By Ryan Herrington
You might have heard about the historical oddity that transpired on Sunday at Shinnecock Hills. Walking beside Brooks Koepka as he became the first golfer since Curtis Strange to win back-to-back U.S. Opens was Curtis Strange himself. The World Golf Hall of Famer was following Koepka and Dustin Johnson as an on-course commentator for Fox. When Koepka joined the repeat U.S. Open winner club, Strange was there to give him his introductory hug (the instructions to the secret handshake are in the mail).

You probably did not hear, however, about another historical oddity that transpired on Sunday, one that also involves Koepka and Strange as well as the low amateur at the Open.

Back in 1989, when Strange successfully defended his title at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., the low amateur at the championship was a college golfer Greg Lesher. Lesher was a rising senior on the LSU men’s golf team who shot a 16-over 296 for the championship, finishing in T-63.

Turn the clock forward to this past weekend, and when Koepka successfully defended his title at Shinnecock Hills, one of the two golfers tied for low amateur at the championship was Luis Gagne. Like Lesher, Gagne is a college golf. In fact, he too is a rising senior at LSU … who shot 16-over 296 for the championship.

The only thing that would make this eerier is if Gagne also finished tied for 63rd. Instead, he (along with U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Matt Parziale) finished T-48.

If the name Gagne sounds familiar, you might recall that he was involved in another odd situation during local qualifying earlier this spring. Gagne was tied for the final spot out of their qualifier in Florida with Cristian DiMarco (son of former PGA Tour pro Chris DiMarco), but neither was around at day’s end to playoff for the spot. Officials thus broke the tie via a coin toss, which Gagne won, sending him off to Sectional Qualifier, where he advanced to compete in the national championship.

The post The mildly creepy connection between repeat U.S. Open winners and rising LSU seniors appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Luis Gagne didn’t have to stick around this time.

A few weeks after heading home early thinking he had failed to advance from a U.S. Open local qualifier at Orange Tree in Orlando—only to find out later that he won a coin flip to move on to sectional qualifying—the LSU junior took medalist honors at the Bear’s Club on Monday with rounds of 68-70 to finish at six under and punch his ticket to next week’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Gagne, who was born in Costa Rica but moved to Orlando when he was 5 and took up golf after his grandfather bought him his first set of clubs. “I’m at a loss for words.”

Gagne finished two strokes clear of Richy Werenski, who has spent the last two years on the PGA Tour, and finished second at four under to secure the second of three spots.

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The drama of golf’s longest day was saved for 19-year-old Georgia Tech junior-to-be Tyler Strafaci, who survived a six-for-one playoff to nab the final spot from the qualifier.

Strafaci vanquished a host of players with interesting storylines: Cristian DiMarco (son of former PGA Tour player Chris DiMarco); University of Florida standout and Fred Haskins Award finalist Andy Zhang; former wunderkind now 35-year-old washout Christo Greyling; and Nathan Stamey all finished regulation tied at three under.

Playing in two threesomes in the playoff, Strafaci and Stamey each stuck it close to set up birdies on the 450-yard par-4 first hole to make it a two-man showdown for one spot.

One hole later, they both faced long putts from the edge of the green on the 240-yard par-3 second, with Strafaci’s coming up woefully short, leaving himself a huge right-to-left sweeper. Somehow, he poured in the 10-footer to save par, with Stamey then missing his attempt from about half that distance.

“I haven’t been playing too well the past year so it was good to see the hard work come together,” said Strafaci, who a year ago survived an 11-for-1 playoff at the U.S. Junior Amateur. “I was feeling stressed the whole day. My weakness is I’m very conservative. I’ve been working on being more aggressive and it paid off last couple holes.”

Golf has always been a family affair for Strafaci, who grew up playing at tony La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, and had a club in his hand as soon as he could walk. He also had his brother on the bag on Monday and it was the fourth USGA event he has helped him qualify for.

Courtesy of South Florida athletics
DiMarco had the momentum going early after getting into the U.S. Open Sectional field as a alternate, but couldn’t finish off the 36-hole odyssey.

DiMarco had a similar family vibe, with his three-time PGA Tour winner dad carrying his sticks. You might recall DiMarco lost the coin flip to Gagne last month after he had left the site of the Local Qualifier thinking he had not done well enough to get into a playoff. Despite dropping to an alternate, DiMarco still managed to find his way to Sectional Qualifying.

After opening with a solid 68 that included a hole-in-one and handful of lengthy putts, DiMarco wasn’t as fortunate in the second round. He made five bogeys and four birdies en route to a 73. This time, of course, he did stick around (thankfully) to see if he was in a playoff. If there was a silver lining, however, he edged out Zhang, who earlier missed a 10-footer for birdie on the last hole that would have sent him to the U.S. Open, for the second alternate spot.

“Second alternate wasn’t what we came for, but you never know,” DiMarco said. “Love it when the caddie buys you a beer for your hole-in-one.”

Just in time, too, as darkness descended upon the Bear’s Club and the horn sounded for an incoming thunderstorm. Nearly 12 hours after it started, golf’s longest day had come to an end.

The post Duo involved in fluky coin-toss playoff at U.S. Open local qualifier become stories at sectional qualifying in Florida appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.