Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 14 January 2024

 What you see below is a screenshot of the data table I created in Excel to help me follow the PGA Tour's eligibility for signature events among those not otherwise exempt. Each player is listed with his country code as assigned by the International Olympic Committee and the FedEx Cup points he's accrued over various PGA Tour events. This table is limited to members who haven't won in 2024 on the Tour or otherwise failed to crack last year's BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. From an Upper Midwestern perspective, the latter restriction explains why Tom Hoge isn't on the list, as he made the BMW yet again last August. On the other hand, finishers 51-60 on the FedEx Cup Fall points list are given for now with asterisks, signifying their automatic qualification to both Pebble Beach and the Genesis. The particular screenshot is arranged by "Swing Five" standing and is limited to the top thirty in this regard with ties broken by overall FedEx Cup points. Not shown, but very much on the table, is Luke List, who is automatically eligible for both Pebble Beach and the Genesis for his "next ten" performance across the FedEx Cup Fall, highlighted by his playoff win at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi in October.

I bring up this table because this past week marked the beginning of the first "swing" for signature event eligibility purposes. The Sony Open in Hawai'i was the first of three events counting toward the interval for this year's Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a stretch that continues with this week's American Express and wraps up at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. More on that below.

Anyway, three Umcees competed at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Unlike the vast, hilly Kapalua Resort, Waialae is a flat, compact track that checks in as a par-70. As you might've guessed, the Umcees involved were Hoge and reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Erik van Rooyen, joined by Troy Merritt. Merritt would have been last among the exempt but for Jon Rahm's defection to LIV, leaving that honour to Carl Yuan of China.

Hoge struggled and missed the cut. Van Rooyen fared better and made the cut by two strokes, though it would have been by  just one if Joel Dahmen had made an easy birdie putt at the last on Friday. By the back nine Sunday, though, the Minnesota Gophers alumnus had petered out and would suffer three bogeys to give back his front-nine progress before getting up and down for a closing birdie to salvage a breach of 70 for the fourth day running and seventh day on the trot dating to Kapalua round 2.

The Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, then, is Troy Merritt. Like van Rooyen, he struggled Sunday, settling for even par. Before then, though, the Spring Lake Park (Minnesota) alumnus had registered successive 66s in the middle rounds to get into contention to some degree. As the screenshot above indicates, he is T11 in the opening standings for the "swing five."

This week, as mentioned before, the American Express takes over the Coachella Valley of California. The big three Umcees will again be there, with Merritt and van Rooyen jockeying for spots at Pebble Beach. Furthermore, once the three-event swing is complete at Torrey Pines next week (a day early to accommodate NFL conference championships), the swing standings will be frozen throughout the signature event they helped fill and will be supplemented with the Phoenix Open in its traditional Super Bowl week slot to help fill the Genesis.

However, Hoge, Merritt and EVR aren't the only Umcees in action. Frankie Capan III helped commence the Korn Ferry Tour season in the Bahamas at the Great Exuma Classic on the same day the Sony Open wrapped up the Hawai'i swing. Although the reckoning has been delayed to Tuesday because of darkness, FCIII is mathematically assured of making the cut, as of the 14 players yet to complete their rounds, only nine are tied for 55th with him or otherwise behind him and within mathematical reach. He made the cut despite a disastrous +3/75 Monday.

Nor is the Umcee action limited to tour pros for once. This week also features the Latin American Amateur Championship, with University of Minnesota junior Eduardo Galdos of Peru in the field. Galdos missed the cut the first two years he made the LAAC, but he came close to making the weekend last year and might break through this year. The winner qualifies for all three open majors--the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. I'm not holding my breath, but you never know.

Edward the Scop