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Florida Alum earns 1st win since 2004-
Orlando, Fla. - December 14, 2011 - With the youth movement in full swing across the golfing world, Daniel Stone proved that you can’t put a price on experience.
Stone, 38, started the final round of the NGA Pro Golf Tour Bridgestone Winter Series event at Shingle Creek six shots behind rookie Robin Wingardh, but the former Florida Gator recorded a 7-under 65 in the final round to come from behind and win his first event on the NGA Pro Golf Tour since 2004.
“I was thinking on the range today that nobody out here has the experience that I have,” said Stone, who finished with a 14-under 202 total. “I thought if I could go out with a 32 that the hole might start to get smaller for some of the younger guys. [Robin] gave me a little help, but the wind was blowing pretty good today.”
While he was a hoping for a 32, Stone of St. Petersburg was certainly happy to settle for a 30 on the front side of the 7,228-yard course in the final round. Wingardh didn’t go away without a fight, however.
The University of Tennessee alumnus carded a 3-under 33 on the outward nine to retain the lead. Wingardh of Helsingborg, Sweden, would carry a one-shot lead into the 14th hole, but a double bogey dropped the former All-SEC selection one shot behind Stone and he never recovered, finishing tied for second with Mark Blakefield and Ryan Spears.
Stone, who took a six-year sabbatical from the game before recommitting himself, went blemish free in the final round and made 21 birdies during the three-round event en route to victory.
“I’ve been grinding for the last few years, so it feels good to win again,” said Stone, who earned $12,324. “I missed first stage this year, but I felt like I was playing decent. The last few weeks I felt like my mojo was coming back. I played well last week, but I didn’t make the putts. This week, I made 21 birdies and that was the difference. I’ve spent a lot of time working on my short game and it’s paying off.”
Blakefield of Maysville, Ky., started the day tied for eighth, but the multi-time NGA Pro Golf Tour winner shot a 7-under 65 in the final round and briefly held the clubhouse lead before Stone posted his score. Spears of Del City, Okla., joined Blakefield and Wingardh in tie for second at 13-under par after shooting a 6-under 66 on Wednesday. The trio earned $4,932 each for their runner-up efforts.
Felipe Velazquez (Caracas, Venezuela), David Johnson (Palm Bay) and former U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Jack Newman (Des Moines, Iowa) finished at 9-under par and tied for fifth, earning $2,950 each.
Michael Welch (North Quincy, Mass.), Justin Bardgett (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jon McLean (Weston) finished T8 at 8-under par, while Randall Hutchison (Traverse City, Mich.), Ryan Blaum (Coral Gables), Jack Blaum (Coral Gables), Jack Tyler (Orlando), Tommy Gibson (Vero Beach), Lanto Griffin (Blacksburg, Va.) and J.D. Guiney (Ballybunion, Ireland) finished T11 at 7-under par.
For full-field results, click here.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour is the No. 3 Men’s Professional Golf Tour in the United States and the No. 1 recommended developmental tour by more PGA and Nationwide Tour Professionals than any other tour in the country.
The NGA Pro Golf Tour has helped hundreds of professionals acquire their PGA, Nationwide and Champions Tour cards and, to this day, NGA Pro Golf Tour alumni have won an incredible Thirteen (13) “Major” Championships.
Alumni include: 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, 2011 PGA winners Scott Piercy, Scott Stallings, Sean O'Hair, Mark Wilson, Bubba Watson and Gary Woodland; 2010 FedExCup winner and PGA Tour Player of the Year Jim Furyk; 2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink; 2009 US Open Champion Lucas Glover; 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson; 2003 PGA Champion Shaun Micheel; 2003 British Open Champion Ben Curtis; two-time US Open Champion Lee Janzen; British Open and PGA Champion John Daly; British Open Champion Tom Lehman; PGA Champion David Toms; 2003 Tour Championship Winner Chad Campbell and many, many more. At last year’s PGA Tour Qualifying School, 46% of the players that earned full exempt status on the PGA Tour (including 2010 Player of the Year Michael Thompson) and 52% of the players that earned status on the Nationwide Tour spent time on the NGA Pro Golf Tour. In 2011, 23 former NGA Pro Golf Tour players advanced to the PGA Tour.
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