Nitties was the best of the 2009 Citi Mentor Program

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James Nitties tied for fourth at the FBR Open for his best finish of the 2009 season.

Each year, Citi will select four recent graduates of q-school and along with captain Paul Azinger, will help guide them through their season on the PGA TOUR. Below is a look at how this year's players in the Citi Mentor Program performed.

The lone player from the Citi Mentor Program to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, James Nitties had a strong rookie season with seven top-25s, including a pair of top-10s early in the year at the FBR Open and the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. Nitties struggled with four missed cuts in April and on into May, but added two more top-25s with a tie for 17th at the Valero Texas Open and a 12th-place finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Nitties went on to qualify in two Playoffs events -- The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship -- before ending his season 94th in the FedExCup standings and with more than $900,000 in earnings.

Needing a strong performance at the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic, that's exactly what Jimmy Walker had, finishing in a tie for 15th to move inside the top 125 on the money list to secure a TOUR card for next season. That effort was aided by a tie for fifth at the first event of the Fall Series, the Turning Stone Resort Championship, where Walker shot a final-round 66. Walker's other top-10 of the 2009 season came at the Buick Open, where he tied for eighth on the strength of a second-round 64. On the year, Walker had five top-25s and earned more than $600,000 in what was the best season to date of his young career.

In his first full season on TOUR, Brian Vranesh made just six cuts in 26 tournaments, but he made the most of one of those with a tie for eighth at the Buick Open, where he opened with a 65. Only a second-round 75 kept him from contending on Sunday. Vranesh also had back-to-back eagles in the final round, on the par-5 13th and par-4 14th, at Warwick Hills.

Derek Fathauer struggled with just eight cuts made in 25 events, though the former Louisville standout did tie for 22nd at the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for his lone top-25 of the year. Fathauer also had a good start to the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, where he opened with rounds of 65-64 before struggling with rounds of 76-71 to miss the cut. Fathauer also played in four Nationwide Tour events with a tie for 27th at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic his best result.