pro golfer nate lashley has been dominating >>> welcome back, pro golfer nate lashley has been dominatingendured a heartbreaking tragedy that almost ended his career. we're going to talk to nate in just a moment, but first a look at his journey >> reporter: cheers for nate lashley sunday as he secured the first pga tour trophy of his career. >> just really emotional right now. >> it was a last minute break that turned into a comeback story for the ages the rookie player ranked only 353rd in the world added to the tournament as an alternate just the day before it began. >> i was just really thankful to get in the tournament, and i took advantage of the opportunity. >> but 15 years ago, an unthinkable tragedy almost ended his golfing career. >> a search is underway for the parents of u of a golfer nate lashley. >> nate's parents and girlfriends were flying home after watching him play in a college tournament when the single engine plane being flown by his father crashed in a snow squall and killed all three on board. >> for a lot of years it was just tough you know, it was tough mentally to

pro golfer nate lashley has been dominated headlines since his first edge pga tour victory on sunday.o nate in just a fi loo is jontne,y. moor cheers f nate lashley sunday as he secured the first pga tour trophy of his career. >> just really emotional right now. >> it was a last-minute break that turned to acomeback story for the ages. the rookier pla ranked only 353rd in the world, added to the tournament as an j alternatet a day before it began. >> i was just really thankful to get in the tournament, and i took advantage of the opportunity. >> but 15 years ago, an unthinkable tragedy almost ended his golfing career. >> a search is under way for the parents of nate laaeley. >> n parents and girlfriend were flying home after watching him in a golf tournament, when the single engine plane flown by his father crashed into a snow squall and killed all three board. >> it was tough to stay foced on the golf course. >> lashley walked away from the game, briefly pursuing a career in real estate, but his love of golf brought him back to the court, more determined than ever. teis sunday, his s

nate lashley wins his first tournament after a heartbreaking tragedy. his emotional road to victory. today, monday, july 1st, 2019. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza >>> welcome to "today. thank you for joining us on this monday morning kristen welker is with me this morning and for the next few days. >> great to be here. >> savannah on a deserved break, and hoda on maternity break. this is your birthday. >> sweet 21. few years older than that. can't imagine a better way to celebrate my birthday. >> we are happy to have you here we are going to get to our top story. investigators trying to figure out what caused the plane crash in a dallas suburb that killed all ten people on board. we've got the latest from the scene of the tragedy, as well as the investigation into what went wrong. we start at the scene with nbc's gabe gutierrez, near the crash site in addison, texas good morning. >> reporter: good morning. behind me is the hangar the small plane crashed into you

a thrilling moment of triumph for golfer nate lashley. his first pga tour victory, winning the rocket mortgage classic in drith on sunday. >> jt reallyemotional right now. really thankful i got into the golf tournament, really. >> to call it an upset would be an understatement. it's a victory that's t hen well more than a decade to achieve. winning on the pga tour has been a dretm, andng that done today is a great accomplishment. >> the golfer was added as an alternate, given the last spot before the tournament started. shooting 25 under par for the tournament,re lashley's incdible golf game is only part of his story. in 2004, o in middlef this college career. his parents and girlfriend flew to oregon to watch him play. they were heading back homeo nebraska when they small plane piloted by his father crashed, killing all three onboard. >> i've been tough a lot. it took a lot of yearsoor me t get over my sure >> lathsly struggled, even dropping out of golf, and selling real estate before returning to the game he loved. ar>> my pents were s

we pivoted to the pga golf in detroit, the day for a fellow named nate lashley. is, i tried this shot, it didn't work out quite as well. what a come back for this guy, lost his parents and his girlfriend in a plane crash 15 years ago, off the grid for a long time, and today, won going away by six strokes, got into the event as an alternate. off to track, casters sylvania, she was back in full force at the women's 800 meters, look how far ahead she is. she won the prefontaine event for the third straight year. clearly, the olympic favor.>> she was the one we are looking for.>> i'm just wondering who the bay area that would miss most? >> that's a good one. we should put that on twitter.>> why did he leave, do you know why he we this was ine tremont green and that laker game earlier this season. there was something going on in the inner workings of that team, and it just kinda festered. so he did his time, he was a good teammate, did everything, got hurt, time to move on.>> passed up an extra 70 million or something. >> as if he's really going to miss that.>> we wil

. >> reporter: this weekend, nate lashley taught us what can happen when you never give up, not because he was an alternate who wasn't even supposed to play in the rocket mortgage classic or because just five years ago he was selling real estate the 36-year-old rookie entered the tournament ranked 353rd in the world. but this isn't just about fighting through adversity on the golf course. >> i would give anything for my parents to be able to be here and share this with me >> reporter: when lashley was in college, his parents and then girlfriend were killed when their plane crashed in a snow squall they were flying home after watching him play. >> for a lot of years it was just tough you know, it was tough mentally to stay focused on the golf course >> reporter: so he walked away from the game until he was finally ready to follow his dreams again this weekend sharing his win with sister and new girlfriend, the memory of his parents there too. >> i was -- when i was younger, without them, i wouldn't be here right now. >> reporter: a moment they surely would have been proud of, earning nat