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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 U.S. BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
With an amazing 29 players bunched within four shots of the lead going into the final round of the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, it was clear that the tournament would evolve into a shootout, full of lead changes and drama on Brown Deer Park GC’s final holes.
That promise was fulfilled in the 41st playing of Milwaukee’s venerable PGA Tour event, as players in the final groups shuffled in and out of the lead as the tournament wound down. But a funny thing happened in the second-to-last trio, where two of the players, Richard S. Johnson and Ken Duke, engaged in a match-play competition of sorts.
“I was just trying to catch Ken all day,” said Johnson, the eventual champion.
“I was trying not to look at the (leaderboard) until I got to the last few holes,” said runner-up Duke. “I knew I had to catch Richard before I could even look.”
When the dust settled on the 18th green a couple of hours later, Johnson had earned his first PGA Tour victory thanks to an impressive final-round 64, as well as a few other perks that came along with it, including a check worth $720,000, a two-year PGA Tour exemption through the 2010 season and 2,250 FedEx Cup points.
Johnson, a native of Sweden who lives in Florida, finished at 16-under-par 264 (63-67-70-64), one stroke ahead of Duke (67-65-68-65). There was a three-way tie for third at 267 among Dean Wilson (65-73-64-65), Chad Campbell (67-67-68-65) and Chris Riley (68-66-67-66).
Johnson was able to look back on a couple of key shots throughout the tournament which made it all possible for him, starting with a vital ace on the par-3 14th hole in the first round. Johnson became the first player to make a hole-in-one on the 14th hole since Tiger Woods professional debut way back in 1996.
“I made that hole-in-one and all of a sudden it felt like I could make some birdies,” Johnson said. “I haven’t had that feeling for a while.”
In the final round, Johnson, needing something good to happen to jump-start his round, made an unusual birdie on the par-5 sixth hole. After driving into the right rough, Johnson’s layup shot hit a tree and landed in the rough once again. From there, he hit an approach to about 12 feet and made the birdie putt.
“All of sudden I just went, ‘I can do this,’” Johnson said. “From there on, I played unbelievable.”
Johnson birdied three of the final four holes on the way to the clubhouse. His final moment of excellence came on Brown Deer’s par-5 18th hole, where, standing 241 yards out in the fairway and mulling his second shot, he pulled out his 3-wood. The shot rolled 20 feet past the hole, and Johnson two-putted for birdie – and the victory – from there. It was a key shot because Duke also made birdie on the 18th to shoot 65 and finish one stroke back.
When asked how his first PGA Tour victory would change his life, Johnson said: “Ask me next year.” Then he added: “I don’t think it will change my life drastically. I’m like every other person. I’ve got a mortgage to pay off.”
Several others had chances over the final holes to claim the title. Defending champion Joe Ogilvie, who was attempting to be the tournament’s first-ever back-to-back champion, held the lead briefly Sunday on the back nine before bogeying Nos. 16 and 17 to spoil his chances. Ogilvie shot 66-67-68-67–268 and tied for sixth.
Also in the five-way tie for sixth place at 268 was Kenny Perry, the 2003 champion who made headlines by choosing to play Milwaukee rather than the British Open. Perry caught fire with a 30 on the final nine to climb the leaderboard. He played Nos. 10 through 16 in 6 under par, thanks in large part to a holed approach shot for eagle on the 16th hole. For the week, Perry finished with scores of 67-68-69-67.
Troy Matteson (67-65-70-66) also tied for sixth at 268 after leading the tournament midway through the final round. Matteson made five birdies over his first 11 holes, but was unable to sustain that pace and went 1 over par on his way in.
Mark Wilson led the way among Wisconsin players, rallying to grab a share of 19th place. Wilson, a native of Pewaukee now living in the Chicago area, shot 69-67-68-66–270.
The only other state player to make the cut was Jon Turcott of Middleton, who plays on the Nationwide Tour. Turcott (71-67-69-70–277) cashed the first PGA Tour check of his career – worth $8,360 – with a tie for 64th place. Turcott also made the cut in 2002 as an amateur, finishing in a tie for 56th place.
— Rick Pledl
WSGA SENIOR MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
The title match at the Wisconsin State Golf Association Senior Match Play Championship boiled down to one of those classic battles pitting power against finesse.
