdie on the front nine was on the par-5 6th, and his playing partners made birdie as well anyway. Game over, right? WRONG!!!

After No 6, Villegas would go ten straight holes without a birdie or better. This included the aforementioned 14th, where he flubbed his own tee shot and was forced to drop. He was lucky to save par. Meanwhile, Erik churned out three straight birdies, followed by one at 14, doing one better than Kuchar. Then, after all three had parred the 15th, Erik copied what Justin Suh had done in the group ahead and hit a birdie from distance at 16. Another long birdie followed at 17, while Kuchar could only muster par on both holes. (Villegas did birdie 17.) When the group reached the final hole, van Rooyen was tied on -25 with Kuchar, with Villegas close behind on -24. Problem was, van Rooyen hadn't broken par at the last all week, and this was the site of his infamous 7. Could he atone, thinking of Jon back in Minnesota?

The answer was a resounding yes! Erik found the fairway for the last time, then drove the approach onto the green at the second asking, eighteen feet away. Only, Villegas did the same, and a one-stroke gain would force a playoff. Kuchar didn't need to gain any strokes, but only maintain pace with van Rooyen. But his approach landed in the bunker, which meant he'd need to at least get up and down to have a chance. He ended up launching it onto the green, but away from van Rooyen and Villegas. Then, in a curious act, he allowed van Rooyen to take an attempt to seal the win with an eagle.

The ball found the cup. Van Rooyen raised his fist in the air and pointed to and embraced Gaugert as the two teared up. It took van Rooyen ten tearful seconds to answer Golf Channel interviewer George Savaricas' question on how he kept his composure through the ordeal of playing for Jon Trasamar. I think van Rooyen put it best: "There's bigger stuff in life than golf...When you're playing for something bigger than winning some silly trophy, it puts things in perspective." This quote might well apply to any sport, whether football, soccer, basketball...whatever. Regardless of what Bill Shankly said about soccer, sport isn't a matter of life or death. (I admit, I need to meditate on that when I watch the Gophers play football or, this season, volleyball.) Cancer or any other potential terminal illness is, wherever and however it afflicts the body.

Most weeks, a post on an Umcee winning a tour event would focus on the status thus earned: job security, access to more prestigious events and so on. And EVR got his share of perks with the win: $1.487 million richer; two more years on the PGA Tour; a jump from #125 to #63 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings; a surge from #189 to #82 in the OWGR; and forthcoming trips to the Sentry, the Players Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship, none of which he played in this year. Moreover, if he gets a second full-point win through the Memorial Tournament, the week before the U.S. Open, he'll qualify for that major as well. Lastly, a top performance at next week's RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia could get van Rooyen to Pebble Beach and the Genesis, too, if he chooses to play. None of that matters now amid the sheer fragility of human life to which he has been privy through being soon to lose his BFF and college teammate to cancer. Erik van Rooyen has already withdrawn from Bermuda to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and be with Trasamar in some of his last days.

They say the events that lack for star power on the PGA Tour make up for this absence in terms of humanity. This doesn't mean that big-time events can't bring touching stories to the fore; it's just that the winners have tended to be more assured in their careers as golfers. It truly has put things in perspective for the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. Perhaps for not only his play, but his wisdom at age 33, even the Upper Midwest Connection of the Year.

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to me."--Matthew 25:40 (NRSV)

Edward the Scop