It was a busy week not only for Umcees in tour golf, but also for sports in general. The NFL Scouting Combine again took up residence at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and two Minnesota Gophers--safety Tyler Nubin and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford--were among the participants. Even though he didn't do much in the way of workouts after his Senior Bowl injury, I expect Nubin to be a second-round selection, perhaps the first safety off the board who isn't primarily a cornerback. If that's not a teaser for next month's Draft Day Party Hangover blog, I don't know what is.
But back to golf. This past batch of events involved seven Umcees playing two events on the PGA Tour pyramid, as the Korn Ferry Tour commenced a brief resumption of activity with the Argentine Open. The winner, Mason Andersen, got a trip to play the Open Championship at Royal Troon this July. Meanwhile, back in the States, the event formerly known as the Honda Classic and now as the Cognizant Classic again took over PGA National. Compared with recent years, the course was relatively easygoing, even with the Bear Trap of holes 15-17. With these two events in mind, how did the seven Umcees fare?
Three of them played in Argentina. It's well-known that the election of Javier Milei as president of Argentina has anticipated austerity measures, which have sparked protests throughout the country. Incidentally, this led the PGA Tour Americas to cancel the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational and replace it with an event at Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico. It also gave reason for pause to many KFT players, who may have been uncertain about their safety and ability to get accommodations they could afford. Two Umcees, Dakotas Tour legend Andre Metzger and former Iowa Hawkeye Alex Schaake, may have pulled out over these concerns despite being invited. They have both joined Frankie Capan III, Van Holmgren and Thomas Longbella--all of whom did participate in the Argentine Open--in Chile this week for the Astara Classic.
Of the actual participants, two--FCIII and Longbella--missed the cut, but Holmgren excelled. He was -16/194 with one round to play and leading, but then disaster struck with two bogeys in his first three holes Sunday. Perhaps the pressure got to him, and he couldn't get back to par for the day. Still, he tied for fifth, which was an excellent showing for a second cap on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he should get more starts going forward.
As for the Cognizant Classic, all four Umcees--reigning UMCOW Erik van Rooyen, reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Month Tom Hoge, Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson--made the weekend. Merritt, as usual, barely registered, finishing T47. At least he cracked the top fifty. Tom Hoge also missed the top 25, albeit by just one stroke (-9/275). Zach Johnson reached the top 25 but failed to convert the tricky closing par-5 for a par breaker, settling for T21. It's clear who was the top Umcee last week...
Erik van Rooyen.
Heading into Sunday, it didn't seem like anybody other than Holmgren would win Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours. But van Rooyen rattled off six straight birdies to open his final round, along with two more in the next five holes and no bogeys and taking a one-shot lead. That's when Mother Nature decided to intervene, leading to a rain delay of three and a half hours. Van Rooyen did finish his round where he had resumed it--on -8/63 for the day and -14/270 for the tournament. Meanwhile, as mentioned before, Holmgren lost his mojo in Argentina. In the end, PGA Tour sophomore Austin Eckroat prevailed by three strokes, but van Rooyen finished jointly second with Aussie phenom Min Woo Lee (Minjee's little brother). For EVR, the implications were massive, as he jumped to #59 in the OWGR and #19 in the FedEx Cup. He's also #15 in the Presidents Cup standings for the International Team and is the top-rated South African in the OWGR, meaning he's on track for the Paris Olympics after narrowly missing out on Tokyo three years ago.
This week features TEN Umcees! In addition to van Rooyen, Hoge and Merritt, the number of KFT Umcees, as mentioned above, grows to five in Chile. Lastly, the Epson Tour--the women's Korn Ferry Tour equivalent--tees off Friday at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic, and two more Umcees--Kate Smith-Stroh (yes, she got married in the offseason) and Kim Kaufman will figure there.
Edward the Scop
No comments:
Post a Comment