It was another underwhelming week for Umcees on tour. Of the nine such players across three events--the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship, the PGA Tour Americas' Bupa Championship and the Epson Tour's Atlantic Beach Classic--only two (Thomas Longbella in the Bupa and Kim Kaufman in the Atlantic Beach) made it with room to spare. Two other PGA Tour Americas Umcees--Derek Hitchner and Matthew Walker--didn't know they'd be playing the weekend until Saturday because the second round was interrupted by darkness. Only when the cut reached +5 did they have assurance that they'd play on. The other five Umcees--Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson, both playing the Valspar; Wisconsinites George Kneiser and Harrison Ott, both at the Bupa; and Kate Smith-Stroh at Atlantic Beach--missed out on prize money. It's especially been a slow start for Smith-Stroh. She finished 19th in the Race for the Card last year, although she finished short of an LPGA Tour card in both that regard and Q-Series. But this year, she has made just one cut out of three events.
Of the four Umcees who did make the cut, the two who made it by the skin of their teeth failed to impress that much at the weekend. Thomas Longbella, native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and a former Minnesota Gopher, showed up in the final round in particular, posting by far his best round of the week (-4/68) to surge 26 spots to a T21 finish. This sufficed to help him climb to #1034 in the OWGR, though he will still likely have to enter local qualifying for the U.S. Open, if not the Open Championship. But it's clear that he was outshined by none other than...
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| (Source: Epson Tour) |
For the first time in Devilish Rake history, a woman repeats as Upper Midwest Connection of the Week! The Clark, South Dakota native and thrice winner on the Epson Tour almost pulled off a fourth win on the circuit in her career. She got off to a fast start with rounds of -4/67 and -2/69 Thursday and Friday, respectively. Even Saturday, when she bogeyed twice in her first four holes, Kaufman held in there and got back to hovering around even par the rest of the day. Only a missed birdie at the last kept her from forcing winner Briana Chacon into a playoff. As it is, Kaufman is fifth in the Race for the Card now on 404 and two-thirds points, and she has jumped to #565 in the women's world rankings! While it's too early to say she'll be back on the LPGA Tour in 2025, things are definitely looking up for Kim Kaufman as we speak.
This week is a bit quieter on the tour scene. The Korn Ferry Tour is reaching the end of its March hibernation, while the Epson Tour goes into a hibernation of its own starting this week. Moreover, on the PGA Tour, Tom Hoge is the only Umcee participating in this week's Houston Open, as he returns to competition after the disappointment of TPC Sawgrass. He likely needs at least a third-place finish to reach Augusta National for the third year running or a win at next week's Texas Open, according to the Associated Press, for such a finish would get him into the top-50 OWGR category set for the Masters. Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson are sitting out this week, while Erik van Rooyen has no incentive to participate either, having won last November's World Wide Technologies Championship to qualify.
The PGA Tour Americas, though, will roll on to the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico at the Atlas Country Club, and the same five Umcees who played last week on the tour will also be involved in this week's event. The tour was originally supposed to go into hibernation as well until the Brazilian Open the week of the Masters, followed by the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational in Argentina the next week, but unrest in Argentina forced the PGA Tour group to substitute a backup event. Lastly, Hartland, Wisconsin native Emily Lauterbach passed her open-qualifying test for this week's Ford Championship with a birdie at the first playoff hole. It will be her LPGA Tour debut.
Edward the Scop
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