Men’s & Women’s MI Open
Jake Kneen Withstands High Winds, Wins Hall Financial Michigan Open
Where The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort hosted the 105th Michigan Open
By Greg Johnson and Tom Lang
Think about this for a minute…
Have you ever heard of a player trailing by five strokes coming into the final round, shooting 1-OVER par 73, and winning?
That happened in mid-June to past Michigan Open champion Jake Kneen of White Lake to capture his second title in the last five years.
That’s also just one indicator of an outside influence like the fierce winds that blew all day long in Traverse City and most regions north. People call some wind really tough – but this wind knocked down no less than three trees across the highways of M-72 west of Kalkaska and U.S 127 southbound, below Grayling to navigate on the way home.
Kneen withstood the wicked winds the best among the remaining pros and amateurs who made the cut and emerged the champion of the Hall Financial Michigan Open presented by Turtle Creek Casino and Caesars Sportsbook.
This was Kneen’s second state championship despite the closing 1-over 73 dropping him to a 7-under 281 total on the wind-whipped Bear course at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.
Kneen, a 26-year-old mini tour pro, whose first Mich Open win was in 2018 when he was an amateur just out of Oakland University, was able to take home the first-place check for $12,500 this time around. His name will go on the historic James D. Standish Trophy for a second time. Kneen said the long birdie putt at No. 14 from above the hole was the most critical shot because he trailed by one shot at the time.
Baker Stevenson, a mini-tour pro from Highland, shot 283 and second place money of $8,200.
Michigan’s Sarah White Shoots 63 to Win Michigan PGA Women’s Open
By Greg Johnson
Sarah White of Caledonia shot a 9-under 63 in the final round to rally from five shots behind and win the 29th Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship on the Mountain Ridge course at Crystal Mountain, June 29.
White, 24 and playing on the LPGA Epson Tour with a quick stop in her home state to play in the Michigan Open, made eight birdies, an eagle and just one bogey in shooting 63 for a 6-under 210 total and four-shot win.
“It means a lot every time you win a golf tournament because you know that all of your hard work is paying off,” she said after collecting the $7,000 first-place check. “When it is your week to win, you get the good bounces, you know, and you have all the momentum.”
Mini-tour professional Jessica Welch of Thomasville, Ga., took second place, while Crystal Wang of Los Angeles and the University of Illinois was third place and low amateur.
Sarah Burnham, the 2020 Michigan PGA Women’s Open winner and former Michigan State star who played on the LPGA Tour last year, was paired with White in the final round and said the champion was hitting every shot well.
“She had a good confident round going and it was fun to see her do so well,” Burnham said. “It did remind me of when I won in 2020. I shot 9-under in the last round to win. I knew what she was feeling.”
A few days later Burnham was introduced as the new head coach at Oakland University.
White got a call from her brother Brett White, who is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour in Colorado this week soon after the round. He told her a Michigan golf fact; They are the first brother-sister duo to hold Michigan Open titles. Brett won the Michigan Open Championship in 2020.
“It’s super fun knowing we both are Michigan Open champs, and he told me now he has to try and one-up me,” said Sarah, who has been making sports news for years since her days as a goalie on the boy’s hockey team at East Kentwood High School.
