It was certainly a nice consolation prize.
Cole Nygren of Longmont, who turned pro after finishing fourth in the CGA Amateur at Sonnenalp Golf Club in August, was in Las Vegas this week trying to Monday qualify for the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He fell a shot short of earning a spot in the field as two other Coloradans — Tom Whitney of Fort Collins and Jim Knous of Englewood — were among the four players who qualified.
But the next day, Nygren’s stop in Las Vegas paid off as he improbably won the All Pro Championship at the inaugural Major Series of Putting while competing against a field that featured PGA Tour veterans Brad Faxon, John Cook, Tommy Armour III and Colt Knost.
Tuesday night’s victory in the two-day event was worth $15,000 for Nygren. Not bad considering the entry fee was $1,000 and that Nygren was unaware of the event until Monday.
“It’s pretty fun to come out and putt against guys like Colt Knost and Brad Faxon,” Nygren (left) said on GolfDigest.com. “When you’re playing against guys of that caliber, there’s not too much pressure because you’re not expecting to win.”
Nygren, a former Cal Poly golfer, defeated Knost, the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion, in the MSOP match-play final, 3 and 2. Knost, who will compete in the Shriners Hospitals event starting on Thursday, had beaten Faxon in the semifinals of the 16-player match-play portion of the event. The tournament was held on synthetic grass at a 20,000-square-foot “putting stadium” where the course was designed by Jack Nicklaus’ company.
Nygren drained his first putt of the scheduled 18-hole final and led throughout, one-putting three times on the back nine. (Nygren and Colt are pictured below in a golfdigest.com photo.)
The $15,000 payoff was welcome for Nygren, who went to the Web.com Tour Q-school this year but failed to advance beyond the first stage.
“It’s just incredible,” the 22-year-old told Golf.com. “I had no expectation to win with so many PGA Tour guys and veterans in the field. I’m taking this money and I’m going to use it to enter a bunch of tournaments.”
The All Pro Championship was one of 10 separate contests — held over the course of 10 days — at the Major Series of Putting.
The winner of another event — the one with the top payout — also has Colorado connections. Taylor Montgomery — son of 1987 Colorado state high school champion Monte Montgomery, who grew up in Grand Junction — captured a $75,000 first prize on Sunday in the MSOP Stroke Play Championship that had a buy-in of $5,000. Taylor Montgomery played his college golf at nearby UNLV and Monte is now the general manager at famed Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.
“I’ve grown up playing in a lot of pressure situations with my dad being at Shadow Creek,” 22-year-old Taylor Montgomery said on GolfDigest.com. “I’ve been putting for money for a while, and I’ve seen some crazy stuff out there, so it’s kind of normal to me.”
For both Montgomery and Nygren, it was the biggest paydays of their young pro careers.