DETROIT — Nate Lashley completed an unlikely wire-to-wire victory in the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his first PGA TOUR title. Lashley closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 25-under 263 and win by six shots, the margin he took into the day after opening with rounds of 63, 67 and 63. The 36-year-old Lashley’s parents and girlfriend were killed in a plane crash 15 years ago. He dabbled in real estate after graduating from the University of Arizona, quit playing professional golf several years ago and resumed playing in PGA TOUR circuits. “Without my parents, I wouldn’t have started playing golf when I was little,” said Lashley, who began playing when he was 8. “They did everything to help me have a career.” Monday qualifier Doc Redman shot a 67 to finish second. Rory Sabbatini (68) and Wes Roach (68) were another stroke back. Lashley slipped into PGA TOUR’s first event in Detroit as an alternate Wednesday. The Nebraskan took full advantage, shooting a career-low 63 in the first round to take a lead he refused to lose at Detroit Golf Club. Lashley stayed atop the leaderboard with a 67 on Friday and gave himself a cushion with another 9-under 63 Saturday. On the brink of breaking through during his second PGA TOUR season, his sister, girlfriend, buddies and family friends flew to Detroit to join him. Brooke Lashley, who lives near her brother in Arizona, was in awe of as fans followed 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 girlfriend Leslie Hofmeister, all of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, were missing for three days before their bodies and the wreckage were found near the 13,780-foot Gannett Peak in Wyoming after watching him play in a tournament for the University of Arizona. “It rocked our community,” recalled Helen Reinhardt, a family friend from Nebraska. Reinhardt and her husband, Jim, boarded a charter plane in Nebraska that stopped in Minnesota to pick up Lashley’s girlfriend 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 at Detroit Golf Club. Lashley made a living as a real estate agent after graduating from Arizona and his playing career started, stopped and resumed again. He won the Waterloo Open, a professional tournament, in Iowa in 2011 and quit competitive golf the next year. When Lashley was flipping houses, he thought his playing career was over. Lashley gave the game another shot, playing on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica circuit in 2015 and moved up to what is now called the Korn Ferry Tour two years later. He made his PGA TOUR debut last season in his mid-30s, but he had to end his year after 17 events because of a knee injury. He tied for eighth in February in the Puerto Rico Open — played opposite the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship — for his only top-10 finish previously on TOUR. He started the tournament No. 132 in the FedExCup standings. Lashley would’ve had to collapse and one of the contenders would’ve had to have a sensational performance to put the final result in doubt. Neither happened. Lashley played it safe, putting together a conservative round that kept his comfortable lead. He made a slow-rolling, downhill putt from 15 feet to birdie the first hole. At No. 3, he started confidently walking toward the cup before his 10-foot birdie putt went in to put him at 25 under. “The birdies on 1 and 3 really calmed me down,” Lashley said. Lashley had two bogeys on the front nine — one more than he had the previous three rounds — and coasted to victory on the back with two birdies and no bogeys. Family and friends stood near the edge of the green as he closed out the round. Lashley’s girlfriend and sister, choking back tears, went onto the green to give him a hug. “I’m just real emotional,” he said later. “I’m just thankful I got in the tournament.”
Online Sports Betting
Nate Lashley leads wire-to-wire at Rocket Mortgage Classic for first PGA TOUR win
DETROIT — Nate Lashley completed an unlikely wire-to-wire victory in the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his first PGA TOUR title. Lashley closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 25-under 263 and win by six shots, the margin he took into the day after opening with rounds of 63, 67 and 63. The…
Hello Brooklyn: Durant announces his next move
Kevin Durant, 10-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP, will sign a 4-year deal with the Nets. Brooklyn also struck deals with Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. Click here to read the full article…
Sources: Nets to sign Durant, Kyrie and DeAndre
The Nets are making a clean sweep in free agency. Kevin Durant has announced his move, and league sources told ESPN that Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan will join him in Brooklyn. Click here to read the full article…
Sources: Nets to sign Durant, Kyrie and DeAndre
The Brooklyn Nets are making a clean sweep in free agency. The team will sign Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, league sources tell ESPN. Click here to read the full article…
Lashley’s dominance in Detroit a dream come true
DETROIT – No, golf is not life and death. But sometimes, it is death then life, and when you come across people built of such incomparable strength that they handle that most excruciating of sequences, you want for them to have a stage basked in brilliant sunshine and surrounded by adoring supporters. That moment arrived…
Many NBA free agency decisions set to start arriving
NBA teams can start striking deals with free agents at 6 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, with the expectation that more than $1 billion in deals should be agreed to by the end of the evening. Click here to read the full article…
Report: Dwight Powell to sign three-year extension with Mavericks
Powell opted in to the final year of his contract in July, giving him four years left under contract in Dallas. Click here to read the full article…
Report: Bucks to re-sign Brook Lopez to four-year, $52 million contract
Will Milwaukee pay to keep Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon? Click here to read the full article…
Report: Nets believe Kevin Durant will sign with them
We’ll find out soon Click here to read the full article…
Sources: Bucks plan to re-sign Lopez for $52M
The Bucks are planning to bring back Brook Lopez on a four-year, $52 million deal once free agency opens, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Click here to read the full article…
Durant poised to sign with Brooklyn Nets
Kevin Durant, 10-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP, will reportedly sign a 4-year deal with the Nets. Brooklyn also struck a deal with Kyrie Irving. Click here to read the full article…
Gronkowski’s weight loss seals it: He’s retired
Time will tell where Gronk decides to go from here. But for now, at least two things are evident: he’s enjoying retirement and he’s probably not coming back to football. Click here to read the full article…