Last week, world 353rd-ranked Nate Lashley barely made the field at the first Rocket Mortgage Classic.
On Thursday morning, he'll tee off with Phil Mickelson and Tony Finau in the new 3M Open. He punched his ticket for the British Open and next year's Masters and PGA Championship after he shot two 63s and won by six shots in Detroit.
He was delayed from arriving at TPC Twin Cities because of a detour to New York City, where the "Today" show and NBC Nightly News interviewed him. Now ranked 101st, his first PGA Tour victory came at age 36 — 15 years after his parents and girlfriend died in a plane crash after they watched him play in an NCAA regional.
"It has been life-changing event, obviously," he said about his first tour victory after he won once on the Web.com tour, three times on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and sold real estate well before that. "I went from finishing in the dark to playing with Phil and Tony. I didn't quite realize how much it would change my life, but it's going to be wonderful."
He aimed to finish top 10 last week and ended up winning $1.3 million. He's now in one of Thursday's premier pairings after he played with Mickelson and Lee Westwood in Houston last year and with Jordan Spieth in the U.S. Open.
"I really like it," Lashley said. "I enjoy playing with those guys. I like the competition, people following us. I almost like them rooting for those guys more. It kind of gets me going."
Reviews are in
Mickelson called TPC Twin Cities "spectacular," in "phenomenal shape" and "fun to play" after he played nine holes in Wednesday's pro-am. He said scoring should be "pretty good," but not as low as PGA Tour Champions players went because of course changes made to toughen it.
"The older guys kind of tore this place up," world 18th-ranked Jason Day said. "From what I hear, they've changed a lot. I don't know if it's going to be as low as what people are suspecting it to be."
Etc.
• Pro athletes Larry Fitzgerald, Ryan Suter, Adam Thielen and Jason Zucker all played in Wednesday's pro-am. Fitzgerald played nine holes each with Brooks Koepka and Ollie Schniederjans. Suter played nine holes each with Bryson DeChambeau and Satoshi Kodaira.
• One of the field's four former world-ranked amateurs now turned pro, former Cal golfer Collin Morikawa, hit his first collegiate shot at the 2015 Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm in Independence. "I remember that first shot — down the middle — and I do remember that course," he said. "I'm thankful for this opportunity."
• The Timberwolves sent a No. 34 jersey to tour star Finau, who wore that number in high school. He received college offers to play basketball but chose golf.
