Michigan Golf Journal October 2019

9 October 2019 ǁǁǁ͘ŵŝĐŚŝŐĂŶŐŽůłŽƵƌŶĂů͘ĐŽŵ American-born players, but the Masters, I think it’s the pinnacle.” Lashley also told me that Detroit will, understandably, always hold a special place ĨŽƌ Śŝŵ ĂŌĞƌ ƐĞĂůŝŶŐ ŚŝƐ ĮƌƐƚ W' dŽƵƌ ǀŝĐƚŽƌLJ ŝŶ the city. It’s also helped ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ŚŝƐ ŐŽůĮŶŐ ůŝĨĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ tournaments since then. ͞dŚĞƌĞ͛Ɛ ĚĞĮŶŝƚĞůLJ Ă ĚŝīĞƌĞŶƚ ŵĞŶƚĂů ĨĞĞůŝŶŐ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ŐŽůĨ ĐŽƵƌƐĞ ĂŌĞƌ ƚŚĞ ǁŝŶ͘ zŽƵ ĚĞĮŶŝƚĞůLJ ĨĞĞů more relaxed, “Lashley ƐĂŝĚ͘ ͞zŽƵ ŬŶŽǁ LJŽƵ ŚĂǀĞ Ă ƚǁŽͲLJĞĂƌ ĞdžĞŵƉƟŽŶ͕ ĂŶĚ LJŽƵ ĨĞĞů Ă ůŝƩůĞ ŵŽƌĞ comfortable on the course. “It gave me that sense of feeling more like I belong ŽƵƚ ƚŚĞƌĞ͕ ŐĞƫŶŐ ƚŽ ƉůĂLJ with winners each week in that winner’s category. So, it ŐŝǀĞƐ LJŽƵ ƐŽŵĞ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ but also gives you the sense ŽĨ ƌĞůĂdžĂƟŽŶ Ă ůŝƩůĞ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ course – which isn’t always the best thing but it’s nice to be able to go out and play relaxed golf, which isn’t easy to do in PGA Tour events.” What made Lashley’s ĮƌƐƚ W' dŽƵƌ ǁŝŶ ĞǀĞŶ more powerful was the fact he got into the Rocket DŽƌƚŐĂŐĞ ĮĞůĚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ĮŶĂů alternate. He took the lead ŝŵŵĞĚŝĂƚĞůLJ͕ ƐŚŽŽƟŶŐ Ă ϵͲƵŶĚĞƌ ϲϯ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ round, then following it up with a 67, another 63 and ƚŚĞŶ Ă ƐŵŽŽƚŚ ϳϬ ƚŽ ǁŝŶ wire-to-wire and blitzed the ĮĞůĚ͘ By now, with his high- ƉƌŽĮůĞ ǁŝŶ ŝŶ ĞƚƌŽŝƚ͕ virtually every golf fan that closely follows the sport has heard the tragic story of Lashley losing both his parents and his then girlfriend in a private plane crash on their way home from watching him play in an NCAA regional when he was a college student at Arizona. It was of course ĚĞǀĂƐƚĂƟŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŝƐ Ă ŵĂŝŶ reason he had been in and out of golf for the many years that followed. But with the Detroit win and the renewed ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ŝŶ ŚŝƐ ŐĂŵĞ͕ Lashley will be around a lot more – and the game of golf ŝƐ ďĞƩĞƌ Žī ĨŽƌ ŝƚ͘