The first, which Herman “called life-changing,” came at the 2016 2016 Houston Open when he beat Henrik Stenson by one and Dustin Johnson by two. The second, which was “redemptive”, he said, came a year ago at the Barbasol Championships, and ended on a stupid string of 16 missed cuts in his previous 19 starts.
“Last summer was just a little bit validated, overcoming some injuries and just, you know, getting old,” Herman said. ‘You get out of here pretty fast with the young boys. They make you feel deficient in tea and especially long irons. You know, it’s mentally frustrating.
“To overcome it all and come here for the third time is pretty awesome.”
And making the win at Sedgefield even more satisfying was Herman’s performance over the weekend.
To even be able to play the final two rounds at Sedgefield, Herman had to fight nine on Friday. When he secured the 14th hole, he actually fell outside the cutline, but coupling birds on his next three holes landed him the opening time of Saturday.
He shot a stellar bogey-free 61 on Saturday, one of two rounds of 9 under which the Donald Ross gem left that day. He then came back from four shots and held some of the TOUR’s best in Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup winner, and former Wyndham and PLAYERS champions, Si Woo Kim and Webb Simpson, to name a few, with a final Round 63.
Not bad for a man who has now used a different well strip in each of his victories – the clay at Houston, a conventional grip at Barbasol and handed over to the Wyndham, where he returned to one of his old Bettinardi -putters.
“I thought about doing it on Sunday at PGA,” Herman said. ‘I had it with me, another model, and would do it, but I did not. I just stuck with what I did, conventionally, at Harding Park.
‘But I came here, and these greens are so perfect, you have to be able to start the ball where you see it with the right speed, and crosshand just gets the ball a little better for me to roll the moment and just go with it. ‘
The decision proved to be an inspiration.
Among the many keys on Sunday, the 59-foot Herman was holed for nobility at the fifth hole. In all, he made 157 feet of putts in the final round and 444 for the week. He ranked first in green in regulation and among the top five in Strokes Gained: Putting, Approach-the-Green, Off-the-Tee and Tee-to-Green.
That, although we may not have seen the win coming, Herman’s performance was solid at Sedgefield. Forget about the 27 missed cuts in his last 40 starts. He played with confidence and conviction in a victory he called “very satisfying” and must allow himself.
“I think if you win, you never really expect it,” Herman said. “I mean, there’s the guys at the top, they’re expecting to win every week and they have to expect that, they’re so good. You know, we’re all really darn good here, but the mental game, it kills you. …
‘I know that really is no different than that it’s very, very satisfying, did you know to be in the mix after yesterday’s round, put myself in the position to be close to the lead and then come from behind and go on a Sunday low to get a profit.
“You see it on TV, I see it on TV all the time watching the boys and now to do it it’s wonderful.”
