Is there actually evidence that the traditional method of touch typing, where each finger is assigned a keyboard column and returns to the "Home Row" after striking a key, is at all faster, more efficient, or ergonomically sound than just typing intuitively?

I don't know of any studies (although they probably exist), but (a) touch typists I know are much faster than touch typists I don't know, and (b) the world's fastest typists are, as far as I know, all touch typists. Sean Wrona, currently the world's fastest typist, uses touch typing. So did Barbara Blackburn, the previous world's fastest typist.