Donohue Cruises to First State Win at Minnesota State Open

  BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Undeterred by a bogey on his opening hole Wednesday, professional Muzzy Donohue converted 10 birdie chances over his final 15 holes at Minnesota Valley Country Club to earn his first state victory at the 109th Minnesota State Open.

Entering the final round with a two-stroke advantage, Donohue birdied six of his final seven holes to distance himself from the field by shooting 9-under 64 on the final day to defeat 2019 champion Brady Madsen by six shots.

“This gives me a lot of confidence—I know my game is good enough,” Donohue said following his win Wednesday. “I haven’t really had that, and I’ve been working really hard on my game, and I feel like it has translated in practice, but not necessarily in competition. It’s nice to know I can do it.

“Certainly, the bogey on the first hole brought me right back to Earth. The driver was a little shaky off the jump. We settled that down and started to hit some fairways, and if you can hit fairways out here then you get a lot of good wedge looks. I kept sticking them to 10-15 feet and my putter was hot for sure. Coming down the stretch it felt like I couldn’t miss.”

Starting with his bogey at the first, Donohue bounced back with back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth holes before rolling in a short birdie chance at the par-4 eighth.

Long and left of the ninth green, Donohue chipped in for birdie to turn in 16-under for the championship.

Cooling off slightly with back-to-back pars to open his inward nine, Donohue birdied the par-3 12th and would tally five consecutive birdies to close out the final round, including his putt from 20 feet at the last to finish at 22-under 197.

“I feel like, the cliches, sticking to the process and center myself on each swing,” the 25-year-old said. “On the back it’s easy for your mind to go wherever and start to think, ‘I’m going to win this,’ and that doesn’t really help you. It was important to stay in the process and hit the shot at hand, go find it and hit it again.”

Donohue’s previous best finish at the championship came a year ago at Rochester Golf and Country Club when he placed 18th after notching the first top-5 finish of his career at the Twin Cities Open at The Wilds Golf Club two months earlier.

On Wednesday, Donohue became the first left-handed winner in the 109-year history of the championship.

“We’re coming,” he joked, “It’s the lefty way—that’s pretty cool.”

A prep standout at St. Thomas Academy, Donohue played four seasons at Boston College before finishing his final year of eligibility at Santa Clara University.

Following an opening-round 69 Monday, Madsen carded back-to-back rounds of 67 to earn his best finish at the event since winning the 2019 championship at Rush Creek Golf Club.

“Coming into the week I felt like my game wasn’t quite where it should be, but golf’s a funny sport where even if you don’t have your A-game, you can still map your way around the golf course,” Madsen said Wednesday. “I thought the best feature was just my grind and where I was between the ears.

“It was a grind all week—you had to make a lot of birdies and a lot of putts. It was out there, but you’ve got to capitalize when you can. Iron play was good this week and my putter came around a little bit. Today they started falling more.

Madsen carded three birdies over his first six holes Wednesday before his momentum was slowed by a bogey at the seventh.

Turning in 12-under, Madsen battled to keep pace with Donohue down the stretch, rolling in five birdies over the first seven holes of his inward nine to reach 17-under, but a bogey at the 17th would dash his chances for good.

Looking to become the first three-time winner of the championship in recent history, Drew McCain posted a 3-under 70 on the final day Wednesday to finish in third at 14-under 205.

McCain won the 2015 championship as an amateur at Mendakota Country Club, and earned a title three years later as a professional at Bunker Hills Golf Club.

Finishing the week with back-to-back rounds of 3-under 70, 2013 champion Jon DuToit earned low amateur honors along with former Winona State University golfer Peyton Coahran at 13-under 206.

“Pleased with how I played,” the former University of Minnesota golfer DuToit said Wednesday. “I feel like not playing a ton of competitive golf—I’m just trying to figure out how to get to the final round, playing near the lead and all of a sudden, some expectations come up.

“A little bummed with how I finished, but not practicing much and keeping expectations low is good for me. Come out, have fun and do the best I can. Playing golf over the last couple of years, my game is probably the best it has ever been. Sometimes you’re just not sure how that will carry over in tournament play.”

Among Wednesday’s final-round highlights, Ben Greve, the 2016 and 2017 champion, tallied a 10-under 63 to set a new course record. Greve finished tied for seventh at 12-under 207.

DuToit outlasted Sammy Schmitz and professional Clayton Rask with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the championship in 2013 at Edinburgh USA.

The 110th Minnesota State Open will be played at Edinburgh USA July 12-14, 2027.