DETROIT – Nate Lashley walked toward the 18th green at Detroit Golf Club on the verge of his first PGA Tour victory, the center of the gallery’s attention late Sunday afternoon.
His thoughts included three people who weren’t there to see a moment of success years in the making.
“It was surreal,” Lashley said Sunday after completing an unlikely wire-to-wire victory in the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. “I didn’t know what to think. There was a lot going through my mind.”
Lashley closed with a 2-under-par 70 to finish at 25-under 263 and win by six shots, the margin he took into the day after leading by a stroke each of the first two rounds.
Nate Lashley holds up his trophy after winning the first Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday at Detroit Golf Club. Lashley, who made the field as an alternate after coming up short in Monday qualifying, capped a wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA Tour title.His parents and girlfriend were killed in a plane crash 15 years ago. He dabbled in real estate after graduating from the University of Arizona, briefly gave up professional golf several years ago and eventually resumed playing in the PGA Tour’s minor leagues.