Final Round Update: Kirk, Teater post season-best finishes

Former NGA/Hooters Tour player Chris Kirk finished T2 in the Houston Open in Humble, Texas, and nearly missed getting an invite to this week’s Masters.

Kirk, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009, fired a 5-under 67 in the final round to finish at 17-under par, three shots behind champion Phil Mickelson. After winning twice on the Nationwide Tour last season, the former Georgia Bulldog’s T2 effort was the best showing of his rookie season and jumped him to 23^rd in the FedExCup standings.

Former NGA/Hooters Tour winner Brandt Jobe used and ace on No. 7 to kick start his round. Jobe, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 1994, shot a final-round 68 to move from T16 to T8.

All-time wins leader Chad Campbell shot his best round of the week on Sunday. Campbell, a 13-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, finished with a 6-under 66 to move up 29 positions to T13. Former NGA/Hooters Tour player Gary Woodland also finished T13.

Longtime NGA/Hooters Tour member Josh Teater posted his best finish of the season with his T19 showing at the Shell Houston Open. NGA/Hooters Tour winner Michael Thompson and Ben Curtis both finished T24.

After missing the cut in the first event of the season, Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, has finished in the money in every event since and picked up two top-25 finishes.

Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, finished T36.

The PGA Tour wasn’t the only place NGA/Hooters Tour alums were playing this week. Several former players were taking part in the Champions Tour’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.

Tom Lehman, a 1989-90 NGA/Hooters Tour member, held off Nick Price to win the event. Former player Steve Lowery also had a solid showing in Biloxi, Miss. Lowery, who played in 1989 and 1990, finished T7.

Bobby Clampett, who finished seventh in last year’s Rock Barn event, finished T34.  

Saturday Update: Six Alums within six of lead-

Former NGA/Hooters Tour player Chris Kirk will start the final round of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas, one shot behind Phil Mickelson.

For the second day in a row, Kirk, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009, shot a 3-under 69 at Redstone Golf Club. After winning twice on the Nationwide Tour last season, the former Georgia Bulldog is searching for the first top-5 finish of his rookie season on the PGA Tour. If Kirk can win, he’ll be playing in next week’s MASTERS.

Former NGA/Hooters Tour winner Nate Smith moved from T30 to T8 with a 6-under 66 on Moving Day. Smith, a Duke alum, is in great position to post the best finish of his rookie season on the PGA Tour. Smith’s best finish is a T31 at the AT&T.

Former NGA/Hooters Tour winners Ben Curtis and Vaughn Taylor will start the final round T12 and five shot behind Mickelson. Taylor, who lost in a playoff last season in Houston, had it to 10-under par, but the Augusta State alumnus posted a double bogey on the 18^th and finished at 8-under par. Curtis shot 68 to move up nine positions on Saturday.

Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, drained a birdie at No. 18 to finish a 2-under 70 for the day. After a successful career a Clemson University, Martin was a rookie on the NGA/Hooters Tour last year and picked up his PGA Tour card through Q-School. Martin’s best finish on the PGA Tour this season is T25, but he’ll start the final round T16 and six shots behind Mickelson. Martin’s caddy is current NGA/Hooters Tour member William Lanier.

Michael Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, is 5-under par and T34 heading into the final round. Thompson has made five out of seven cuts in his rookie season.
 

 Friday Update: 2010 Members Martin, Thompson move up leaderboard-

Former NGA/Hooters Tour player Chris Kirk moved out front in the Shell Houston Open at the Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas, on Friday.

Kirk, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009, backed up his opening-round 66 with a 69 in the second round and leads defending champion Anthony Kim and Johnson Wagner by one shot going into the third round.

Alum Josh Teater kept himself in good position heading into the weekend. Teater, a former Morehead State golfer, is 7-under par after two rounds and two shots behind Kirk.

Former NGA/Hooters Tour player John Rollins is T7 and three shots back.

Ben Martin, a 2010 member, opened with a 1-over 73, but the former Clemson Tiger shot a 6-under 66 to move up 76 spots to T12. Former NGA/Hooters Tour winners Vaughn Taylor and Bill Lunde are also T12.

Michael Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player the Year, opened with an even-par 72 and shot a 3-under 69 in Round 2. Thompson is T30.  

Thursday Update: Alums Litter Leaderboard-

Longtime NGA/Hooters Tour member Josh Teater fired a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Shell Houston Open at Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course in Humble, Texas, and is T2, two shots behind leader Jimmy Walker.

Teater, a former Morehead State golfer, shot a 5-under 31 on the front side and added two more birdies on the back nine to get off to a hot start in the final tournament before the MASTERS. A win by Teater would punch his ticket to Augusta.

