What We Learned In Columbus

We learned that David Lingmerth has game. The Swede dispatched Justin Rose on the third hole of a playoff to claim his first PGA Tour title. Did you know he played his college golf at the University of West Florida and Arkansas, too? Lingmerth lost a playoff two years back for the Humana Challenge (Brian Gay was champ that day) but did win on the Web.Com tour, back in 2012.

Related: Lingmerth’s Winning WITB

We learned that Tiger is capable of even crazier numbers than we thought. 85? I thought that was Palmer’s age. From my perspective, his swing under Como’s tutelage is less jerky than it was with Foley, so I’m still not counting him out. All he needs is Bagger Vance to come and philosophize a bit. Paging Will Smith…

We learned that Jordan Spieth doesn’t need to win, just feel the nerves. Although the Memorial is certainly a nice tournament to win, Spieth needed to feel the nerves in preparation for another event; the one taking place in two weeks, the one they call the National Open. The only guy on tour to win at Chambers Bay is Peter Uihlein, and he’s not in the U.S. Open field, which makes it a level field in my eyes.

We learned that Justin Rose doesn’t always win and that even the best tour players give shots away when we least expect it. And then they come back. And then they almost win. Which makes Rose my favorite at Chambers Bay.

LSU Claims NCAA Men’s Title

The horse-racing world waited 37 years for American Pharoah to repeat what Seattle Slew and Affirmed did in the 1970s. Pardon me, equestrians, but that’s not nearly the hiatus the Division 1 men’s golf title took before returning to Baton Rouge. The Bayou Bengals defeated the University of Southern California in the match-play final, 4 to 1. The team ended a sixty-year drought, despite not having a true star on the squad. You know what they say about teamwork? They say, Geaux, Tigers!

Oh, Suzann!

Used to be that Suzann Pettersen had trouble winning, trouble closing the deal. Might have been the fittest player on tour, but that mental thing, ohhh that mental thing! Sunday the Norwegian pro turned another corner at the Manulife Classic on the LPGA Tour. Visiting a new home (Whistle Bear golf club), no player had prior knowledge of the course, so no bets were on. Semi-local favorites Brooke and Brittany Henderson both missed the cut, and the top Canadian in the field was Alena Sharp, who finished t-27. Oh, right, the winner! Pettersen began the day on uncertain footing, making two bogies early. Unlike previous times, when the train would go completely off-track, the 15-time tour champion navigated the rough rails and responded with birdies and eagles to overcome challengers Brittany Lang (one back at 21-under par) and Mariajo Uribe (third place at -18)

Those Other Guys

Let’s see, we have Alexander Noren taking home the Nordea Masters in his homeland of Sweden. Noren held off the field by making par after par after par on Sunday. After a birdie-bogey start, it was all pars until a final-hole birdie gave him a four-stroke edge. Runner-up was last week’s winner, Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark.

On the Web.Com tour, Tyler Aldridge captured the Greater Dallas Open by two shots. The former Boise State golfer went up-down-up-down on his inward nine, posting bogey-birdie-bogey-eagle from hole

The Champions Tour saw Mark Calcavecchia, once termed a “club pro from Italy” by Masters tournament chairman Hord Hardin, preserve his overnight lead and claim the Principal Charity Classic by one slim shot, just ahead of Brian Henninger and Joe Durant. Calc personified the phrase “bring home the bacon,” as he sported a pair of bacon-adorned trousers on Sunday, courtesy of the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Des Moines, Iowa.

And A Few More…

Albin Choi held off a trio of runners-up by three strokes to claim the second event of the 2015 PGA Mackenzie Tour-Canada season, the Bayview Place Island Savings Open. Choi burst from the gate with opening rounds of 64-65, then overcame a Saturday-70 with a strong 66 on Sunday.

And Mexico’s Rodolfo Cazaubon jumped past Tommy Cocha of Argentina, into first place on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Order of Merit, by virtue of his victory at the Dominican Republic Open. Cazaubon’s Sunday 72 may not have been pretty (four bogeys against four birdies) but it was efficient enough to lick the envelope on victory number two of the young season. Cazaubon had previously triumphed in Panama in early May.

And finally, happy anniversary to my wife of 24 years!