Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 19 November 2023

 After the heartwarming stories of the previous fortnight, with Erik van Rooyen prevailing at the World Wide Technologies Championship with his dying BFF Jon Trasamar in mind and Camilo Villegas winning the Bermuda Championship to honour the memory of his daughter Mia, who died of cancer four months short of her second birthday, last week had slim pickings by comparison. That doesn't mean it lacked for storylines.

In Dubai, the race for the Vardon Trophy may have fallen to Rory McIlroy without a shot of the DP World Tour Championship being taken, but the race for ten PGA Tour cards for next year came to a crescendo when Rasmus Hojgaard, hoping to join his successful STM-earning twin brother Nicolai in America in 2024, landed his approach in the water at the final hole of the Earth Course. Where he hoped to make birdie or better to leave no doubt, he settled for par. Adding insult to injury, Matthieu Pavon of France finished his season with four straight birdies to get that card that would have otherwise gone to Rasmus. The Dane will be back, though. Maybe he'll follow his twin brother's lead and convert success in America to STM and, ultimately, membership in 2025.

Before I go any further, I should point out that the DP World Tour's subservience to Ponte Vedra Beach was a long time coming, whether you like it or not. Ever since a guy named Eldrick Tont Woods started winning events right out of Stanford in 1996, the European circuit's independence was bound to be terminally marked. I'm aware that several Umcees like the aforementioned van Rooyen and Angus Flanagan have had scenes on the DP World Tour or its developmental circuits, so I will say that the golf ecosystem needs a long, hard look going forward.

But back to America, where Ludvig Aberg completed a transatlantic double of events at the RSM Classic. The Texas Tech alumnus had already won the Omega Masters in Switzerland, earning himself a Ryder Cup European captain's pick from Luke Donald. (Some say it would've otherwise gone to Adrian Meronk of Poland. Turns out Team Europe didn't need him, I guess. As it is, Meronk is headed to the Players and the Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth the week after the PGA Championship next May as the top points-getter among the ten DPWT grads to the PGA Tour.) He had kicked butt over the following few months, including a respectable two points from as many wins at Marco Simone near Rome. Then, just last week, the Swede polished off Mackenzie Hughes of Canada by four strokes at Sea Island near Brunswick, Georgia.

You're here for the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, though, so I'll lay off on details concerning external matters. Let's start with the obvious Umcee, Troy Merritt. Heading into the RSM, Merritt was coming off three straight meh finishes after showing up at the Fortinet and the Sanderson Farms prior to Vegas. He was still ranked #123 coming in, so it was possible that he might survive to 2024 with his card without a made cut, but he wanted to make it to be sure. Unfortunately, Merritt missed the cut despite a heroic Friday effort of -6, so he had to sweat out the outcome of the weekend. As good fortune would have it, Carl Yuan of China missed out on ending Merritt's exempt status by less than two points! But rules are rules, and I can't award the plaudits to Troy Merritt, simply because he missed the cut at the RSM.

I can, however, award the honours to the top Umcee at Q-school from last week. You see, as mentioned extensively in this blog, Second Stage of the PGA Tour Q-School began 14 November, with a further two sites next week in California and Georgia. Nine Umcees made it to Second Stage, either by qualification or by exemption, of whom three progressed to Final Stage: Van Holmgren, Andre Metzger and Alex Schaake.

Metzger, as is well-known, is a folk hero on the Dakotas Tour, which is one of the top minitours in North American golf, and he maintains some residence in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (fittingly enough). He seemed headed out of Q-school in Savannah, Georgia after a second-round 74, but rallied to make it with a stroke to spare. Schaake is from Omaha, but went to the University of Iowa, which qualifies him as an Umcee. In Dothan, Alabama, he had an even worse opening-round 77, but he broke par the last three days and 70 the last two to make it with two strokes clear of the number. But it was a guy who tried and narrowly failed to medal in Port St Lucie, Florida for guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts but still advanced with ease--five strokes clear of the cut...

Van Holmgren.

Hailing from Plymouth, Minnesota and a graduate of Wayzata High School, Holmgren narrowly missed out two years ago on Final Stage when it was just for Korn Ferry Tour status when a putt lipped out. Now, with somewhat more on the line, Holmgren is headed to TPC Sawgrass to try his luck at KFT starts...or even one of five-plus PGA Tour cards! I mentioned he missed out on medallist plaudits, as he dropped behind his 54-hole coleaders in the final round. Still, he is gaining comfort in the pro game, and he has PGA Tour Americas starts guaranteed, if nothing else.

