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SPORTS Monday 1 July 2019
Continued from Page 18 at Detroit Golf Club. ting together a conserva-
Monday qualifier Doc Red- Lashley made a living as tive round that kept his
man shot a 67 to finish sec- a real estate agent after comfortable lead.
ond. Rory Sabbatini (68) graduating from Arizona He made a slow-rolling,
and Wes Roach (68) were and his playing career downhill putt from 15 feet
another stroke back. started, stopped and re- to birdie the first hole. At
Lashley, the 353rd ranked sumed again. He won the No. 3, he started confident-
player in the world, slipped Waterloo Open, a profes- ly walking toward the cup
into PGA Tour's first event sional tournament, in Iowa before his 10-foot birdie
in Detroit as an alternate in 2011 and quit competi- putt went in to put him at
Wednesday. tive golf the next year. 25 under.
The Nebraskan took full When Lashley was flipping "The birdies on 1 and 3 real-
advantage, shooting a ca- houses, he thought his play- ly calmed me down," Lash-
reer-low 63 in the first round ing career was over. ley said. Lashley had two
to take a lead he refused Lashley gave the game an- bogeys on the front nine
to lose at Detroit Golf Club. other shot, playing on the Nate Lashley hits from the gallery onto the second green during — one more than he had
Lashley stayed atop the PGA Tour Latinoamérica the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic golf tournament, the previous three rounds
leaderboard with a 67 on circuit in 2015 and moved Sunday, June 30, 2019, in Detroit. — and coasted to victory
Friday and gave himself a up to what is now called Associated Press on the back with two bird-
cushion with another 9-un- the Korn Ferry Tour two ies and no bogeys.
der 63 Saturday. years later. 30s, but he had to end his tournament No. 132 in the Family and friends stood
On the brink of breaking "The Latin American tour year after 17 events be- FedEx Cup standings. near the edge of the green
through during his second changed his trajectory," cause of a knee injury. He Lashley would've had to as he closed out the round.
PGA Tour season, his sis- Brooke Lashley said. "It was tied for eighth in February collapse and one of the Lashley's girlfriend and sis-
ter, girlfriend, buddies and tough with all the travel to in the Puerto Rico Open — contenders would've had ter, choking back tears,
family friends flew to Detroit a lot of different countries, played opposite the World to have a sensational per- went onto the green to
to join him. but it gave him the chance Golf Championships-Mexi- formance to put the final give him a hug.
Brooke Lashley, who lives to get here." co Championship — for his result in doubt. "I'm just real emotional," he
near her brother in Arizona, He made his PGA Tour de- only top-10 finish previously Neither happened. said later. "I'm just thankful
was in awe of as fans fol- but last season in his mid- on the tour. He started the Lashley played it safe, put- I got in the tournament."q
lowed and cheered for her
little brother as they stood
along the ropes from tee to
green.
"I'm sure a lot of these
people didn't know him
a couple days ago," she
said, standing near the No.
8 green. "He's doing all he
can to focus, but this is so
incredible. It's foreign to him
because he's never had this
much attention. He's never
played in front of a gallery
like this with TV cameras all
over the place."
In 2014, parents Rod and
Char Lashley and girl-
friend Leslie Hofmeister, all
of Scottsbluff, Nebraska,
were missing for three days
before their bodies and
the wreckage were found
near the 13,780-foot Gan-
nett Peak in Wyoming af-
ter watching him play in a
tournament for the Univer-
sity of Arizona.
"It rocked our community,"
recalled Helen Reinhardt, a
family friend from Nebras-
ka.
Reinhardt and her hus-
band, Jim, boarded a
charter plane in Nebraska
that stopped in Minnesota
to pick up Lashley's girl-
friend and arrived in the
Motor City on Sunday.
"It's great to be here to
watch his dream come true
after watching him play in
the Dakotas Tour and work
his way up to here," said
Jeff Peck, one of about a
dozen of Lashley's friends