By Ken Love

For the Mirror

Last week, Scottie Scheffler bested Tom Kim on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, CT.

The win was Scheffler’s sixth of the year, a very impressive total, but what really amazed me was hearing that this total was actually the most victories through the month of June since Arnold Palmer notched six himself, way back in 1962.

It’s hard to believe that Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods never accomplished this feat.

Scheffler’s personality always seems so unassuming and low-key. The calmness he displays makes me wonder what is actually brewing under the surface. To be that successful, you have to have a burning desire to succeed. Yet somehow, Scheffler has mastered a way to keep all his emotions in check.

Just when you think there would be no one to come along and dominate the game like Tiger Woods did, here comes Scheffler. He may not have Woods’ charisma, but he sure is beginning to match Woods’ performance on the course, at least for the time being.

Time will tell if he can keep winning at this amazing pace.

With all that said (and despite his crazy run-in with a police officer at the recent PGA Championship), I find myself rooting for Scheffler more and more every time I watch him play.

Avery Papalia

Avery Papalia, a 2023 Saint Francis alum, was recently announced as the head men’s golf coach for La Salle University, a Division I school competing in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Papalia, was a standout golfer for the Red Flash who earned a masters degree in business administration, with a specialty in sports management.

Shortly after graduation last year he was named the head coach for Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. Papalia will be relocating to the Philadelphia area this summer as he transitions into his new role at La Salle.

Johnstown title

One of our local golfers posted a top finish in the annual Johnstown City Championship last weekend.

Cresson’s Quintin Dziabo scored rounds of 67, 70 and 71 at Johnstown’s Berkley Hills Golf Course to earn a strong second-place finish.

The winner of the event was Hickory Heights’ Thomas Facciani, who finished with a 10-under par score of 203.

Local golfer shines

Iron Masters’ Nick Baum competed in the Pittsburgh Open held at the Pittsburgh Field Club earlier this week.

Baum scored an impressive round of 77 to make the cut, making him one of 60 golfers (from the field of 123) to earn a spot in Tuesday’s final round.

Baum finished the tournament with an 81, for a two-day total of 158 in his first Tri-State PGA event.

50 years ago

During the fourth week of June in 1974, an article written by Blairmont head pro Frank Kiraly appeared in “Professional Golfer,” the official magazine of the PGA of America.

The piece, entitled “Learning Starts Where the Lesson Stops,” was part of a three-piece series by Kiraly that constituted his thesis for certification as a PGA Master Professional.

Kiraly was one of the first head pros in the country to attain this elite status.

Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at GLTR777@atlanticbb.net.