In one corner was Stu Grendahl of Cherokee CC in Madison, the defending champion and reigning state senior player of the year. Grendahl personified the power side of the equation, as he consistently out-drove his opponent, Ron Hayek of Morningstar GC in Waukesha, by 30 to 40 yards in the championship match.
But Hayek had the finesse game going. He dropped several pressure putts when he needed them most, allowing him to stay with Grendahl despite some struggles with his own ball striking.
The end result was an entertaining championship match at beautiful West Bend CC that went down to the final hole. The seesaw affair was finally decided when Hayek’s approach shot on the par-4 18th hole skirted the bank above the greenside pond and trickled into the hazard. Grendahl eventually won the match and the title with a conceded par on the 18th hole for his second consecutive Senior Match Play title.
“I used to think I was terrible at match play – I shouldn’t say I thought I was, I was terrible at match play,” said Grendahl in assessing his recent success with the format. “But over the years I’ve gotten better. There’s a different mentality. You just have grind it out.”
It was clear that both Grendahl, 57, and Hayek, 62, were doing just that as the match unfolded. After Hayek went 2-up through the first four holes, Grendahl won the next three holes to take a 1-up lead. Hayek led again early on the back nine, but Grendahl took the lead once more with a par on the par-4 16th hole, as Hayek made bogey.
Hayek got back to all-square on the downhill par-3 17th when both players found the front bunker with their tee shots. Hayek got up and down from the bunker, dropping his 4-foot par putt, while Grendahl missed his 8-footer for par.
After both players found the 18th fairway off the tee, Hayek hit a 6-iron from a downhill lie, and it was nearly perfect.
“I was 5 feet right on that shot,” Hayek explained afterward. “It was one of my more solid shots of the day, but off that sidehill lie, I pushed it just a little, and that was enough.”
After watching Hayek dunk his ball, Grendahl played a conservative approach to the center of the green and was eventually conceded a 5-foot par putt.
Afterward, Grendahl seemed somewhat relived to win the title for a second time, particularly since he didn’t putt well in the tournament, leading to some extremely tight matches. Grendahl won three of his five matches by the score of 1-up.
“Getting up and down and putting in match play is a big deal, and I didn’t do that particularly well in this tournament, which led to some of these very difficult matches,” Grendahl said. “When you make putts, it kind of stabs an arrow in the other guy’s heart. (Hayek) putted beautifully.
“These greens are just tough for me. Some of the downhill (putts), I’d hit them and they’d never stop. I made a real bad three-putt to lose a hole in this match because of that. And then I hit other ones which I think are going to run forever and they just quit. I just struggled with them. The greens are nice. It’s not their fault.”
While admitting his ball striking let him down in the championship match, Hayek was pleased with his overall play in the competition.
“I played OK,” he said. “I took one of the better players in the state to the final hole. For me to do that, I played pretty good. Taking second in this tournament is beautiful.”
Grendahl also was medalist of the 18-hole qualifying event which preceded the match-play portion of the tournament, shooting an even-par round of 73. Steve Johnson of Ozaukee CC in Mequon, who advanced to the quarterfinals, was second in qualifying with a 75. Hayek qualified with a round of 79, good for 15th place.
On the way to the title match, Grendahl dispatched Robert Yurasovich of Brown Deer Park GC in Milwaukee, 4 and 3; Scott Todd of Oconomowoc GC, 1-up; David Comeau of Whitnall Park GC in Hales Corners, 1-up; and Ted Sprinkman of West Bend CC, 5 and 4.
In Super-Seniors competition, for players 65 and older, Tom Bast of West Bend CC defeated Jim Bakken of Blackhawk CC in Madison in the final match by the score of 5 and 4.
Those two players also led the way in Super-Senior qualifying, as Bakken was the medalist with a 75, and Bast was runner-up with a 77.
In advancing to the championship match, Bast defeated Tim Dean of The Oaks GC in Cottage Grove, 1-up; Mike Smolinski of Spring Valley CC in Salem, 2 and 1; and Lloyd Levin of Brynwood CC in Milwaukee, 3 and 1.
— Rick Pledl
U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
If Tiffany Joh can disarm opponents in the same fashion that she disarms the media, then it’s little wonder that she’s now a two-time winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. Joh, a 21-year-old San Diego resident and a senior-to-be at UCLA, won her second WAPL title in come-from-behind fashion at Erin Hills GC in Erin in June.
