News >> Past and Present Players Hilight PGA And Nationwide Tours
Nearly 150 Past NGA Hooters Tour Players Fill PGA, Nationwide Fields
Six Former Players Hold Down Top-10 Power Rankings
Longs, SC—While 168 current NGA Hooters Tour players are teeing off in Pearland, Texas, at the Texas Honing Open on Thursday, another 145 current and former NGA players will testing their mettle against the world’s best on the PGA and Nationwide Tours.
Former NGA players Zach Johnson, Vaughn Taylor and Bubba Watson headline a cast of 60 past players in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. Zach Johnson, the 2001 NGA Hooters Tour Player of the Year and 2007 Masters Champion, carries the No. 2 Power Ranking into the PGA event at TPC Deere Run; Vaughn Taylor, the 1999 NGA Hooters Tour Rookie of the Year and back-to-back winner of the Reno Tahoe Open on the PGA Tour, sits right behindJohnson in the PGATour.com’s Power Rankings at third; and Bubba Watson, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 2003 and 2004, holds down the No. 7 position in the Power Rankings in his first tournament since winning the PGA’s Travelers Championship.
On the Nationwide Tour side, over half the field for the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic has spent time on the NGA Hooters Tour. In all, 85 former NGA players, including alternates, will take part in the Nationwide event at The Georgian Bay Club in Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada.
Chris Kirk, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 2009, is currently ranked second in the Power Rankings; Tag Ridings, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1997 and 1998, is ranked third; and Justin Hicks, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1995, is ranked fourth. If history is any indication, a former NGA player will likely be atop the leaderboard on Sunday. Hicks won the event in 2008, while former NGA player Roger Tambellini won last year’s Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. Past NGA player Casey Wittenberg finished second to Hicks in 2008, and Blake Adams, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 2005 and 2006, finished in the runner-up position in 2009.
Current NGA Hooters Tour money leader Matt Harmon will also be in the field, courtesy of receiving one of the six Nationwide exemptions secured by the NGA Hooters Tour. Harmon has won two of the last six NGA Hooters Tour events this season and will be making his seventh start on the Nationwide Tour. With the recent upsurge in his play, Harmon has a good chance to better his previous best finish of 36th on the Nationwide Tour.
Keegan Bradley, who won the Texas Honing Open last year on the NGA Hooters Tour, will be looking to keep the momentum from his top-30 finish in the Mexico Open going with a strong showing in Canada.
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 an impressive list of alumni.
Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open Champion; Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion; Shaun Micheel, the 2003 British Open Champion; Ben Curtis, winner of the 2003 British Open; Jim Furyk, winner of the 2003 US Open; Lee Janzen, a two-time US Open winner; John Daly, a British Open and PGA Champion; Tom Lehman, winner of the British Open; David Toms, a past PGA Champion; Chad Campbell, the 2003 Tour Championship winner; Vaughn Taylor, a two-time Reno Tahoe Open winner; and Craig Perks, winner of the TPC, tested their mettle on the NGA Hooters Tour before tasting success on golf’s grandest stage.
All told, the NGA Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 11 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA Hooters Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 48% of the players that earned their 2010 PGA Tour card, and 53% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA Hooters Tour.
For more information, visit www.HootersTour.com.
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in the John Deere Classic:
Brad Adamonis
Blake Adams
Joe Affrunti
Brad Benjamin
Kris Blanks
Jason Bohn
Justin Bolli
Craig Bowden
Chad Campbell
Chad Collins
Michael Connell
Brendon de Jonge
Brent Delahoussaye
Joe Durant
Matt Every
Martin Flores
Robert Gamez
Robert Garrigus
Tom Gillis
Jeff Gove
Lee Janzen
Zach Johnson (No. 2 Power Rankings)
Cliff Kresge
Derek Lamely
Spencer Levin
Steve Lowery
Bill Lunde
Will MacKenzie
Scott McCarron
Parker McLachlin
George McNeill
Shaun Micheel
Garth Mulroy
James Nitties
Ryan Palmer
Rod Pampling
Scott Piercy
Aron Price
Ted Purdy
Brett Quigley
Chris Riley
John Rollins
John Senden
Mike Small
Chris Smith
Kevin Streelman
Brian Stuard
Roger Tambellini
Vaughn Taylor (No. 3 Power Rankings)
Josh Teater
Chris Tidland
Jerod Turner
Vance Veazey
Bubba Watson (No. 7 Power Rankings)
Boo Weekley
Garrett Willis
Chris Wilson
Gary Woodland
Alts: Kent Jones, Michael Clark
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in the Ford Wayne Gretzky Open:
Mark Anderson
Ryan Armour
Eric Axley
Brian Bateman
Camilo Benedetti
Travis Bertoni
Matthew Borchert
Keegan Bradley
David Branshaw
D.J. Brigman
Josh Broadway
Scott Brown
Ted Brown
Dan Buchner
Andrew Buckle
Jason Caron
Michael Clark II
Paul Claxton
Robert Damron
Bryan DeCorso
Bubba Dickerson
Ken Duke
Joel Edwards
John Ellis
Todd Fischer
Nick Flanagan
Keven Fortin-Simard
Tommy Gainey
Robert Gamez
Paul Gow
Rob Grube
Kelly Grunewald
Scott Gutschewski
Matt Harmon
Ty Harris
Justin Hicks (No. 4 Power Rankings)
Jesse Hutchins
Brandt Jobe
Kent Jones
J.J. Killeen
John Kimbell
Chris Kirk (No. 2 Power Rankings)
Kevin Kisner
Bronson La’Cassie
Brett Lederer
Daniel Licursi
Luke List
Brock Mackenzie
Bobby MacWhinnie
Major Manning
David Mathis
William McGirt
Adam Meyer
David Morland
Madalisto Muthiya
Rob Oppenheim
Justin Peters
Stephen Poole
Ewan Porter
Ted Potter Jr.
Rick Price
Kyle Reifers
Tad Ridings (No. 3 Power Rankings)
John Riegger
David Schultz
Jason Schutlz
Michael Sims
Sonny Skinner
Justin Smith
Sal Spallone
Scott Stallings
B.J. Staten
Scott Sterling
Darron Stiles
Andre Stolz
Andrew Svoboda
Kyle Thompson
Emmett Turner
Brian Vranesh
Danny Wax
Ron Whittaker
Casey Wittenberg
Alts: Bob Heintz, Brendon Todd, Chris Anderson
