News >> Former Players Have Successful Weekends
Gainey, Affrunti finish 1-2; Heintz Finishes Second at Reno
Longs, SC—Past NGA Hooters Tour player Tommy Gainey became the first Nationwide Tour player to win two events this season. Gainey, from Bishopville, finished at 27-under 261 to win the Chiquita Classic at TPC River’s Bend.
Gainey’s total was three shots better than Joe Affrunti, who made 68 starts on the NGA Hooters Tour, including one this season. Affrunti closed with a final-round 65. Former NGA players Chris Kirk and Scott Stallings finished in a tie for fifth and nearly 40 percent of the past NGA Hooters Tour players were around for the Sunday finish.
Former NGA Hooters Tour player Bob Heintz was scheduled to play in the Chiquita Classic as well, but a phone call on Tuesday morning brought him news that he’d been added to the PGA Tour’s Reno-Tahoe Open field.
Heintz, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1998, 1999 and 2001, made the most of his opportunity, shooting a 10-under 278 to post a career-best second-place finish. Kent Jones, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1995 and 1996, finished fifth; Bill Lunde, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour from 1999 to 2002, finished in a tie for 10th; Robert Garrigus, who played on the NGA Tour in 1998, also finish T10; and Martin Flores, who played on the NGA Tour last year, posted his first career top-10 finish on the PGA Tour with his 10th-place effort.
Former NGA Hooters Tour player Sean O’Hair set the pace for past NGA Hooters Tour players in the British Open with his T-7 at the Old Course. All told, nearly 150 past NGA Hooters Tour players teed it up over the weekend in the British Open, Reno-Tahoe Open and Chiquita Classic.
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 an impressive list of alumni.
Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open Champion; Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion; Shaun Micheel, the 2003 British Open Champion; Ben Curtis, winner of the 2003 British Open; Jim Furyk, winner of the 2003 US Open; Lee Janzen, a two-time US Open winner; John Daly, a British Open and PGA Champion; Tom Lehman, winner of the British Open; David Toms, a past PGA Champion; Chad Campbell, the 2003 Tour Championship winner; Vaughn Taylor, a two-time Reno Tahoe Open winner; and Craig Perks, winner of the TPC, tested their mettle on the NGA Hooters Tour before tasting success on golf’s grandest stage.
All told, the NGA Hooters Tour’s alumni have an incredible 11 “Majors” to their credit. The NGA Hooters Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Senior PGA, and Nationwide Tour cards. In fact, 48% of the players that earned their 2010 PGA Tour card, and 53% of the players that earned full exempt status on the Nationwide Tour started their careers on the NGA Hooters Tour.
