Four things to know about Memorial contender David Lipsky
The other two co-leaders entering Sunday's final round of the Memorial Tournament are familiar to those who follow the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy is a 23-time tour winner, including four majors. With Tiger Woods sidelined after his latest surgery, McIlroy is arguably the most well-known name on the PGA Tour. Si Woo Kim is a four-time PGA tour champion.
More: 2023 Memorial Tournament live updates: David Lipsky bogeys, Rory McIlroy and Si Woo Kim share lead
But only the most ardent PGA Tour follower knows much about 34-year-old David Lipsky, who began Sunday at Muirfield Village tied with McIlroy and Kim at 6-under par.
More: Collin Morikawa withdraws from Memorial because of back spasms
Here are four things to know about Lipsky:
Lipsky has Big Ten ties
The native Californian graduated from Northwestern in 2011. He majored in political science and history and was first-team All-Big Ten and All-Academic Big Ten. Lipsky won the 2010 individual Big Ten title.
Long path to the PGA Tour
After college, Lipsky's journey to get to the PGA Tour was a long one.
He didn't qualify for the PGA or Web.com tours out of qualifying school in 2011 and then bounced between the Asian, Web.com and European tours after that. He then joined the Korn Ferry Tour and earned his PGA card from his play there.
"I probably have played in events sanctioned by almost every tour in the world," he said. "I played on every continent except Antarctica."
He said the most obscure place he has competed was Mauritia, a small island nation east of Africa.
Lipsky embraces his multicultural roots
His mother, Yon Suk Lipsky, is Korean. His father, Aaron, is Jewish of Eastern European descent.
"They emigrated into Mexico because they couldn't get into the United States at the time," Lipsky said, "so I have a lot of Mexican relatives. My uncle was born in Mexico."
He added with a smile, "I'm a bit of a mutt."
Lipsky said many of his relatives are in the restaurant business, and he describes himself as a "foodie" willing to be adventurous.
Asked what's the unusual thing he has tried, Lipsky said, "I remember playing in Vietnam and I had snake liquor from a restaurant. There's a snake at the bottom of this barrel and that was it. They were distilling some alcohol and the owner gave us a couple of shots. It was terrible. But I still took it."
Memorial gave career a jump start
Lipsky played the Memorial on a sponsor's exemption in 2019 and his tie for 48th gave his career a lift.
"It meant the world to me," he said. "That helped me get enough points to get through the cutoff for the top 200 on the FedExCup and get my Korn Ferry Tour card. If I didn't have that opportunity, I'm not sure I would be here right now."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Four things to know about Memorial contender David Lipsky
