Anderson and Jacobson Battle Elements and a Strong Field to Win MPGA Four-Ball at Rum River Hills

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  RAMSEY, Minn. – When Andy Jacobson and Danny Anderson take to the golf course, the two usually battle two head-to-head at their home course at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar, Minnesota.

But for the first time the two friendly foes paired up together at the 40th Minnesota Public Golf Association Four-Ball Championship, firing back-to-back rounds of 64 to claim a wire-to-wire victory by three strokes Sunday at Rum River Hills Golf Club.

“We picked the right holes to make birdies and never had any disasters. It was just the best ham and egging you could do,” Jacobson said following the victory Sunday. “We made the putts and finished strong with a couple eagle putts. To have two looks at it is easy to say and hard to do—you can say it all day long, but to actually do it is a lot harder than you think.”

“It happened to work out that way. When you’re playing [Sammy Schmitz, Will Hickey and Jordan Hawkinson] and all these other guys, it has to go right or you’re not going to win,” Anderson said.

Jacobson and Anderson carded an opening-round 64 with the help of five birdies over the final nine holes to take a one-shot advantage over Schmitz and Hickey.

“During the first round we were working as hard as we could as teammates to help each other because it was such a mess with the rain and sloppy conditions.”

The tournament was halted during the first round Saturday due to inclement weather while Anderson and Jacobson were putting on the ninth green.

“Whoever was out of the hole basically played caddy to keep the other guy dry—it was brutal,” Anderson said. “We tried to make a game out of it and trick ourselves to have some fun and it worked because we shot 2-under on what I thought was the tougher side.”

During the final round Sunday Anderson and Jacobson rolled in a pair of early birdies before dropping a shot with a bogey at the sixth and salvaged a par at the par-4 eighth to stay at 8-under for the championship.

The par putt helped the two quickly gain some momentum before Jacobson put his approach to eight feet at the ninth and rolled birdie to get the pair to 9-under before going 5-under over the next nine holes to card a 31 on the back nine for the second consecutive round.

Anderson’s second at the par-5 12th rolled to six feet and he converted his eagle look before sinking another birdie on the ensuing hole to get to 12-under. Following a birdie at the 17th, Anderson and Jacobson both had eagle chances on the final hole, but a tap-in birdie would give them the victory at 14-under 128.

“It was one of those days where one of us got hot when the other guy was cold,” Anderson said. “I had a four-hole stretch and played poor, but Andy was 2-under during those four holes. Then we flip-flopped and I went eagle-birdie when he had to have it to get back into it. I hit a couple in to the water and was out of the hole and Andy made birdie and par.”

It’s the first state victory for Anderson, while Sunday’s victory was the second MPGA Four-Ball title for Jacobson who paired with Aaron Barber to win the 2014 championship at Monticello Country Club.

“It’s way more fun to play with Danny as a partner than against him,” Jacobson laughed.

Starting one shot back entering the final round after a bogey-free 65 during the first round, Hickey and Schmitz sprinkled three birdies on the front side but could muster just two more birdies on the back to post a second consecutive bogey-free round to finish at 11-under 131.

A final-round 65 put the pairing of Joe Conzemius and Tom Rymer into a three-way tie for third place with the team of Topher Baron and Andrew McCain and the duo of Ben Egart and Joel Johnson at 8-under 134.



2017 MPGA FOUR-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP
RUM RIVER HILLS GOLF CLUB
RAMSEY, MINN.
6,308 YARDS, PAR 71


FINAL RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
1. Anderson/Jacobson, 64-64—128
2. Hickey/Schmitz, 65-66—131
T3. Conzemius/Rymer, 69-65—134
T3. Baron/McCain, 67-67—134
T3. Egart/J.B. Johnson, 68-66—134
6. Hawkinson/Hawkinson, 68-67—135
T7. Burleson/Fiedler, 67-69—136
T7. Klein/Quesnel, 66-70—136
T7. McKesson/Randall, 67-69—136
T10. J. Witham/M. Witham, 69-68—137
T10. Frie/Frieberg, 69-68—137
T10. Liljander/Warneke, 67-70—137
T10. Holtan/Tylke, 70-67—137


SENIOR DIVISION
1. Cavanaugh/Western, 71-67—138
2. Heimsness/J. Johnson, 71-68—139
T3. Payne/Sicora, 74-70—144
T3. Heidrick/Sexton, 70-74—144
T3. Newman/Thompson, 69-75—144
T6. Erickson/French, 74-72—146
T6. Geske/Longman, 75-71—146
8. Huber/Moores, 75-73—148
9. Commers/Gunderson, 76-73—149
10. B. Hegland/M. Hegland, 75-76—151