Joh, who also won the 2006 WAPL, was at her self-deprecating best after defeating Jennifer Song of Korea in the championship match, 2 and 1. Song led the match 2-up after the morning round and didn’t relinquish the lead to Joh until the 33rd hole.
Afterward, Joh described herself as “kind of awkward.” She admitted that she probably “looked like a loony case,” while talking to herself over the final holes of the match. And between the morning and afternoon rounds of the 36-hole championship match, Joh said she didn’t stroke putts.
“I just kind of sat on the putting green and looked at my ball and tried to convince myself that I’m still a good putter,” she said.
Joh admits she often uses negative thoughts to motivate herself on the golf course – a method not usually employed at the sport’s highest levels of competition – but she hit several positive notes before leaving Wisconsin in possession of the WAPL trophy. After talking about how pretty Erin Hills is, and after dedicating her victory to her college roommate whose father had recently died of cancer, Joh explained what it all meant to her.
“I think when I first won it, I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Joh said of her 2006 WAPL title. “Afterwards, I realized how much it did for my confidence and how many doors were opened to me. I think winning it this time around, when I really wanted it, it was that much more meaningful.”
Joh became the fifth individual to win the U.S. Women’s Publinks multiple times since it was first played in 1977. The others are Kelly Fuiks (1977, ’78), Lori Castillo (1979, ’80), Pearl Sinn (1988, ’89) and Jo Jo Robertson (1995, ’97).
The only Wisconsin player to advance through qualifying to the 64-player match-play bracket was Carly Werwie of Kenosha. Werwie lost in the first round (2-up) to Grace Na of Oakland, Calif.
— Rick Pledl
WISCONSIN STATE WOMEN'S OPEN
There was a time not long ago when Malinda Johnson was the “golden girl” of Wisconsin golf, and it had nothing to do with her blond hair.
She was the top girls high school player in Wisconsin for a time before joining the women’s golf team at the University of Wisconsin, where she earned all-Big Ten honors and was named an honorable mention all-American.
Johnson added three State Women’s Stroke Play titles, as well as the Wisconsin State Women’s Open in 2003 as an amateur.
Johnson left UW-Madison in the spring of 2004 holding several UW women’s golf records. In the half-season of Futures Tour play which remained in 2004, she earned her LPGA Tour card thanks to a victory in the tour’s season-ending tournament.
Then, during her first season on the LPGA Tour in 2005, the wheels came off. Johnson blew out her right shoulder, but, hoping to complete her inaugural season on the LPGA Tour, she played on. The results were not good. Johnson made 17 starts in 2005, finished 112th on the money list and lost her card.
“It finally just gave out halfway through the season on the LPGA in ’05, and I continued to play on it because I wanted to finish (the season),” Johnson said recently. “I wrecked it more, basically.”
Now, Johnson’s career is moving upward again, following her victory at the Wisconsin State Women’s Open at House on the Rock Resort in Spring Green in June. The victory was Johnson’s first since that Futures Tour victory in 2004.
Between then and now, Johnson, a 26-year-old lefty, has been working as an assistant club professional at the Legend at Brandybrook in Wales, and more important, she has been healing following surgery on the shoulder in February of 2006.
“It feels pretty good now, actually, better than it has in eight years,” Johnson said after her latest victory. “I’m kind of getting the itch back. I’m healthy and it’s easier to play when you’re healthy. It’s a lot more fun, too.”
So Johnson is contemplating another run at the LPGA Tour, and she’d like to begin the quest by entering the Futures Tour qualifying tournament this fall, the same path she took in 2004.
If she makes it all the way back, Johnson, who lives in Waukesha, might look back at her win at House on the Rock Resort as an important step along the way.
Johndson, who had played only a couple of competitive rounds this season, was tied for the lead after a first-round 73. Fellow pro Kim Freeman of Big Bend and amateur Katie Elliott of Madison also shot 73 in the opening round. Johnson held the lead on the back nine in the final round, but she relinquished it to Elliott when she made bogey on the par-5 15th hole.
“It didn’t seem like it was going to be my day,” Johnson said afterward, “because I wasn’t making any putts.”
But the tournament turned dramatically on the par-4 18th hole, which features ponds right of the landing area and in front of the green.
