An Easier Transition to the Nationwide and PGA Tours -

By Paul Warner -
 

Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 – The NGA/Hooters Professional Golf Tour continues to be the most recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Nationwide Tour professionals than any other tour in the country. One of the brightest young stars in golf, Tadd Fujikawa, has decided to elevate his competition and compete on the NGA/Hooters Tour for the 2011 season.

Over the past three seasons, Fujikawa has spent time playing around the globe honing his skills in an effort to prepare for the PGA Tour and for 2011 has decided that the NGA/Hooters Tour is the best route for fulfilling his goals. According to his interview for the Aloha Update, “Fujikawa, who failed to advance through PGA Q-School this season, is joining the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2011 because it provides an easier transition to the Nationwide and PGA tours.”

Fujikawa had a taste of PGA Tour life at a very early age. In 2006, playing as an amateur at the age of 15, Fujikawa became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Open. The following season, Fujikawa made the cut at the PGA Sony Open in Hawaii, just after his 16th birthday, to become the second youngest player to ever do so. Recently Fujikawa returned to his native Hawaii where he won the Turtle Bay Resort Hawaii State Open Championship. Fujikawa birdied the final hole to better Ben Sauls by one shot. Fujikawa’s game appears to be solid heading into 2011 and he’s hoping to get another shot at the PGA Tour in next week’s Sony Open. 

While there is no easy path to the PGA Tour, the list of NGA/Hooters Tour players that have advanced to the top levels of golf is staggering. At this year’s PGA Tour Qualifying School, 46% of the players that earned full exempt status on the PGA Tour (including 2010 Hooters Tour Player of the Year Michael Thompson) and 52% of the players that earned status on the Nationwide Tour have spent time on the NGA/Hooters Professional Golf Tour. In 2011, 23 current or former NGA/Hooters Tour players will be advancing to the PGA Tour. In fact, the NGA/Hooters Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Nationwide and Champions Tour cards.

The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest Men’s 72-Hole Professional Golf Tour in the United States behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours and holds to its credit an astounding Twelve (12) "Major" Championships won by alumni. The impressive list of alumni includes:

Jim Furyk, the 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year and FedExCup winner; Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open Champion; Lucas Glover, the 2009 US Open Champion; Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion; Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA Champion; Ben Curtis, winner of the 2003 British 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. Each player tested their mettle on the NGA/Hooters Tour before tasting success on golf’s grandest stage.

###