Schmitz Completes Conquest of Mid-Players' Tourney

MORTON -- Sammy Schmitz was a Division III All-American at St. John's, and like a lot of college golfers he decided that playing golf for a living might be fun. One year of mini-tours presuaded him otherwise. 

He got his amateur status back, and his name began showing up near the top of leaderboards in MGA events in 2008. That was the year he made it to the semifinals at the Players' Championship. It was his first top-10 finish in a major state tournament, and there would be a lot more.

In 2009, he won the Twin Cities Championship, an event with a field that keeps getting stronger, and then finished fourth in the State Amateur, fourth in the State Open and second in the State Publinx. He had five more top-5 finishes in state events during the next two years. Three of those were runner-up performances, including one at the 2011 State Open.

But he couldn't seem to win any tournament that had the word "State" in the title.

Finally, last September, he broke through, winning the State Mid-Amateur (Stroke Play) by seven strokes. Once he smashed through that wall, there was no stopping him.

Schmitz, the 2011 MGA Player of the Year, has played in two state championships this spring, and he's won them both. He opened his 2012 schedule with another seven-stroke victory, this one in the State Publinx Mid-Amateur at The Jewell, and on Wednesday he picked up his third state title in eight months by winning the MGA Mid-Players' (Match Play) Championship at Dacotah Ridge GC.

By the time he had beaten Jesse Larson 5&3 in the final, there could be no doubt about who the best player in the field was. Schmitz never saw the 17th tee, and he played the 16th hole only once, in a 3&2 semifinal victory over Geoff Klein. 

Both Schmitz and Larson started out par-bogey, but Schmitz grabbed the lead with a birdie at the 541-yard, par-5 third hole (he birdied all three of the par-5's he played on Wednesday). Larson drew even, briefly, with a birdie at the fifth, only to see Schmitz pull ahead for good with a birdie at the other par-5 on the front nine, the 519-yard sixth.

A par at the eighth expanded the lead to 2 up, and Schmitz doubled that by winning the 10th and 11th holes with pars. Larson birdied the par-5 13th, but Schmitz matched it, and the long-hitting 31-year-old closed out the match -- and the tournament -- with a birdie at the 563-yard, par-5 15th.

Afterward, the victor said the key was "consistent iron play," which enabled him to make "lots of pars." 

You have to win five matches in 2 1/2 days to hold the Mid-Players' trophy, which is a grind. Nevertheless, Schmitz seemed to be getting better as the tourament wore on. He was even par Tuesday morning in his 5&3 quarterfinal victory over Jesse Bull, 1 under against Klein on Tuesday afternoon in his semifinal triumph, and 2 under on Wednesday in his dispatching of Larson in the final. 

6th MGA Mid-Players' Championship 

At Dacotah Ridge Golf Club

Par 72, 6,642 yards

Morton

First-round results 

Sammy Schmitz def. Mark Caprio 8&6

Christopher Kowzlczyk def. Steve Tax 1 up

Jesse Bull def. Phillip Mahal 7&6

Greg Melhus def. J.T. Johnson 2&1

Geoff Klein def. Blake Onkka 3&2

Joe Burgess def. Kane Bauer 1 up

Jonathan Hanner def. Brent Grossman 5&4

Tim Andersen def. Tom Heidrick 2&1

Troy Johnson def. Peter Sax 6&5

Andy Jacobson def. Kennedy Cherulyot 2&1

James Lehman def. Anthony Daffer 20 holes

Mitch Thronell def. Gary Lawson 4&2

Jesse Larson def. Tony Gabriel 2&1

Shane Johnson def. Jeff Gallagher 6&5

Joel B. Johnson def. Michael Coffey 4&3

David Steingart def. John Holmes 2 up

Round of 16

Schmitz def. Kowalczyk 5&3 (this result was originally reported incorrectly as 9&7 on the MGA website)

Bull def. Melhus 3&1

Klein def. Burgess 3&2

Hanner def. Andersen 4&3

Jacobson def. Troy Johnson 3&1

Lehman def. Thornell 3&2

Larson def. Shane Johnson 2 up

Steingart def. Joel B. Johnson 4&3

Quarterfinals

Schmitz def. Bull 5&3

Klein def. Hanner 5&4

Jacobson def. Lehman 4&3

Larson def. Steingart 2&1

Semifinals 

Schmitz def. Klein 3&2

Larson def. Jacobson 3&1