NGA Hooters Tour Well Represented At 105th U.S. Open

North Myrtle Beach, SC… Zach Johnson, winner of the 2004 BellSouth Classic, and Chad Campbell, winner of the 2003 Tour Championship and the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational, are two of twelve former Hooters Tour players to gain exempt status for the 2005 US Open Championship based on the exemption criteria set up by the USGA, scheduled from June 16-19 at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
 

This impressive list includes 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis, 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Steve Flesch, Two-time major winner John Daly, Two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen, Jerry Kelly and David Toms.
 

While these players gained exempt status into the Championship based on their PGA performances, a group of current and former Hooters Tour members fought through Local and Sectional Qualifiers to gain one of the remaining 80 spots.
 

In Atlanta, Georgia, current member Derek Brown (Walnut Cove, NC) took medalist honors to advance to his first US Open. Brown wasn’t the only former or current Hooters tour member to take medalist honors as Paul Claxton took the Rockville, Maryland sectional June 6. Current members Nick Gilliam (Gainesville, Fl) and Josh McCumber (Gainesville, FL) advanced out of the Tampa Sectional taking two of the three possible spots. In Columbus, OH current member Sal Spallone (Vero Beach, FL) and Eric Axley, a 2004 member that moved up to the Nationwide tour earlier this year after Monday qualifying in Raleigh, NC and then winning the event, advanced to give Axley back to back US Open appearances.

In all told, 23 current or former Hooters Tour players will be in the field for the 105^th US Open, June 16-19, 2005 at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, NC.
 

Jim Furyk                        Chad Campbell               Derek Brown
Ben Curtis                       Tom Lehman                  D.J. Brigman
Shaun Micheel                 John Rollins                    Nick Gilliam
David Toms                    Eric Axley                       Josh McCumber
Steve Flesch                    Len Mattiace                   Conrad Ray
Stewart Cink                   Franklin Langham
Jerry Kelly                       Sal Spallone
Zach Johnson                  Nick Jones
John Daly                        Eric Meichtry