Alum Chris Kirk is 6-under par in fourth and three shots off the lead after the first round, while former player John Rollins is 5-under par and T5.

Former NGA/Hooters Tour winners Vaughn Taylor, Tommy Gainey and Bill Lunde are T9 along with former players Robert Garrigus and Brendon de Jonge.

Michael Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, opened with an even-par 72 and is T69 after the first round. Ben Martin, a 2010 member, shot a 1-over 73 and is T88. 

Under the “Win and In” policy, any player that wins the Shell Houston Open will qualify for the MASTERS.

 The Road to the Masters goes through Texas for Some-

Myrtle Beach, S.C. - March 30, 2011 - NGA/Hooters Tour alums Gary Woodland, Mark Wilson and Bubba Watson all have PGA Tour wins this season and are guaranteed spots in next week’s Masters. But for former player Michael Bradley, his win in the Puerto Rico Open didn’t count under the “Win and In” policy since it was opposite of a WGC event.

So Bradley, along with a large contingency of recent alums, will have one last shot at qualifying for the Masters with a win at this week’s Shell Houston Open at Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course in Humble, Texas. And Vaughn Taylor, a multi-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, nearly did just that last season.

Taylor, an Augusta State graduate, finished regulation tied with Anthony Kim before falling in a playoff. Taylor isn’t the only NGA/Hooters Tour graduate to nearly use the Houston Open as a springboard into the Masters. Over the last 10 years, alums have six runner-up finishes.

While Taylor hasn’t threatened to win on the PGA Tour this year, he has been a model of consistency, posting three top-30 finishes and making six of seven cuts. If he can muster a win this week, he would return to the place where he posted a 10^th-place finish in 2007.

Alums Robert Garrigus and Chad Campbell also need a last-minute win to qualify for the Masters field.

Two 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour members will be looking to catch lightning in a bottle this week and make it into the field in Augusta for the second time.

Michael Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, has made three consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour and is coming off his best finish on the PGA Tour, a T14 at the Puerto Rico Open. Last season, Thompson racked up six top-10 finishes, four top-5 showings and his first win on the NGA/Hooters Tour. Thompson, a former University of Alabama standout, qualified for the 2008 Masters by finishing runner-up in the U.S. Amateur.

Like Thompson, Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, qualified for the Masters by finishing runner-up in the U.S. Amateur. Shortly after his appearance in the 2010 Masters, Martin, a Clemson University alum, joined the NGA/Hooters Tour and posted a T10 finish in his second start. Following the season, Martin gained his PGA Tour card at Q-School. Martin’s best finish of his rookie season on the PGA Tour is T25 in the Farmers Insurance Open.

The NGA/Hooters Tour is the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Nationwide Tour Professionals than any other tour in the country.

The NGA/Hooters Tour is the Third Largest Men's 72 Hole Professional Golf Tour in the United States behind the Nationwide and PGA Tours and has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Nationwide, and Champions Tour cards. In fact, NGA/Hooters Tour Alumni have won an incredible Twelve (12) “Major” Championships.

Alumni include Jim Furyk, the 2010 FedExCup winner and PGA Tour Player of the Year; Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open Champion; Lucas Glover, the 2009 U.S. 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; Craig Perks, winner of the TPC, and many, many more. 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 former NGA/Hooters Tour players will be advancing to the PGA Tour.

For more information on the NGA/Hooters Pro Golf Tour, please visit www.NGAHootersTour.com or contact the Tour Office at (800) 992-8748.

NGA/Hooters Tour Alumni in Shell Houston Open:

Blake Adams

Shane Bertsch

Kris Blanks

Keegan Bradley

Michael Bradley

D.J. Brigman

Chad Campbell

Chad Collins

Erik Compton

Michael Connell

Ben Curtis

Brendon de Jonge

James Driscoll

Joe Durant

Steve Flesch

Tommy Gainey

Robert Garrigus

Tom Gillis

Lucas Glover

Scott Gutschewski

Jim Herman

Ryuji Imada

Brandt Jobe

Kent Jones

Chris Kirk

Kevin Kisner

Derek Lamely

Tyler Leon

Michael Letzig

Spencer Levin

Bill Lunde

Will MacKenzie

Jeff Maggert

Ben Martin

David Mathis

Scott McCarron

William McGirt

Sean Micheel

Ryan Palmer

Scott Piercy

Tag Ridings

Chris Riley

Alexandre Rocha

John Rollins

John Senden

Nate Smith

Scott Stallings

Chris Stroud

Vaughn Taylor

Josh Teater

Michael Thompson

Boo Weekley

Garrett Willis

Gary Woodland

Alts:

Jim Renner

Matt McQuillan

Joe Affrunti

Justin Hicks

Chris Baryla

Will Strickler

Carl Paulson