Feb. 19, 2009
Editor's note: The 2009 season is a special season for the Nationwide Tour; it's the 20th year of being PGA TOUR Driven. All year long, we'll be celebrating the double decade, and as the season gets started, it's a chance to look back...
|
| VIDEO: Nationwide Tour prepares for historic 20th season |
 |
The Nationwide Tour launched its 2009 season at the Panama Digicel Championship, where a year-long celebration began as the Tour entered its 20th year. For the past two decades, the Nationwide Tour has grown into the official proving ground of the PGA TOUR. Watch |
|
|
| This week in Nationwide Tour history |
| Feb. 16 1992 |
Paul Goydos opened the Tour's third season with a one-stroke victory over Taylor Smith at the Yuma Open in Arizona. Goydos did most of his damage on the front nine at Desert Hills GC, where he made 12 of 16 birdies that week, but it was a birdie at the par-4 14th that gave him the lead for good in the final round. |
| Feb. 17 2008 |
Darron Stiles won the rain-shortened HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship in Christchurch. Rain and thunderstorms completely washed out second-round play on Friday and all but 90 minutes' worth on Saturday. Tour officials were forced to reduce the event to 36 holes, which wiped out scores for the 51 players who began the abbreviated round. Stiles birdied five of the first six holes in Round 2 on Sunday and finished with a 10-under 134 total -- one better than New Zealand's David Smail and two better than Rick Price. Stiles pocketed the official money of $117,000, but the win was unofficial. It was the first 36-hole event on Tour since Steve Haskins topped the field at the 2001 Ozarks Open. |
| Feb. 18 2007 |
Scott Sterling won the Jacob's Creek Open Championship, which switched back to the Kooyonga Golf Club after two years at Royal Adelaide. Sterling beat 21-year-old Kooyonga member David Lutterus. Sterling's conservative play and Lutterus' go-for-broke attack propeled the two to the top of the pack, which tightened throughout the 100-degree final round. They shared the lead at 12 under on the final hole -- a 370-yard, dog-leg left. Sterling hit his 4-iron off the tee, while Lutterus hit driver. Sterling came up 55 feet short on his approach and left himself 3 feet for par. Lutterus wound up in a waste area near the green and had to have a promotional car in front of his ball moved before hitting his second shot. The young Australian eventually missed a 6-foot par putt, and Sterling knocked his putt in for the one-stroke victory. |
| Feb. 19 2006 |
Paul Sheehan became the first player in Tour history to win a playoff with a bogey. Sheehan won the Jacob's Creek Open Championship at Royal Adelaide GC, beating fellow Australian Michael Sim. Sheehan made up two strokes on Sim, the 54-hole leader, during the final round, and both players finished regulation at 7 under. Sheehan gained the upper hand when Sim's tee shot on the second extra hole sailed out of bounds. Sheehan won with a bogey -- the first time in 104 Tour playoffs that an above-par score won a playoff. It remains the only time. |
| Feb. 20 2005 |
Australian Steven Bowditch cruised to a five-stroke win at the Jacob's Creek Open Championship. Bowditch earned his first career title. He shared the first-round lead before a second 67 gave him a five-shot advantage at the halfway mark. His lead was down to three after 54 holes, but he opened the gap to seven in the final round with three birdies on the front nine and was never challenged coming home. |
| Feb. 21 1993 |
Ron Streck opened the fourth year of the Tour with a playoff win over Chris DiMarco at the Yuma Open. Streck and DiMarco made up four and five shots, respectively, on second-round leader Tim Petrovic, who failed to make a birdie in the final round and shot a 77 at Desert Hills GC. Streck won the playoff with a par on the second extra hole for his first career title. |
| Feb. 22 2004 |
Australian Euan Walters pulled away in the final round and won the Jacob's Creek Open in Adelaide, South Australia. Walters hovered near the lead during the first three rounds at Kooyonga GC and took the lead for good with a pair of early birdies in the final round. As many of the challengers faltered, Walters played without a bogey for the final 10 holes and made three birdies en route to a five-stroke win. Scott Gutschewski (T5) and Jimmy Walker (T8) were the only Americans to crack the top 14. |
|
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner - SI Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 