News >> Lavery Leads Past and Present Players Into PGA, Nationwide Events
Past and Present NGA Players Aplenty on PGA, Nationwide Tour
Longs, SC—It’s safe to say that NGA Hooters Tour player Michael Lavery slept well Sunday night. Lavery, of Mission Viejo, Calif., didn’t face the daunting task of playing in the Monday Qualifier to get into the Nationwide Tour’s Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open because he won “Race for PHS Wichita Open Exemption,” one of six Nationwide Tour exemptions secured by the NGA Hooters Tour.
“It’s going to be less stressful knowing I’m in the event and that I don’t have to qualify to get in,” Lavery said after earning the exemption. “I just want to thank the Hooters Tour and the PHS Wichita Open committee for this opportunity.”
While Lavery’s Monday was tension-free, the former UC Irvine golfer’s quest for the exemption wasn’t without drama. Needing solid performance in the Victoria Texas Open, the last event of the exemption race, Lavery entered the final round T35 and in danger of losing the exemption. However, he shot a 5-under par 66 in the final round, vaulting him to a tie for 15th and $450 clear of Ryan Henry for the exemption.
Lavery, who has 77 stars on the NGA Hooters Tour, will be making his eighth career start on the Nationwide Tour this weekend and second start in the PHS Wichita Open. In 2007, he posted rounds of 70-67-69-69 for a 9-under par total and T30 finish.
Lavery won't be alone this week in Wichita as a handful of current members will be teeing it up on the PGA Tour's Developmental tour this week as well. Joining Lavery are current members James Vargas, Roberto Castro, Rhein Gibson, Tyler Leon, Nick Rousey, Michael Schachner, Travis Bertoni and Ted Potter. While Potter and Bertoni have conditional status on the tour, the other six were forced to battle qualifiers to get in the tournament. Vargas and Castro both qualified in last week's Cox Classic and turned their efforts into T-19 finishes guaranteeing them starts this week in Wichita. Rousey, who qualified for his first ever Nationwide event last week in Omaha but missed the cut by one stroke, qualified on Monday with a four-under par 68 at the Auburn Hills site. Rousey was joined at this site by Leon (67) and Schachner (67). Gibson, a native of New South Wales, was the man with the golden ticket as he took medalist honors with a 67 at the Sand Creek site.
The Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open has long been a stepping stone for former Hooters Tour players in realizing their dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Past champions include Hooters Tour alumni Scott Piercy, Jeff Klauk, Tyler Williamson, David Toms, Chris Tidland and Tom Lehman. But there are plenty more former NGA Hooters Tour players joining Lavery at the Crestview Country Club this week as 61 past and present NGA players are in the field.
David Mathis, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1999, and Tommy Gainey, a former NGA winner, are ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the PGATour.com’s Power Ranking for the event. More impressive is the fact that 12 of the top 25 money leaders on the Nationwide Tour have spent time on the NGA Hooters Tour.
On the PGA side, nearly 70 former NGA players will be split between the World Golf Championship and Turning Stone Resort Championship. At Turning Stone, former NGA player Brendon de Jonge holds down second in the Power Rankings after picking up his sixth top-10 finish of the season last week. Vaughn Taylor, the 1999 NGA Rookie of the Year, is ranked third after posting five top-10s this season. The field also includes past NGA players and PGA “Major” winners David Toms and Shaun Micheel.
Also joining the field for The Turning Stone Resort Championship is current member and former Naval Acadamey standout Billy Hurley III. Hurley will be making his first start on the PGA Tour since 2007. In 2007 Hurley was sent to Pearl Harbor to serve on the USS Chung-Hon and barely played golf during two years of service but has made the climb back to the top ranks winning earlier this year at The NGA Hooters Tour's $250,000 Terry Moore Ford Open at Rock Barn.
In the WGC, Jim Furyk, a 1992 NGA Hooters Tour member, is ranked 10th and leads a virtual “Who’s Who” of former NGA players competing in Akron, Ohio. Past players and PGA “Major” winners Ben Curtis, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover are also in the field.
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; Lucas Glover, the 2009 US 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 12 “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 Players in the WGC:
Jason Bohn
Chad Campbell
Stewart Cink
Ben Curtis
Jim Furyk
Lucas Glover
Zach Johnson
Sean O’Hair
Ryan Palmer
Heath Slocum
Camilo Villegas
Bubba Watson
Boo Weekley
Oliver Wilson
Past NGA Players in the Turning Stone Championship:
Kris Blanks
Justin Bolli
Craig Bowden
Michael Clark II
Chad Collins
Erik Compton
Michael Connell
Brendon de Jonge
Brent Delahoussaye
Joe Durant
Steve Flesch
Martin Flores
Robert Gamez
Robert Garrigus
Tom Gillis
Jeff Gove
Nathan Green
Bill Hurley III
Kent Jones
Jerry Kelly
Cliff Kresge
Michael Letzig
Steve Lowery
Bill Lunde
Will MacKenzie
Scott McCarron
George McNeil
Shaun Micheel
Garth Mulroy
James Nitties
Rod Pampling
Scott Piercy
Aron Price
Ted Purdy
Brett Quigley
John Senden
Micheel Sim
Mike Small
Chris Smith
Kevin Streelman
Chris Stroud
Brian Stuard
Roger Tambellini
Vaughn Taylor
Josh Teater
Chris Tidland
David Toms
Jerod Turner
Vance Veazey
Jay Williamson
Garrett Willis
Chris Wilson
Mark Wilson
Gary Woodland
Past NGA Players in the Wichita Open:
Brad Adamonis
Joe Affrunti
Mark Anderson
Ryan Armour
Brian Bateman
Nick Beach
Travis Bertoni
Matthew Borchert
Keegan Bradley
David Branshaw
Josh Broadaway
Scott Brown
Ted Brown
Andrew Buckle
Roberto Castro
Paul Claxton
Robert Damron
Matt Davidson
Bryan DeCorso
Bubba Dickerson
Ken Duke
Keven Fortin-Simard
Tommy Gainey
Robert Gamez
Rhein Gibson
Kelly Grunewald
Scott Gutschewski
Ty Harris
Jim Herman
Justin Hicks
Jesse Hutchins
Brandt Jobe
Kent Jones
John Kimbell
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Bronson La’Cassie
Mike Lavery
Tyler Leon
Luke List
Bobby BacWhinnie
David Mathis
William McGirt
Adam Meyer
David Morland IV
Madalisto Muthiya
Rob Oppenheim
Justin Peters
Ewan Porter
Ted Potter Jr.
Rick Price
Kyle Reifters
John Riegger
David Robinson
Nick Rousey
Michael Schachner
Dave Schultz
Justin Smith
Sal Spallone
Scott Stallings
Darron Stiles
Andrew Svoboda
Kyle Thompson
Brian Vranesh
Ron Whittaker
Casey Wittenberg
