Week of August 13Th
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WEB.COM TOUR STORYLINES – Week of August 13th MIDWEST CLASSIC presented by Cadillac August 16-19 Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate, Overland Park, Kan. (Kansas City) Purse: $550,000 First Prize: $99,000 2011 Champion: James Nitties 156 players 18 th of 27 events GETTING TO KNOW CHRIS WILSON – With 11 missed cuts in his previous 13 starts of 2012, Chris Wilson had not made a big impact on the Web.com Tour. That all changed on Sunday when he defeated fellow Northwestern University alum and Monday qualifier Scott Harrington in a playoff at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. The winner’s check for $112,500 leaped him from 165 th on the money list to No. 23. Wilson, 27, was born in Columbus, Ohio and resides in nearby Dublin. He gave credit to sports psychologist Bob Rotella for simplifying his approach to putting. Wilson was 132 out of 136 in putting stats entering last week but was T8 for the tournament. Wilson played on the PGA TOUR in 2010 after earning his card via Q-School (T12), making seven cuts in 26 starts. At Northwestern, he won the Big 10 Conference Championship in 2006. His dream foursome includes David Feherty, Carl Spackler (“Caddyshack”) and his dad. ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END – Ben Kohles’ undefeated streak came to an end last week in Springfield, Mo. The 22-year-old made four birdies on the back nine on Friday afternoon to make the Price Cutter Charity Championship 36-hole cut on the number. Rounds of 73-68 on the weekend led to a 60 th - place finish. The 2012 University of Virginia All-American became the first player to win his first two professional starts on the Web.com Tour the previous two weeks (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Ohio and Cox Classic in Omaha, Neb.). HOME STATE PGA TOUR INVITE – Originally planning to catch his breath by taking this week off, Ben Kohles accepted a sponsor invitation late last week from the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship. The tournament is played in Greensboro, N.C., 70 miles from his home in Cary, N.C. FACEBOOK “CHAT” WITH BEN – The Web.com Tour will host a Facebook “Chat” with Ben Kohles at noon ET on Wednesday (Aug. 15 th ). To participate in the chat, go to www.Facebook.com/WebDotComTour . TWO-THIRDS MARK – The Web.com Tour hits the season’s two-thirds mark this week. The Midwest Classic presented by Cadillac is the 18 th of 27 Web.com Tour events in 2012. Less than $14,000 separates No. 24 Scott Gutschewski and No. 34 Justin Bolli . No. 25 Scott Parel has just a $979 hold on the final “25” card spot and only $489 separates Nos. 29-30-31. Another benchmark number to keep an eye on is No. 60 (any player finishing the year 60 th or better is fully exempt for 2013 on the Web.com Tour if they don’t earn their PGA TOUR card otherwise). Heading to Kansas City, Cliff Kresge has a $599 advantage over Steve LeBrun . The tight proximity of things only reminds everyone, players in particular, how competitive the final one-third of the season is going to be. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PRICE CUTTER CHARITY CHAMPIONSHIP • Runner-up Scott Harrington earned enough money in Springfield to gain Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the year, starting with the next reshuffle in two weeks. A win would have made him the 21 st Monday qualifier to win on Tour. • Colombian Camilo Benedetti (T4) made his 11 th cut in 16 starts. With five top 10s and eight top 25s, the former University of Florida star has been one of the steadiest performers on Tour this year. A six- year Web.com Tour veteran who has never had a PGA TOUR card, he is now 17 th on the money list. • Luke Guthrie now has three top 10s (2nd , T3 and T10 last week) in three Web.com Tour starts this year. The 2012 University of Illinois All-American is 20 th in earnings. He also has three top-20 finishes in three 2012 PGA TOUR starts. RYDER CUP SELECTIONS – With the 94 th PGA Championship in the books, the first eight U.S. team members based on points have been announced by the PGA of America. Of those eight, Nos. 2-7 are former Web.com Tour members – 2-Bubba Watson , 3-Jason Dufner , 4-Keegan Bradley , 5-Webb Simpson , 6-Zach Johnson and 7-Matt Kuchar . FOLDS OF HONOR EVENT – On Tuesday, the Midwest Classic will conduct a nine-hole event at the Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate in support of the Folds of Honor Foundation. Scheduled to participate are Kansas City-area notables George Brett, Deron Cherry, Matt Gogel, Eddie Kennison and Kevin Lockett , plus Maj. Dan Rooney , USAF (Ret.) of the Folds of Honor Foundation and two Kansas City Crusaders’ (host organization) Junior Masters champions. WEB.COM TOUR WELCOMES TWO NEW RULES OFFICIALS – The Web.com Tour has two new Rules Officials in Clay Neely and Hal Geyer . Neely, who was born in Yazoo City, Miss. and resides in Madison, Miss., has worked for the PGA TOUR for six years as a Scoring Official. Geyer spent the last 11 years with the Northern Texas Section of the PGA of America where he served as Director of Tournament Operations. He is from Rochester, N.Y. and resides in Frisco, Texas. Neely is the father of nine-month-old triplet girls, while Geyer has three-year-old twins. The Neely and Geyer positions became available when longtime Web.com Tour rules team members John Slater and Matt Delaney recently moved to the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Slater is the new tour’s Tournament Director and Delaney a Rules Official. Welcome to the Tour, Clay and Hal! Good luck, John and Matt! DID YOU KNOW? – Chris Wilson was the 11 th first-time winner in the 17 Tour events played this year. NEXT WEEK – After four weeks in the Midwest, the Web.com Tour heads east to Knoxville, Tenn. for the 23 rd playing of the News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot (Aug. 23-26) # # # James Cramer Jeff Adams Joe Chemycz Royce Thompson 904-273-3293 904-273-3397 904-273-3305 904-543-7419 For the latest information, scores and updates on the Web.com Tour visit www.pgatourmedia.com Media and fans can also follow the Tour on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/webdotcomtour) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/WebDotComTour ) .