Current NGA/Hooters Tour Member Brian Maurer Eagles No. 17 During Round 1-
Fourth Round Update: Four Alums finish Top 10-
PGA Tour: Former NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year Zach Johnson shot a 6-under 65 in the final round of the John Deere Classic to move from T9 to T3 on Sunday.
Johnson, a four-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, finished with rounds of 66, 69, 67, 65 for a 17-under par 267 total. Matt McQuillan, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009 and 2010, fired a 7-under 64 in the final round to join Johnson in a tie for third. Both golfers finished five shots behind winner Steve Stricker.
Alum Brendon de Jonge shot his only round over 66 at the most inopportune time. De Jonge, who started the final round tied for second, shot a 3-over 74 and slipped to T7 on Sunday. Former player Brian Gay shot a 5-under 66 in the final round to move into a tie for ninth.
Michael Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, fired his second 67 in a row on Sunday to finish T12. In his last three PGA Tour starts, Thompson has finishes of T38, T12 and fourth. With the stellar streak, Thompson has moved to 106th on the money list.
Kris Blanks, a three-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, and alum Aron Price also finished in a tie for 12th.
Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, finished T38, the second-best finish of his rookie season on the PGA Tour.
For full-field results, click here.
Third Round Update: Five Alums Top 10 going into final round-
PGA Tour: Former NGA/Hooters Tour player Brendon de Jonge shot an 8-under 63 in the third round of the John Deere Classic to move into second place.
De Jonge, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2005 and 2006, is two shots behind leader Steve Stricker, who is 20-under par for the tournament.
Three-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner Mark Wilson is tied for fifth at 13-under par. Wilson has two wins on the PGA Tour this season.
Former Player of the Year Zach Johnson shot a 4-under 67 on Saturday to move into a tie for ninth with former players David Mathis and Aron Price. All three are at 11-under par. Alums Marco Dawson, Will MacKenzie, Scott Stallings, Michael Letzig, Lee Janzen, Matt McQuillan and John Mallinger are T14 at 10-under par.
Reigning NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year Michael Thompson continued to climb up the leaderboard in the third round. After playing the first round even par, Thompson is 9-under par over his last two rounds and tied for 28th going into the final round.
Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, is 8-under par and T38 heading into Sunday’s final round.
For full-field results, click here.
Second Round Update: Former Winner Mark Wilson T4-
PGA Tour: Six NGA/Hooters Tour alums will head into the weekend inside the top 10 in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.
Former NGA/Hooters Tour winner Mark Wilson shot a 4-under 67 in the second round to get to 10-under par for the tournament and moved into a tie for fourth with alum Brendon de Jonge, who shot a 5-under 66 on Friday.
Chris Stroud, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2005 and 2006, shot a 7-under 64 to move from T53 to T8. Alums David Mathis, John Mallinger and Matt McQuillan are also T8 at 9-under par.
After shooting an 8-under 63 in the opening round, Kris Blanks, a three-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, shot an even-par 71 and is T17. Former players Jim Herman, William McGirt and Lee Janzen are 8-under par and T17 as well.
Recent NGA/Hooters Tour graduates Ben Martin and Michael Thompson will be around for the weekend. Martin, who opened with a 4-under 67, shot a 1-under 70 in the second round and is T50. Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, carded a even-par 71 in the first round, but the former University of Alabama golfer fired a 5-under 66 to make his third consecutive cut of his rookie season on the PGA Tour. Thompson is T50 after two rounds.
Jim Renner, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, was inside the cut line, but a bogey on his 15th hole left Renner at 3-under par, one shot outside of the cut.
Current member Brian Maurer, who Monday qualified for the event, played respectable in his first PGA Tour start, but his 1-over 143 total was five shots off the cut line.
For full-field results, click here.
First Round Update: Blanks Leads after Round 1-
PGA Tour: Former NGA/Hooters Tour winner Kris Blanks shot a 3-under 33 on his first nine holes of the John Deere Classic and closed with five straight birdies on his back nine to finish with an 8-under par 63.
Following his best round of the season, Blanks, a three-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, is one shot ahead of David Love III and alum Matt McQuillan. Blanks has made nine of 20 cuts this season and picked up two top-25 finishes.
Alum McQuillan, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009 and 2010, started the day bogey-eagle-bogey before settling down and notching seven birdies and no bogeys over his final 15 holes for a 7-under 64.
