John VanDerLaan, with his dog following every hole, wins Korn Ferry event at Ohio State
Entering the final day with a one-stroke lead, John VanDerLaan did not break a sweat on his way to winning his first Korn Ferry Tour title at the Nationwide Children’s Championship. He shot a second consecutive 4-under-par 67 to win the event by three strokes at the Ohio State Scarlet course on Sept. 21.
His secret weapon? Bunker, the mini golden doodle who stole the show and who was present for almost every hole of VanDerLaan’s dominant win. Bunker missed only the front nine of the second round, when VanDerLaan shot his worst nine holes of the tournament.
“He’s gonna have to go everywhere with me now,” VanDerLaan joked after the win, for which he won $ 270,000.
What started as a two-person race between VanDerLaan and Trent Phillips appeared to fade throughout the front nine in the closing round. VanDerLaan hit seven greens in regulation and parked an iron on the ninth green to capture five birdies before the turn and carry a five-shot lead to start the back nine.
There was a tense feeling on VanDerLaan’s second shot on No. 11. Carrying a drive into the right-side rough, he struck the branches of a tree, causing his ball to ricochet into the fairway. After getting the lucky break, he hit his approach shot into the green-side bunker and two-putted for double bogey.
Though his lead shrank, VanDerLaan got his mojo back with a birdie on No. 12.
“I tried to get away with probably a little to much on 11 and it cost me,” VanDerLaan said. “But it was nice to bounce back in the way I did.”
To boost his confidence even more, he had one of his best shots of the day No. 13.
With a gaggle of merry spectators up the hill at Pub Thirteen, he leader guided a 25-foot putt straight into the cup to increase his lead to four strokes and decrease the price of beer to $ 1.00 for Pub Thirteen spectators for 13 minutes. He heard the roars in the background.
“I’m happy to make beer as cheap as it can be,” VanDerLaan said, smiling.
VanDerLaan cruised for the rest of the back nine, but as his group approached the No. 18 tee, the streak of the tournament’s picture-perfect weather ran out, as it starting pouring before he teed off.
“This one was actually kind of nice,” VanDerLaan said about the weather delay, which did not require a warmup afterward. “… It was nice to only be sitting around. There was some football on and in the restaurant we were watching football for a few minutes and [then] headed back out.”
A half an hour later, he celebrated his first win with wife Hannah and Bunker.
Bunker, a trained service dog, has joined VanDerLaan at about 20 courses, Hannah said. The 5-year-old puppy can fly with the family for longer destinations on the tour, but the VanDerLaans will be driving back to Florida after the win, nearly 16½ hours away.
Along with the puppy, some family and friends of Hannah VanDerLann were also present. Her cousin played football at Dublin Scioto High School.
VanDerLaan, a 29-year-old from Southbury, Connecticut, played at Florida Southern College and has finished in the top 10 of Korn Ferry events 12 times in his career (once as a runner-up). He met Hannah during his sophomore year of college and calls her his No. 1 supporter.
The win put VanDerLaan at No. 15 in the Korn Ferry rankings with two events left to play. The top 20 golfers of the season earn their PGA Tour cards.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: John VanDerLaan wins Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship
