News >> Hooters Tour Well Represented At British Open

17 Former Hooters Players Make 137th Open Championship
 
N. Myrtle Beach, SC…Past British Open champions Ben Curtis ('03), Tom Lehman ('96) and John Daly ('95) are three of twelve former Hooters Tour players to gain exempt status for the 2008 British Open Championship, scheduled from July 17-20 at the par 70, 7173 yard Royal Birkdale.
 
This impressive list includes 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 US Open Champion Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Boo Weekley, Sean O’Hair, Scott Verplank and David Toms.
 
While these players were exempt from International and Local Final Qualifying into the Championship based on their PGA performances and World Rankings, a group of former players fought through qualifying to gain one of the remaining spots.
 
In Michigan at the TPC of Michigan, John Rollins, Scott McCarron and Tom Gillis earned three of the seven spots, while in Dearborn, Michigan at Dearborn Country Club, PGA Tour rookie Michael Letzig earned one of seven spots. In the Local Final Qualifying at West Lancashire, former Hooters player and Scottish golfer Barry Hume earned one of the four coveted spots into the Open after finishing second.
 
In all told, 17 former Hooters Tour players will be in the field July 17-20 at Royal Birkdale in Southport, Merseyside, England.
 
The NGA/Hooters Tour is the 3rd largest men’s 72-hole professional golf tour in the country behind the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and boasts alumni like 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, 2003 US Open Champion Jim Furyk, 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis, British and PGA Champion John Daly, Two-time US Open Champion Lee Janzen, British Open Champion Tom Lehman as well as PGA Champion David Toms, Tour Championship winner Chad Campbell and back to back Reno Tahoe Winner Vaughn Taylor to name just a few. In all told, the NGA Hooters Tour alumni have an incredible TEN MAJOR championships to their credit. The NGA Hooters Tour has helped more than 100 golf professionals acquire their PGA, Nationwide and Champion’s Tour cards. In fact, 42% of the players that earned their 2008 PGA Tour cards and 47% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the Hooters Tour.
 
For more information about NGA Hooters Professional Golf Tour, check out our website at www.hooterstour.com or contact our Tour office toll free at 800-992-8648.