News >> Kirk Notches First Win, Former Players Play Well
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players Monopolize Top 12
Fort Smith, AR—If you needed any reminder of how good the NGA Hooters Tour players are, you need to look no further than the final Nationwide Tour leader board from the Fort Smith Classic, where eight of the top-12 finishers were past NGA Hooters Tour players. Chris Kirk, a former NGA Hooters Tour player, picked up his first win on the Nationwide Tour by closing with a 6-under 64 on Sunday to edge former NGA Hooters Tour player Kyle Thompson by one stroke.
Josh Broadway, who posted one win on the NGA Hooters Tour, finished in a tie for third after shooting a final round 69.
David Mathis, Camilo Benedetti, Matt Davidson, Ty Harris and Kevin Kisner, who are all former NGA Hooters Tour players, finished in a tie for seventh.
But the final leader board wasn’t the only indicator of past NGA Hooters Tour players’ prowess during the Fort Smith Classic. In fact, former NGA Hooters Tour players led after every round of the tournament.
Nathan Smith, who played 20 times on NGA Hooters Tour, paced the field after the first two rounds with scores of 61, 70. Broadway replaced Smith atop the leader board with a Saturday 65 on the 6,873-yard Hardscrabble Country Club course before slipping to third on Sunday.
While those players were the most notable in the final standings, they weren’t the only past NGA Hooters Tour players competing in the event. Over 60 current and former NGA Hooters Tour players teed it up in the Fort Smith Classic.
The Nationwide Tour wasn’t the only tour that saw NGA Hooters Tour alumni have successful weekends. At this past weekend’s US Open at Pebble Beach the NGA Hooters Tour once again proved to be the best training ground for aspiring PGA professionals. Former member Sean O’Hair set the pace with his T-12 finish thanks in part to rounds of 76-71-70-73 for a four day total of 290. Other alums included Ben Curtis (T-14), Jim Furyk (T-16), John Mallinger (T-22), Shaun Micheel (T-22), Brendon de Jonge (T-33), David Toms (T-33), Stewart Cink (T-40), Jim Herman (T-47), Chris Stroud (T-47), Scott Verplank (T-47), Eric Axley (T-63), Jerry Kelly (T-63), Gareth Maybin (T-63), Camilo Villegas (T-70), Zach Johnson (T-77) and Ty Tryon (T-80).
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 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink, 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 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 & 2005 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 11 “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, 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 about the NGA/Hooters Tour, please visit our web site, www.NGAHOOTERSTOUR.com.
