Once in a while, winning a golf tournament goes deeper than a shiny trophy, a big check and healthy dose of job insurance.
When you’re Nate Lashley and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the stories run soul deep.
Until last week, Lashley and Bezuidenhout were just names in the list of scores each week. Now they’re two players whose stories tell us more about them than the shots they hit and the scores they shoot.
Lashley’s victory in the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday did more than put a face and a name together for fans more familiar with the Rickie Fowlers and Jordan Spieths of the world. It was a reminder of the human side of the professional game that can be easily lost amid the birdies and bogeys and big events.
Lashley’s story is stained by heartbreak, his parents and girlfriend having died in a 2004 plane crash as they were flying home from watching him play a college golf event.
As he chased his first PGA Tour victory, having slipped into the field at the last minute as an alternate, Lashley’s story provided...
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