Week of July 25Th
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NATIONWIDE TOUR STORYLINES – Week of July 25th UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP presented by Utah Sports Commission July 28-31 Willow Creek Country Club, Sandy (Salt Lake City), Utah Purse: $550,000 First Prize: $99,000 2010 Champion: Michael Putnam 156 players 14 th of 26 events Golf Channel to televise all four rounds DAWGS RULE – For the second time this year an amateur and Georgia Bulldog has pulled off a win on the Nationwide Tour. On Sunday, Harris English won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Ohio to join former teammate and fellow graduating senior Russell Henley , who won the Stadion Classic at UGA’s home course in Athens, Ga. in May. The first amateur to win on Tour was Daniel Summerhays of BYU when he did so in Columbus in 2007. Both English and Henley hope to be named to September’s Walker Cup team and will be concentrating on amateur golf the rest of the summer. The duo was in the same group on Saturday and Sunday, marking the first time two amateurs were paired together in a Nationwide Tour event. A third former Bulldog, Erik Compton, captured the Mexico Open last month. OPTIONS – As a tournament winner, Harris English has 60 days to join the Tour and play through the end of the 2011 season. He also has the option to join and play the Tour in 2012 even if he elects to go to the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in the fall and does not earn a card. The same 2012 option still applies to Russell Henley . The week before last, English, who turned 22 on Saturday, won the 105 th Southern Amateur at Innisbrook Golf Resort in Florida. ALUMS ADD ONE MORE TO THE LIST / WIN NO. 312 – With Sean O’Hair ’s playoff win over Kris Blanks at the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday, the Nationwide Tour alumni win count on the PGA TOUR moved to 312, with 24 coming this year. SECOND HALF RUN TO “25” CARDS BEGINS THIS WEEK – The Utah Championship is the 14 th of 26 events on the 2011 Nationwide Tour tournament schedule, which marks the beginning of the second half of the season. At the halfway point, the following are stat category leaders: SCORING AVERAGE – Erik Compton / 68.90 DRIVING DISTANCE – Brett Wetterich / 319.5 DRIVING ACCURAY – Omar Uresti / 82.68 GREENS IN REGULATION – Danny Lee / 76.67 TOTAL DRIVING – Michael Sims PUTTING AVERAGE – Erik Compton / 1.704 BIRDIE AVERAGE – Danny Lee / 4.77 EAGLES PER HOLE – Luke List / 62.2 SAND SAVE % – Brenden Pappas / 69.57 ALL-AROUND RANKING – Danny Lee NO. 1 ON MONEY LIST – Mathew Goggin / $336,964 NO. 25 ON MONEY LIST – J.J. Killeen / $97,086 KYLE REIFERS SHINES IN HOMETOWN – Columbus, Ohio native Kyle Reifers took advantage last week of having played many rounds of golf at host Ohio State University Golf Club’s “Scarlet Course” while growing up. With amateurs Harris English and John Peterson not eligible to receive prize money, Reifers, who finished T2 with Peterson, took home the Tour’s second largest first-place check of the year ($144,000) to move from 52 nd on the money list to No. 5 at the midway point of the 2011 season. CUT LINE – The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational featured 12 college golf stars from the recent season. Three of the 12 earned top-10 finishes (Harris English – 1 st , John Peterson /LSU – 2 nd and Peter Uihlein /Oklahoma State – T9), while the remaining nine did not fare as well, all missing the cut. CROSS-HANDED JOSH BROADAWAY FINDS FORM – T5 (Chiquita Classic) and T4 (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational) finishes in the last two Nationwide Tour events have put golf’s only cross-handed touring professional, Josh Broadaway , into the thick of “The 25” race at No. 26. Just last month, the Albany, Ga. native was 167 th on the money list. JASON GORE ON THE SIDELINES – Jason Gore , who was forced to withdraw from the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open after two rounds in mid June, underwent a procedure to repair bone spurs on July 12 th . He has indicated he hopes to return to play in September at Boise or Soboba. FORMER COLLEGE STARS BUD CAULEY AND NICK TAYLOR HEADED TO UTAH – Former college stars Bud Cauley (U. of Alabama) and Nick Taylor (U. of Washington) have received sponsor invitations to compete in Utah this week. Cauley, who turned pro after finishing the 2011 college season in June, has already turned heads on the PGA TOUR with T63 (U.S. Open), T24 (Travelers), T4 (Viking) and T13 (RBC Canadian) finishes and earnings of $319,145 in his first three starts. The Jacksonville, Fla. resident was a first-team All-American at Alabama this year. Taylor, who was the 2010 Ben Hogan Award winner and a two-time first-team All-American, grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada and has been supported throughout his career by former Masters champion and fellow Canadian Mike Weir . Weir went to BYU in Utah and has been a resident of the Salt Lake City area for several years. Cauley and Taylor both played in the RBC Canadian Open. Cauley missed being eligible to make a fifth PGA TOUR start this week at the Greenbriar via a T-10 finish in Canada by one shot when he finished T13. MUSTACHE WEEK IN UTAH – Mustache week returns to the Utah Championship for the fifth year in a row. For the past few weeks, Nationwide Tour players, caddies, equipment reps and staff have been growing their facial hairs. Last year’s winner was PGA TOUR rookie Joe Affrunti. Golf Channel will once again be on hand to “report” on the competition, in addition to its four-day tournament coverage. CHATTANOOGA CLASSIC RENAMED – The Chattanooga Classic has been renamed the “Children’s Hospital Classic”, with proceeds from the event earmarked for the Hospital, it was announced by Children’s Hospital at Erlanger and tournament host organization Friends of the Festival. The ninth playing of the event will take place Oct. 6-9 at Black Creek Mountain. Note : The name of the golf course has also been changed, from Black Creek Club to Black Creek Mountain. FAREWELL TO JASON ENLOE – In his 189 th and final Nationwide Tour appearance, two-time Tour winner Jason Enloe finished T54 in Columbus over the weekend. The 38-year-old is hanging up his competitive spikes to become assistant golf coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, his alma mater. DID YOU KNOW? – In addition to Harris English and Russell Henley , a handful of amateurs, most with very familiar names, have placed fifth or better in Nationwide Tour events: Daniel Summerhays /2007 (win), Jamie Lovemark /2007 (playoff loss), Rickie Fowler /2009 (playoff loss), Charles Howell III/2000 (T2), Sergio Garcia /1998 (3 rd ) and Michael Combs /1991 (5 th ). BIRTHDAY BOYS – Celebrating birthdays this week on the Nationwide Tour are Jason Caron (25 th /turns 39), David McKenzie (26 th /44), Tim Wilkinson (28 th /33) and Steven Alker (28 th /40). NEXT WEEK – It’s on to Omaha, Neb. for the Cox Classic presented by Lexus of Omaha (Aug. 4-7) at Champions Run. # # # James Cramer Jeff Adams Joe Chemycz Adam Wallace 904-273-3293 904-273-3397 904-273-3305 904-543-7405 For the latest information, scores and updates on the Nationwide Tour visit www.pgatourmedia.com Media and fans can also follow the Tour on Twitter (http://twitter.com/nationwidetour ) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/NationwideTour) .