Elliott, still holding a one-stroke lead, hit her drive right into a bad lie next to the water. She tried to hack it out, but the ball popped up and landed in the hazard. Elliott took a drop, hit her fourth shot through the green and got up and down for double bogey.
Johnson, meanwhile, made a routine par on 18 to turn her one-stroke deficit into a one-stroke victory.
“It’s not what I expected, and it’s definitely not the way I want to win,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to beat somebody when they make a mistake on the last hole. I’d rather beat her playing her best.”
Following Johnson (73-74–147) and Elliott (73-75–148) were amateur Lindsey Solberg of Verona (75-75–150) and pro Katie Connelly of Beloit (74-76–150), who tied for third. Three-time defending champion Carolyn Barnett-Howe shot 76-79–155 and tied for 14th place.
With a recent tournament win, coupled with ever-growing confidence in her repaired right shoulder, Johnson is looking to leave behind her club professional job at the Legend at Brandybrook.
“I love the teaching side of it, but standing behind the counter is just not for me,” Johnson said. “I’ve got the drive back. For a while I didn’t have it, partly because I was hurt. But I’ve got the drive back and its fun again.”
— Rick Pledl
For a while, as the final round of the WWSGA/WWPLGA State Stroke Play Championship unfolded in July, it appeared the top players were competing for the honor of “low Badger” rather than for a state amateur title. As the final round of the 54-hole tournament got underway at Reedsburg CC, five of the eight players in the final two groups were current members of the University of Wisconsin women’s golf team.
When the final shot had been struck, 19-year-old sophomore-to-be Carly Werwie took home the title by a three-stroke margin in one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious tournaments for amateur women. (Since 2005, the women’s stroke play has been jointly organized by the Wisconsin Women’s State Golf Association and the Wisconsin Women’s Public Links Golf Association.)
“It’s nice to win,” Werwie said afterward. “I haven’t won anything since last year at the State Match Play. It’s always nice to get your name on a state tournament (trophy).”
After shooting 72-76–148 over the first two rounds, Werwie, who plays out of Oakwood Park GC in Franklin, held a three-stroke lead over Sydney Wells of Riverside CC in Menominee, Mich., and Molly Schemm of Koshkonong Mounds CC in Fort Atkinson, who both sat at 151.
Werwie recorded one birdie and three bogeys on the front to make the turn at 2 over. She birdied the par-5 11th hole and could have pulled away for good if she had made the birdie putts on Nos. 12 and 13 which burned the edges of the holes.
“I didn’t really make any long putts,” Werwie said. “The greens are rolling nice out here, but they are quick and that made things a little difficult.”
Werwie almost took putting out of the equation completely on the other par-5 on Reedsburg’s back nine, the 16th hole, which played about 470 yards for the tournament. Standing over her third shot from about 50 yards, Werwie took a half-swing with her 56-degree wedge and almost holed the shot on the fly. The ball landed 2 inches short of the hole and rolled 2 feet past, from where Werwie rolled in the birdie putt.
That birdie essentially sealed the championship for Werwie, as she added a meaningless bogey on 17, where she missed the green on the short side on her approach, and a final par at 18.
Finishing second was Elena Vukmir of Muskego Lakes CC in Muskego, who rallied with a final-round 72 that matched Werwie for the low round of the tournament. Vukmir was on pace to go even lower, but suffered a double bogey on the 18th hole. Afterward, Vukmir, a 20-year-old member of the Drake University golf team, was elated over her best finish to date in this event.
“Coming into the tournament, I knew I was playing pretty well,” Vukmir said after the final round. “I thought this was my kind of course – I’m pretty good with my irons. I left a few shots out there the first few rounds, so I knew I had the potential to play better.
“Today, I knew it was a close field. I mean, I was in ninth, but three shots out of second, so I thought if I just stayed in it mentally I could pull off a good round.”
Like Werwie, Vukmir also mentioned the putting surfaces when asked to assess the tournament setup at Reedsburg CC, a club known in state golf circles for its lightning-fast greens.
“The greens were tough,” Vukmir said. “Since they are so fast, you had to get the read perfectly because there’s not much room for error.”
Tied for third at 228 were Schemm (76-75-77) and Maggie Leef of The Bog in Saukville (81-73-74–228). Kelsey Verbeten of Green Bay CC finished alone in fifth place (79-73-77–229).
