Nate Lashley celebrates after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic

Detroit, Michigan - Every once in awhile, a breakthrough victory from a

struggling journeyman provides a feel good moment, but what happened

on Sunday in Detroit is a next level vibe of triumph from tragedy. Nate

Lashley led the field wire to wire at Detroit Golf Club - firing rounds of

63-67-63-70 to finish at 25 under par capturing his first PGA Tour title

and the hearts of millions around the world.

It would be impossible to know all that Nate Lashley has endured since

the tragic loss of both parents - Rod and Char Lashley and girlfriend

Leslie Hofmeister while he attended college at Arizona. All three perished

in Rod's single engine Cessna plane that crashed in turbulent weather on

May 23, 2004 - they were on their way back home to Nebraska just hours

after watching Nate sink a 40 ft putt on the last hole to win the regional

in Oregon. It would be the last golf shot they would see Nate make.

Lashley returned to Arizona, but days after returning from the regional

the he had not heard from his parents and his coach Rick LaRose contacted

Senator John McCain's office. Three days later the wreckage and bodies

were found.

Now 36, Lashley has married and pursued his golf career, albeit as a

journeyman touring professional struggling for playing status. Last week

at the Travelers, he was an alternate who didn't make it into the field, this

week when David Berganio pulled out Lashley was his replacement. In

fact, after the life changing win that will now provide him with financial

security, a two exemption on the PGA Tour and entry into all of Golf's

largest events, Lashley's first comments was, "It was surreal, I'm just

grateful I got in the tournament." Once it all sank in Lashley reflected,

"I've been through a lot, it took a lot of years for me to get over my

parents death. It was mentally holding me back for a long time," Lashley

said. "I think about my parents all the time, I was getting emotional

walking up 18, even before I hit my second shot, thinking about my

parents. Without them, I wouldn't be sitting here."

Doc Redman finished solo 2nd six shots back at 19 under par after firing

a final round 67. Rory Sabbatini continued his good run tying for 3rd with

Les Roach after each shot 68 on Sunday.

Scores:

https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/rocket-mortgage-classic/leaderboard.html

Chez Reavie shows off the hardware after winning the Travelers.

Cromwell, CT - After 54 holes, Chez Reavie led by six strokes entering

Sunday's final round at TPC River Highlands - but no lead is safe on the

PGA Tour. As if trying to overcome an 11 year winless drought isn't tough

enough, Reavie also had a red-hot Keegan Bradley playing beside him with

a partisan New England gallery spurring on the native son of Vermont.

Bradley came out the blocks fast, making birdies on the third and fourth,

while Reavie was steady early on, playing the front 9 in even par. After a

bogey by Bradley on the 7th, Reavie seemed poised to cruise in - still

leading by 5 at the turn. Feeling the urgency, Bradley lit the course up to

start the inward side, making hay at the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th holes.

Down the stretch with the lead down to one, both players made par on

the par 3 sixteenth. Facing the difficult tee shot on the 400 yard par 4

17th, Reavie piped his down the left center, while Bradley found the

fairway bunker. Keegan's shot from the sand flew the green leaving a

tough up and down attempt. Meanwhile, Reavie's 150 yard approach

made landing over the water to within a makeable 14 feet away.

Bradley chipped to 17 feet, and made a mess from there, a costly 3

putt. Reavie made his birdie, and just like that the drama was over.

The drought that lasted since his last tour win in 2008 was finally over,

Reavie strolled down the final hole making par for a final round 69

(17 under par) and closed out Bradley (67) and Zach Sucher (67)

who tied for 2nd at 13 under par.

"I think I was more nervous this morning just sitting in the hotel room

with my mind wandering, just going thru the round," Reavie said. "The

different possibilities and stuff, but once I got out there and started

warming up on the range, I was very comfortable. Once we got playing

it kinda went away, and it was time to play golf."

With the long awaited victory, the 37-year-old Reavie pocketed $1.296

million and a two year exemption on the PGA Tour. Reavie moves to 12th

in the Fedex Cup standings and 13th in the President's Cup standings.

Scores: https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html

Gary Woodland celebrates after winning the U.S Open at Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach, California - Gary Woodland overcame a momentum surge

of golf history at iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links to capture his first major

championship. While Brooks Koepka was on the verge of capturing the

first U.S Open three peat since 1905, Woodland was facing his own

personal history, a dubious 0 for 7 record of finishing off 54 hole leads.

“From a mental standpoint I was as good as I’ve ever been,” said

Woodland, who has four PGA Tour titles. “I never let myself get

ahead of myself. I never thought about what would happen if I won,

what comes with it. I wanted to execute every shot. I wanted to

stay in the moment. I wanted to stay within myself.”

Woodland fired rounds of 68-65-69-69 to finish at 13 under par.

Although Woodland made birdies on both inward par 5's, it was

the par 3 seventeenth that perhaps proved most pivotal. After a

less than mediocre tee shot to the back left pin (Woodland flared

it out to the back right portion on the diagonal hour glass shaped

green), leaving himself 90 feet away. He chose to chip off of the

green and nearly holed it. Once he tapped in for par, the finish was

no longer in doubt. Woodland finished off Koepka's run at history

with a birdie at the last to win by three strokes.

The $2.25 million winners share claimed by Woodland was part of

the 12.5 million total purse payout at the 2019 U.S Open - the largest

purse in major championship history.

Schauffelle, Reavie, Rose and  Rahm finished tied for third at  7 under par.

Scores: https://www.usopen.com/scoring.html