Once again, his reign as the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week will last another week, as no Umcees are known to be teeing it up in tour golf this week or next. Nor are there any Q-school stops on the week, as Second Stage (as mentioned before) takes a week off. But next week's honours, which will be awarded the week of 4 December, will go to the top performer between five participants at the remaining Second Stage sites, as well as Kate Smith (exempt) and Kim Kaufman (qualified via Stage II) at LPGA Q-Series.

Also, be on the lookout for an announcement concerning the Top Ten Upper Midwest Connections of the Year sometime over the Thanksgiving holiday. My plan was for it to drop the week of 18 December, the week after Final Stage for the PGA Tour Q-School.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 15 October 2023 + Q-School Updates

When I sat down to write this, I had just gotten in from pulling weeds ahead of the chill of winter, and it was half past six Central when I wrapped, nearly. Had to beat the sunset, you know. As I submit this, the Zozo Championship has already teed off. Normally I wouldn't write my Upper Midwest Connection of the Week feature after an event of note in the current week has teed off, but this is literally the one annual exception. Though perhaps I'll plan ahead next year and write either earlier in the day or Tuesday evening of Zozo week.

Anyway, last week was probably the last we'll see of the big three Umcees in the same tourney this year. With Tom Hoge exempt for every non-major event (including the Players) on the 2024 regular season thanks to his top-50 finish in this year's playoffs, this week's Zozo will be the last he tees it up on the PGA Tour for the fall, at least as far as official events are concerned. He might participate in some exhibition in December if he's lucky--he won last year's QBE Shootout with now-Fortinet Championship holder Sahith Theegala before it got reimagined as a mixed event for this year--and that's it. By contrast, neither Erik van Rooyen (#131 regular season) nor Troy Merritt (#133) was nearly good enough to play the Zozo, according to the main FedEx Cup point list. On the other hand, expect both to play the last three events this FedEx Cup Fall, which resumes after a one-week hiatus in Cabo at the beginning of November, while Hoge's next event bearing official money and points won't be until the season premiere at the Sentry.

Heading into the week, the discussion concerning Umcees at the Shriners Children's Open centred around Hoge. After all, he was coming off back-to-back top-15 finishes worldwide at the BMW PGA Championship in England and the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. He had had plenty of past success at TPC Summerlin. And while Merritt had had some success in Vegas, van Rooyen had missed the cut two years ago in his only previous trip.

This is why you don't read into past history too much! Hoge had consecutive even-par rounds (71), which gave him the same score as LPGA star Lexi Thompson, who hasn't won a single event on her own tour since 2019! Both missed the cut by three strokes. Merritt started well, carding a first round -3/68, but he failed to break par the last three days and actually went +1/72 for his final round. Only one Umcee mustered an under-par score all four days...

Erik van Rooyen.

For the third time since my blog's inception in July 2023, EVR is my Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. The University of Minnesota alumnus from South Africa was his country's top entrant in Sin City, obliterating Garrick Higgo by five strokes en route to a T23. He was especially lethal with his irons, ranking 12th in the field among those who made the cut, and on Sunday with a bogey-free -6/65. It wasn't enough to move van Rooyen up from #125 in the FedEx Cup, so he remains for now the bubble boy in that regard, but it did move him to #191 in the OWGR, which is his highest ranking since the last of his seven straight MCs at the John Deere Classic in July. Van Rooyen has since made seven of nine cuts worldwide, including five straight top-30 finishes--the last three in the FedEx Cup Fall.

This week also marks the second week of First Stage for PGA Tour Q-School. As my last post hinted, there aren't nearly as many Umcees this week as there were last week. There are still quite a few playing Q-school this week, though. I will say that only Matthew Walker of Ottumwa, Iowa, and Zach Burry of Appleton, Wisconsin, are on track to join those already in Second Stage at that juncture midway through this week, both from the site in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Walker, in fact, is tied for the lead with Mitchell Meissner of Dallas, Texas, which would give both of them full privileges on the Latin American portion of next year's PGA Tour Americas season.

Lastly, two Umcees are playing LPGA Q-School Stage II for a spot among the top 40 and ties to advance to the final stage, AKA Q-Series. If you've followed this blog long enough, you know of Kim Kaufman of Clark, South Dakota. She's tied for 13th through two rounds. That would put her into the Q-Series along with Kate Smith of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, who automatically qualified for that hurdle by virtue of her Epson Tour finish of #19. There's also Emily Lauterbach of Hartland, Wisconsin, who made it through Stage I earlier in Q-school. Unfortunately, it doesn't look nearly as good for her. Her score of +5 through two rounds has her T111 so far.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 8 October 2023 + Q-School Update