Impressively, five Badger players were still among the top eight at tournament’s end. In addition to Werwie, Verbeten, and Schemm, who is transferring from Northern Iowa to UW this fall, that list also includes two UW players who tied for sixth – Ann Marie Sztukowski of Whispering Springs GC in Fond du Lac (75-78-78–231) and Heather Herrick of Chenequa CC (73-79-79–231).
And two more Badger players competed in the championship flight. Heidi Hinners of Blackhawk CC in Madison shot 86-79-81–246 and finished 19th. Kate Wierwill of Hawk’s Landing GC in Verona shot 89-84-83–256 and finished 27th.
“It’s exciting,” Werwie said of her teammates’ performances. “That’s good for our upcoming season to see everyone playing so well. Should be a good year.”r
— Rick Pledl
WSGA JUNIOR BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP
Even though he was the 2008 WIAA Division 2 state champion, Cody Strang has flown under the radar of college golf recruiters. But with a few looking on in early August when Strang came from behind and won the Wisconsin State Golf Association Junior Boys Championship, presented by Culver’s, nobody would be surprised if they started knocking on his door.
Strang, a 17-year-old senior at Madison Edgewood, began the final round at Madison’s Nakoma GC two shots behind leader Jack Schultz. The two started even, with pars on the first two holes, and Schultz quickly gained a four-shot lead with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4. But after that is when his game started to fall apart.
“I really couldn’t hit my driver or anything off the tee straight, and (at Nakoma) you can’t do that,” Schultz said. “There are trees everywhere, and you end up having to chip out and not have a shot for the green.”
Schultz, a Whitefish Bay senior who plays out of Fire Ridge GC in Grafton, carded four straight bogeys, and Strang took a one-shot lead going into No. 9. From there it was back and forth until Strang missed a short par putt on No. 16. Noticeably upset, he tapped the ball in for bogey, picked it up and threw it in a nearby water hazard. Schultz made birdie on the hole, and the score was even.
“It was kind of up and down all day, switching up the lead,” Strang said. “(Schultz) was four up after four holes today, but then it got back pretty even the last four or five holes.”
Strang and Schultz, who both were named to the first team on the 2008 Wisconsin High School Golf Coaches Association all-state boys golf team, each made par by tapping in 2-foot putts on the par-3 17th.
The final decision was made on the 466-yard, par-5 18th hole, when Schultz’s tee shot landed in the water.
“(I was thinking) ‘I can still make par,’” he said. “You can’t do anything after that. You just try to do the best you can and see what he does.”
After taking a drop, Schultz launched his approach onto the green and two-putted to save par. But his effort wasn’t enough, because Strang tapped in a 1-foot putt for birdie and the one-stroke victory.
“I couldn’t believe I actually won,” Strang said. “I didn’t know what to think, really, it hasn’t sunk in.”
Strang finished at 3-under-par 207 with rounds of 67-70-70, and Schultz ended up at 2-under 208 (68-67-73). Strang said his driving consistency on Nakoma’s tree-lined course was key to his victory.
“I put it in the fairway pretty much all day, so it wasn’t much trouble, not too many trees,” he said. “Coming into the tournament, I wanted to play well and (be in) the top 10, hopefully. But coming into today, I obviously wanted to win and just play well – at least give myself a chance.”
Strang, an all-state hockey player who led Madison Edgewood to the state championship game earlier this year, said he hasn’t been recruited to play college golf. Though he’s been recruited to play hockey, he’s hoping his recent win will open the door to play college golf.
Schultz, on the other hand, has been recruited by several teams, including the University of Wisconsin. He plans to make his decision this fall.
There was a three-way tie for third place at 210 among Anthony Aicher (71-71-68), Sam Frank (71-68-71) and Maxwell VanderWyst (70-70-70).
Charlie Danielson, a Wisconsin Junior PGA player, won the 14-and-under division with scores of 75-74-74–223. In the 15-16 division, Frank beat VanderWyst in a one-hole playoff.
In the long-drive contest held following the second round, Dan Ignacio of Clintonville Riverside GC belted a 319-yard drive to win the overall competition. Max Hosking, the 2007 State Junior champion, was just two yards behind at 317. Mitchell Johnson of Blackhawk CC in Madison won the 14-and-under division with a drive of 283 yards.
— Becky LaPlante
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