|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
N. Myrtle Beach, SC… The NGA Hooters Tour does it again!!! Current member Eric Axley became the latest success story from the Hooters Tour on Sunday as he captured his first Nationwide Tour title at the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“This feels awesome,” said the 31-year-old. “It is hard to put into words what this does for my career. It means everything.”
The Knoxville, TN native qualified on Monday and made the most of his opportunity by firing rounds of 69-67-67-67, for a four day total of 270 (14-under par) over the par 71 TPC Course at Wakefield Plantation and defeated Troy Matteson by two strokes.
Axley, a two-time winner on the Hooters Tour, became just the third lefthander to win a Nationwide Tour event and becomes the 18th Monday Qualifier to win on tour since 2004.
“Monday Qualifying makes for a long week, “said Axley. “You play practice rounds on Sunday, then qualifying on Monday just to get in the tournament.”
With the victory, Axley collects a career-best $81,000 and moves up to number 11 on the Tour’s money list with that same amount. He also earns membership on the Nationwide Tour for the remainder of the 2005 season and all of 2006.
“Just to be able to play golf each week without worrying about qualifying on Monday is a huge burden lifted off my shoulders.” “It gives me a place to play for the next two years.”
The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and boasts alumni like 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis, 2003 US Open winner Jim Furyk, two time U.S. Open winner Lee Janzen, British Open and PGA Champion John Daly, as well as British Open winner Tom Lehman, PGA Champion David Toms, 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell, 2004 BellSouth Classic winner Zach Johnson, 2004 Reno Tahoe Open winner Vaughn Taylor and TPC winner Craig Perks to name just a few. All told, the NGA/Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 9 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA/Hooters Tour has helped more than 100 professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 40% of the players that earned their 2005 PGA Tour card, and 33% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA/Hooters Tour.
For more information about the NGA/Hooters Tour, please visit our web site, www.NGAHOOTERSTOUR.com.
