News >> Wilcox Makes First PGA Start, NGA Hooters Tour Well Represented

Past and Present NGA Hooters Tour Players pepper PGA, Nationwide Fields
 
Longs, SC—If things keep going the way they are for NGA Hooters Tour player Will Wilcox, don’t be surprised to see him earn a PGA card in the very near future.
 
Wilcox, of Ashville, Ala., picked up his first NGA Hooters Tour win earlier this year at the Savannah Lakes Village Classic. His win and the $40,000 payday helped Wilcox earn an exemption on the Nationwide Tour through the “Race for the Fort Smith Classic Exemption,” one of six Nationwide Tour exemptions secured by the NGA Hooters Tour.
 
“Getting a chance to chase my dream is awesome,” Wilcox said after earning the exemption. In those dreams, Wilcox probably didn’t think he’d be teeing up on the PGA Tour less than a month later, but that’s just what will happen this weekend as the former Clayton State golfer makes his first PGA start in the RBC Canadian Open.
 
Wilcox, who has 21 starts on the NGA Hooters Tour in the last two years, won the Monday Qualifier in Edmonton to get into the Canadian Tour event and finished 28th. Wilcox received a Sponsors Exemption to the Dakota Dunes Open and promptly won the event. He followed that up with a fifth-place finish at the Players Cup, pushing him to third on the Order of Merit and earning him a berth in the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open.
 
Wilcox will have plenty of familiar faces around him in his first start as 50 past NGA Hooters Tour players are in the field for Canada’s National Championship. Former NGA player Sean O’Hair leads the PGATour.com’s Power Rankings for the event and former NGA player Brendon De Jonge is eighth in the rankings coming into the event. Former NGA Hooters Tour players and PGA Major Winners John Daly and Lee Janzen are in the field as well.
 
Coming into the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational, former NGA Hooters Tour player Chris Kirk is on top of the Power Rankings after his fifth-place effort in last week’s Chiquita Classic. Justin Hicks, who played on the NGA Hooters Tour in 1995, is second in the Power Rankings. Former NGA players Tag Ridings and Joe Affrunti hold down third and fourth, respectively, in the rankings.
 
Between the two tours, over 110 past and present NGA Hooters Tour players will be playing this week.
 
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.
 
For more information, visit: www.HootersTour.com.
 
Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in Canadian Open:

1.        Blake Adams
2.        Jason Bohn
3.        Justin Bolli
4.        Craig Bowden
5.        Ted Brown
6.        Chad Campbell
7.        Chad Collins
8.        Michael Connell
9.        John Daly
10.        Brendon de Jonge
11.        Brent Delahoussaye
12.        Joe Durant
13.        Matt Every
14.        Steve Flesch
15.        Martin Flores
16.        Robert Garrigus
17.        Tom Gillis
18.        Jeff Gove
19.        Rob Grube
20.        Bob Heintz
21.        Lee Janzen
22.        Kent Jones
23.        Jerry Kelly
24.        Cliff Kresge
25.        Michael Letzig
26.        Spencer Levin
27.        Bill Lunde
28.        Brock Mackenzie
29.        Scott McCarron
30.        Garth Mulroy
31.        James Nitties
32.        Sean O’Hair
33.        Ryan Palmer
34.        Aron Price
35.        Ted Purdy
36.        Brett Quigley
37.        Chris Riley
38.        Kevin Streelman
39.        Chris Stroud
40.        Brian Stuard
41.        Roger Tambellini
42.        Josh Teater
43.        Jerod Turner
44.        Vance Veazey
45.        Camilo Villegas
46.        Will Wilcox
47.        Jay Williamson
48.        Chris Wilson
49.        Mark Wilson
50.        Gary Woodland

Past NGA Hooters Tour Players in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational:

1.        Joe Affrunti
2.        Mark Anderson
3.        Ryan Armour
4.        Brian Bateman
5.        Camilo Benedetti
6.        Travis Bertoni
7.        Mark Blakefield
8.        Matthew Borchert
9.        Keegan Bradley
10.        David Branshaw
11.        D.J. Brigman
12.        Josh Broadaway
13.        Scott Brown
14.        Andrew Buckle
15.        Michael Clark II
16.        Paul Claxton
17.        Casey Clendenon
18.        Robert Damron
19.        Matt Davidson
20.        Bryan DeCorso
21.        Bubba Dickerson
22.        Ken Duke
23.        Nick Flanagan
24.        Tommy Gainey
25.        Kelly Grunewald
26.        Ty Harris
27.        Jim Herman
28.        Justin Hicks
29.        Jessie Hutchins
30.        J.J. Killen
31.        John Kimbell
32.        Chris Kirk
33.        Jason Kokrak
34.        Bronson La’Cassie
35.        Luke List
36.        David Mathis
37.        William McGirt
38.        Adam Meyer
39.        Madalisto Muthiya
40.        Justin Peters
41.        Ewan Porter
42.        Rick Price
43.        Jonathan Randolph
44.        Kyle Reifers
45.        Tag Ridings
46.        David Schultz
47.        Zach Sebert
48.        Justin Smith
49.        Nathan Smith
50.        Sal Spallone
51.        Scott Stallings
52.        B.J. Staten
53.        Andrew Svoboda
54.        Manuel Villegas
55.        Brian Vranesh
56.        Ron Whittaker
57.        Casey Wittenberg
Alts: Bobby MacWhinnie, Sonny Skinner, David Morland, Brad Adamonis, Emmett Turner, Ted Potter