 After a fortnight dedicated to USA v Europe team events (it's a miracle I didn't harm myself, even in a benign way, as a result of the outcomes of both!) in which little action took place in tour golf or even in Q-school, the latter two concerns picked up again last week. I was going to name an Upper Midwest Connection of the Week last week for the week before based on the results of the Epson Tour's Tuscaloosa-Toyota Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Both reigning UMCOW (as I shall hereafter abbreviate the honour in conjunction with its full name) Kim Kaufman of Clark, South Dakota, and Kate Smith of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, were due to play the event. But sometime during the week of the event, Kaufman decided to be done for the Epson Tour season and focus on Stage II of LPGA Q-School in an effort to reclaim her card on the LPGA Tour. My next choice was to include former Wisconsin Badger Chris Meyer in the running, as long as he advanced to First Stage of PGA Tour Q-School (from prequalifying, of course). That didn't happen, although he still can look forward to Second Stage of Q-school in Europe for the DP World Tour. With only Smith making the event (though she made the cut as usual), it wasn't worth it to name an UMCOW.

Well, last week offered more options. For the first time since the FedEx Cup Regular Season ended in August, all of the big three Umcees were in the same PGA Tour event--namely, the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. Smith participated in the Epson Tour Championship, and Frankie Capan III contested the Korn Ferry Tour Championship for a shot at one of thirty cards on next year's PGA Tour. Let's break it down.

FCIII needed nothing short of a three-way share of bronze at the KFT Championship to get a PGA Tour card. Unfortunately, a ruinous 78 Thursday put him stumbling out of the gate, and he had no traction Friday either, settling for even par. His only quality round was a Saturday 66 (-6), and he gave half that progress back with a final-round +3/75 Sunday. Despite these struggles, which kept him from the top 40, Capan didn't slide any more than he had two weeks earlier at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. he gets direct entry into Final Stage of Q-school for a top-60 points list finish and, of course, full membership on the Korn Ferry Tour for next year just for making it to the event.

Remaining on the developmental-tour note, Smith fared far better in the Epson Tour Championship. While she was unable to grab the victory she would have needed to grab an LPGA Tour card in all likelihood, she finished par or better in all four rounds, breaking 70--nay, 69--in three of them. Smith's best round was arguably Thursday's bogey free -7/65. She had another flawless round Sunday, though she mustered only -4/68. Her paycheck of $5786 enabled her to finish #19 on the money list, not only ensuring her full membership on the Epson Tour for next year but granting her guaranteed access to the finals of LPGA Q-School, branded as Q-Series. Nor will she have to worry about using two sites over two weeks, as the LPGA reduced Q-Series to a single site of six rounds. The cut of 70 and ties after round four still applies, though.

This brings us to the big tour. As alluded above, Erik van Rooyen, Troy Merritt and Tom Hoge were all involved in the FedEx Cup Fall's second event. Hoge had the least to get out of the event, as his top-50 finish in the playoffs means he'll have access to all non-major events, including the Players Championship. Even so, he was under par all four rounds, as he cracked the top 25 at the event for the first time. He also moved up one spot to #49 in the OWGR. This will loom large for qualifying for the Masters, as one criterion is to finish the year in the top 50 of the world, according to the ranking.

Van Rooyen had much more to gain. Of the three Umcees in action in Jackson, he was the only one outside the top 125 eligibility threshold, so he needed a good showing to move in. Mission accomplished with three breaches of 70, although he struggled Sunday on an even-par showing. He now occupies the last spot for full membership on account of points and also moved back into the OWGR top 200, checking in at #198 this week. It's his third-highest ranking since midyear or so. However, the UMCOW honours belong most clearly to him who has helped take the FedEx Cup Fall by storm, especially from an Upper Midwestern perspective. And that guy is...

Troy Merritt.

Like Hoge, Merritt broke par all four rounds, and like van Rooyen, he broke 70 in three rounds. The guy was some front-nine trouble away from making the deciding playoff a six-man affair, as he finished just two strokes shy of the -18 he would have needed. Indeed, had he gone bogey-free and all else had remained equal, Merritt would have won his third PGA Tour title. As it is, he moved to #177 in the OWGR and #115 in the fall rankings, though he remains among the antepenultimate five survivors. (His last winner's exemption expired in August 2021.) Definitely one to look out for this fall.

Tomorrow as of this writing, the Shriners Children's Open tees off in Las Vegas, and First Stage of Q-School is underway as we speak. One Umcee, Tripp Kinney of Des Moines, Iowa, leads the site in Lincoln, Nebraska, on -12. If he holds on to win the medal, he'll get PGA Tour Americas membership for the first half of its inaugural 2024 season, held in Latin America.

Edward the Scop