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Former NGA Hooters players pack British Open, Reno-Tahoe and Chiquita Classic Fields
Longs, SC—As the PGA Tour returns to the home of golf this week for the British Open, many players that called the NGA Hooters Tour home in the past will head to the Old Course at St. Andrews hoping to hoist the Claret Jug. And it shouldn’t be a big surprise if they do.
Tom Lehman, who was a member on the NGA Hooters Tour 1989 and 1990, won the trophy in 1996; John Daly, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1989, won the jug in 1995; Ben Curtis, a NGA member in 2001 and 2002, won the Open in 2003; and former member Stewart Cink won last year’s British Open in a playoff with Tom Watson.
The aforementioned foursome, however, won’t be the only past NGA Hooters Tour players that have PGA Majors to their names in the field. Jim Furyk, a 1992 NGA Hooters member and 2003 US Open winner; Zach Johnson, the 2001 NGA Player of the Year and winner of the 2007 Masters are in the field as well.
On this side of the pond, nearly 125 past NGA Hooters Tour players are entered into the PGA Tour’s Reno-Tahoe Open and the Nationwide Tour’s La Chiquita Classic.
Vaughn Taylor, the NGA Hooters Tour Rookie of the Year in 1999, won the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2003 and 2004 and currently leads the PGATour.com’s Power Ranking for the event. Taylor is coming off a sixth-place finish in the John Deere Classic. Former NGA players John Rollins, Kris Blanks and Robert Garrigus sit right behind Vaughn in the Power Rankings at second, third and fifth, respectively.
On the Nationwide Tour, Jim Herman, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 2002, leads the Power Rankings over former player Chris Kirk. Keegan Bradley, who won the 2009 Texas Honing Open on the NGA Hooters Tour, moved up to third in the Power Rankings after his career-best second-place finish at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic last week.
Current NGA Hooters Tour Money leader Matt Harmon will be making his second consecutive start on the Nationwide Tour thanks in part to six-under par 66 in Monday’s Qualifying round. Harmon missed the cut in last week’s Ford Wayne Gretzky. Joining Harmon in the field will be other current members Sam Saunders, Grant Leaver and Manuel Villegas.
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 British Open
Kurt Barnes
Jason Bohn
Stewart Cink
Ben Curtis
John Daly
Jim Furyk
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover
Zach Johnson
Jerry Kelly
Tom Lehman
Gareth Maybin
George McNeill
Sean O’Hair
Ewan Porter
John Senden
Steven Tiley
Camilo Villegas
Bubba Watson
Oliver Wilson
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in the Reno-Tahoe Open
Eric Axley
Brian Bateman
Kris Blanks
Justin Bolli
Craig Bowden
Chad Campbell
Michael Clark II
Erick Compton
Robert Damron
Brent Delahoussaye
Matt Every
Todd Fischer
Steve Flesch
Martin Flores
Ben Fox
Robert Gamez
Robert Garrigus
Tom Gillis
Jeff Gove
Bob Heintz
Kent Jones
Cliff Kresge
Spencer Levin
Mitch Lowe
Bill Lunde
Will MacKenzie
Len Mattiace
Scott McCarron
Parker McLachlin
Spike McRoy
Garth Mulroy
James Nitties
Ryan Palmer
Rod Pampling
Scott Piercy
Aron Price
Ted Purdy
John Rollins
Mike Small
Chris Smith
Brian Stuard
Kevin Streelman
Roger Tambellini
Vaughn Taylor
Josh Teater
Chris Tidland
Jerod Turner
Vance Veazey
Grant Waite
Chris Wilson
Mark Wilson
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in the Chiquita Classic:
Brad Adamonis
Joe Affrunti
Mark Anderson
Ryan Armour
Sam Arnold
Camilo Benedetti
Travis Bertoni
Matthew Borchert
Keegan Bradley
David Branshaw
D.J. Brigman
Josh Broadaway
Scott Brown
Ted Brown
Dan Buchner
Andrew Buckle
Paul Claxton
Matt Davidson
Bryan DeCorso
Bubba Dickerson
Ken Duke
Nick Flanagan
Keven Fortin-Simard
Tommy Gainey
Paul Gow
Kelly Grunewald
Matt Harmon
Ty Harris
Bob Heintz
Jim Herman
Justin Hicks
Ryan Hietala
Wes Homan
Jesse Hutchins
Brandt Jobe
J.J. Killeen
John Kimbell
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Bronson La’Cassie
Grant Leaver
Bobby MacWhinnie
David Mathis
William McGirt
Jay McLuen
Adam Meyer
David Morland
Rob Oppenheim
Ted Potter
Rick Price
Kyle Reifers
Tag Ridings
John Riegger
Sam Saunders
Dave Schultz
Michael Sims
Sonny Skinner
Justin Smith
Sal Spallone
Scott Stallings
B.J. Staten
Scott Sterling
Darron Stiles
Andre Stolz
Andrew Svoboda
Kyle Thompson
Brendon Todd
Manuel Villegas
Brian Vranesh
Ron Whittaker
Andy Winnings
Casey Wittenberg
Alts: Emmett Turner, Nick Beach, Dustin White
