Golf News: In order to win THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Golf Invitational presented by Rocket Mortgage on Sunday and secure a berth in the field for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, Wyatt Worthington II played 65 while feeling it on the greens.
The teaching pro from Reynoldsburg, Ohio claimed that his second round contained so many birdie bombs that it was reminiscent of a comparable performance seen by millions of people around the world.
“It was pretty much like Cameron Smith at The Open,” Worthington said. “I just rolled every single putt I looked at. I gave myself as many chances as I could. It wasn’t as smooth sailing on stretches from 13 through 15, I scrambled to make pars and kind of keep the momentum going and made birdie on 16 and 17 and secured my par on 18. It all worked out.”
With the Rocket Mortgage at Detroit Golf Club this week, the efforts to diversify golf will continue. Tim O’Neal won the Rocket Mortgage field in the inaugural THE JOHN SHIPPEN, which was created to showcase Black amateur and professional players. Worthington (73-65) finished one place ahead of Michael Herrera this year (71-68).
“I’m like, ‘You guys know who I am? This is crazy. I know who you are!”
Worthington first met Tiger Woods during a Tiger Woods Foundation youth clinic in Columbus, Ohio, when he was 14 years old. Woods advised him to trust the process, but given the expense of striving to succeed, this is often easier said than done. Worthington met the requirements to compete in both the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol and the PGA Championship at Southern Hills this year.
Black players have been underrepresented in the top echelons of the sport, despite the fact that Worthington tied for fourth at the most recent PGA Professional Championship, earning him a spot at Southern Hills.
“Playing in the PGA Championship (via his T4 finish at the PGA Professional Championship), I believe there are only two individuals, Tom Woodard and myself, that’s made it through that route,” Worthington said.
That was also the first year for THE JOHN SHIPPEN, which is named after John Shippen, Jr., who was the first American-born golf professional and the country’s first Black golf professional. (Shippen has bestowed PGA of America membership posthumously in 2009.) The tournament pays all costs, from entry fees to travel and lodging, for competitors. When Worthington shot 75-70 last year, he said, “I’ve never had anything like this.” Now that he’s won the tournament, he’s entering yet more uncharted territory.
“It’s life-changing,” he said. “But the more that I look at it, it’s actually a dream come true. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Tiger’s interviews like this. I can’t imagine myself actually being here. I know I wanted to work on my game to get to this point, but actually living this, I can’t really fathom that. Yeah, this is an unreal experience.”
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