Myrtle Beach, SCÂ
Former NGA/Hooters Tour member Garrett Willis made
PGA Tour history this past Monday in Tucson, Arizona at The Touchstone
Energy Tucson Open. Willis joined Ben Crenshaw and Robert Gamez as the
only three players in history to win the first PGA Tour event they entered as
a card-carrying PGA Tour member.
The 27 year old from Nashville, Tennessee sank a 6-foot par putt Monday
to beat Kevin Sutherland by 1 stroke. Willis shot a final round 3-under 69
to finish 15-under for the tournament taking home a 1st place check of
$540,000 and an automatic 2 year exemption on the PGA Tour. Not bad for
a guy who just one month ago didn't know where he'd be playing in 2001.
In December the East Tennessee University product earned his PGA Tour
card at PGA Tour Qualifying School in La Quinta, California. "Here I was
going to Tour school a month ago, not knowing where I'd be playing, and
now this," he said. "This is a great country."
Ironically, Willis also won the very first NGA/Hooters Tour event he entered
when he won the 1996 Decatur Daily Tour Championship in Decatur, Alabama.
All told, in 3 years on the NGA/Hooters Tour Willis won 2 events and more than
$78,000.
Willis qualified for the 1998 and 1999 U.S. Opens and played in the '95 Canadian
Open, all as an amateur, but missed the cut each event. Last year Willis played
on the Buy.com Tour finishing 68th on the money list but struggled down the
stretch, missing the cut in his last 9 starts.
Willis wasn't the only recent NGA/Hooters Tour member who earned his 2001
PGA Tour card this past December who also played well in Tucson. Cliff Kresge
of Apopka, Florida played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2000 and also earned his
2001 PGA Tour card in December. Kresge also turned in his best ever PGA Tour
performance finishing tied for 5th at 12-under, taking home a check for $105,375.
ÂThis gives me a lot of confidence heading into the season, said Kresge. ÂIt also
takes some of the pressure off money-wise. ItÂs nice. Year after year the NGA/Hooters
Tour prides itself on being the #1 developmental tour in the United States for aspiring
professionals to begin their career. The National Golf Association is the 3rd largest
menÂs 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Buy.com Tours.
That pride held true once again at the recent final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School
in La Quinta, California where a full one-third (33%) of those players that earned their
2001 PGA Tour Card started their careers on the NGA/Hooters Tour.
Meanwhile the 2001 NGA/Hooters Tour season gets under way at The Ravines Inn &
Golf Club in Jacksonville, Florida the week of February 5th. The 2001 NGA/Hooters Tour
season will feature 25 events and more than $3.2 million dollars in prize money including
the $250,000 season ending Naturally Fresh Foods Tour Championship to be played at
WhiteWater Country Club located just outside Atlanta, Georgia beginning the week of
September 24, 2001.
For more information about the NGA/Hooters Tour, please visit our web site,
www.NGATOUR.com. If you have any questions concerning sponsorship opportunities
or interview requests before, after, or during tournament week please contact the
NGA TOUR office at 843-281-TOUR
.
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