Mark Wilson, a three-time NGA/Hooters Tour winner, opened with a 6-under 65. Wilson, who has two PGA Tour wins this season, went blemish-free around the TPC Deere Run course and added six birdies in the first round to finish in a tie for fifth.
Alums Josh Teater, Lee Janzen, Brendon de Jonge, Jim Herman and former Player of the Year Zach Johnson fired 5-under 66s in the opening round and are tied for seventh.
Ben Martin, a 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour member, shot a 4-under 67 in the first round and is tied for 19th with alums Craig Bowden, John Merrick, Will MacKenzie and all-time wins leader Chad Campbell.
Recent graduates Jim Renner and Michael Thompson finished the day with even-par 71s and tied for 94th, while current member Brian Maurer shot a 1-over 72.
For full-field results, click here.
2010 Graduates Renner, Martin and Thompson in field-
Myrtle Beach, S.C. - July 6, 2011 - While most people were enjoying cookouts and fireworks on July 4th, current NGA/Hooters Tour member Brian Maurer was doing a different kind of celebrating.
Maurer, of Richmond, Ind., shot a 5-under 66 in the Monday Qualifier for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic and carded consecutive pars in a sudden-death playoff at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Ill., to earn a spot in his first PGA Tour event.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Maurer said of his first start on golf’s grandest stage.
After a successful collegiate career at Ball State, Maurer joined the NGA/Hooters Tour in 2009 and placed tenth in his first professional start. This season, Maurer is currently 149th on the NGA/Hooters Tour money list.
Maurer should see plenty of familiar faces this week as more than 70 NGA/Hooters Tour alumni are competing in the event, including 2010 graduates Michael Thompson, Jim Renner and Ben Martin.
After making just two of seven cuts from April to June, Thompson earned a career-best fourth-place finish in the Travelers Championship and posted a T38 effort in the AT&T National last week. During that time, Thompson, the 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, has moved from No. 191 to No. 127 on the money list.
Martin and Renner, who were both 2010 NGA/Hooters Tour members, are looking to make their seventh cuts of the season on the PGA Tour.
Joining the newest generation of NGA/Hooters Tour graduates in the John Deere field will be former NGA/Hooters Tour winners Zach Johnson and David Toms.
Johnson, a former NGA/Hooters Tour Player of the Year, is ranked fifth in the PGATour.com’s Power Rankings this week. Johnson finished T2 in the 2009 John Deere Classic and is coming off a T24 in the Travelers Championship.
Toms, who played on the NGA/Hooters Tour for three seasons, picked up his first PGA Tour win in the John Deere Classic in 1997. Tom’s already has a win this season and finished T17 in the Travelers Championship, earning him the No. 4 ranking this week.
After winning 12 times in 2010, NGA/Hooters Tour alumni have combined to win 10 times this season on the PGA Tour.
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.
NGA/Hooters Tour Alumni in the John Deere Classic:
Blake Adams
Chris Baryla
Shane Bertsch
Kris Blanks
Jason Bohn
Craig Bowden
Michael Bradley
D.J. Brigman
Chad Campbell
Stewart Cink
Michael Connell
John Daly
Marco Dawson
Brendon de Jonge
James Driscoll
Tommy Gainey
Robert Gamez
Robert Garrigus
Brian Gay
Scott Gutschewski
J.P. Hayes
Jim Herman
Justin Hicks
Ryuji Imada
Brandt Jobe
Zach Johnson
Kent Jones
Jerry Kelly
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Derek Lamely
Michael Letzig
Will MacKenzie
John Mallinger
Ben Martin
David Mathis
Brian Maurer
Scott McCarron
William McGirt
George McNeill
Matt McQuillan
John Merrick
Shaun Micheel
Rod Pampling
Scott Piercy
Aron Price
Brett Quigley
Fran Quinn
Jim Renner
Tag Ridings
Chris Riley
Alexandre Rocha
John Rollins
Heath Slocum
Mike Small
Chris Smith
Nate Smith
Scott Stallings
Will Strickler
Chris Stroud
Vaughn Taylor
Josh Teater
Michael Thompson
Chris Tidland
David Toms
Jay Williamson
Garrett Willis
Mark Wilson
Alts:
Steve Lowery
Ted Purdy
Robert Damron
Skip Kendall
Glen Day
