Nationwide Tour News
Riegger wins Rex Hospital Open PDF Print E-mail

 

By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
RALEIGH, N.C.—John Riegger collected his second career title Sunday, winning The Rex Hospital Open without having to hit a single shot. Riegger, the 54-hole leader, was declared the champion when thunderstorms prevented the final round from being completed and forced tournament officials to revert back to the third-round results. Riegger fired an 8-under 63 Saturday and bolted to a five-stroke advantage over Chris Nallen.
“A win’s a win. I’m not going to complain,” said Riegger, who finished at 20-under par, collected $99,000 for his efforts this week and jumped to No. 10 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list. “I would have rather had it with a normal routine today and played. I knew what the forecast was for today. I’ve been through this before so I was mentally prepared for whatever Mother Nature threw at us today.”
The start of the final round was delayed three hours in the morning when a heavy thunderstorm rolled through the area and dumped an additional .70” of rain on the TPC Wakefield Plantation course that received the same amount the night before.
Riegger’s original 11 a.m. tee time was pushed back to 2:00 p.m.
“I was still on the putting green. I still had almost 20 minutes when that storm started rolling in. I was ready,” said Riegger. “I had probably my best warm-up today. Every other day I just hit it horrible on the range and I get on the golf course and it was pure. I don’t know if I was even more focused today or what.”
Another storm popped up and forced officials to suspend play at 1:45 p.m.
“We have a regulation on this Tour that doesn’t allow us to play on Monday unless half the field finishes,” said Nationwide Tour Tournament Director Jim Duncan. “We can’t start or re-start a round just to get half the field finished. So we pretty much had a ‘go’ point that we needed to be playing golf again by 3:25. Obviously with the last rain we got out of the most recent batch we just weren’t going to be able to continue. We were looking at another 2 ½ hours before we could have gotten the golf course playable again.”
As a result, the tournament was called, leaving Riegger in the winner’s circle for the first time since the 2007 LaSalle Bank Open.
“It’s a crazy game,” said Riegger, who broke the tournament’s 54-hole record by four strokes with his rounds of 66-64-63. “You never know when you’re going to come out and play the way I did this week.”
Final-Round Notes:
• The last time a tournament was reduced to 54 holes was the 2005 Oregon Classic, where the fourth round never got underway. Jeff Gove was the winner.
• The last time a tournament was reduced to 54 holes after the fourth round had begun was the 2002 Nationwide Tour Championship. The final round was underway in that event and all players had teed off but an afternoon thunderstorm halted play at 1:20 p.m. and officials determined the course was unplayable. The scores on that Sunday were wiped out and the tournament reverted back to the 54-hole standings, where Patrick Moore held a two-stroke lead. Moore was declared the winner.
• High school sophomore Grayson Murray finished T55 this week. Murray posted scores of 73-66-72—211 (-2) and became the second-youngest player ever to make a cut in a Nationwide Tour event (16 years, 7 months, 20 days).
 
Justin Hicks wins BMW Charity Pro-Am PDF Print E-mail

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP)—Justin Hicks won the BMW Charity Pro-Am on Sunday for his second career Nationwide Tour title, closing with a birdie for a 5-under 66 and a two-stroke victory over four players at rainy Thornblade Club.

Hicks finished at 20-under 266 in the three-course event and earned $108,000 to jump from 47th to seventh on the money list with $138,010. The 35-year-old former Michigan player also won the tour’s 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.

“The first puts you on the map,” Hicks said. “The second one says that you’re not a one-hit wonder. I’d like to think I can make a career out of this game. It will probably take a day or two before this sinks in. Right now it just feels like I won the race for the day, not the whole tournament.”

Kevin Chappell (68), Tommy Gainey (67), Chris Kirk (66) and Jamie Lovemark (65) tied for second. Fabian Gomez, the 54-hole leader who lost a playoff last year to Michael Sim in the event, bogeyed the final hole for a 72 to finish sixth at 17 under.

Scott Gutschewski and amateur partner Rolf Klam won the pro-am title at 47 under, beating Rob Oppenheim and baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice by four strokes.

Hicks began the final round tied for fourth, three shots behind Gomez, then moved into contention with three birdies on his first six holes, joining a pack that, at one time, had five players tied for the lead and another five a shot back.

“I kept saying all week it was going to be a shootout,” Hicks said. “We just had to stay patient enough and keep giving ourselves plenty of opportunities. I know I’ve had better putting weeks than this but my ball-striking took me home this week.”

Hicks missed only five greens in four days. He hit all 18 the first day, 17 in second and third rounds and 15 Sunday.

Birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 put Hicks at 19 under, and he held a one-shot lead when a thunderstorm rolled through, forcing him, Gomez and Gomez’s amateur partner off the course just after they hit their tee shots on the 72nd hole.

“I’ve learned over the years that the best defense is a good offense,” Hicks said. “I knew birdie would take care of everything and a par would be probably be good enough.”

The delay lasted an hour.

“The break was great,” Hicks said. “We just went to a place nearby where it was quiet. We listened to music and relaxed. I know how to play this game and I didn’t want to be around a bunch of people telling me what I needed to do.”

Hicks hit a 7-iron from 173 yards to 3 feet to set up his final birdie.

“I don’t like looking at the leaderboard. I just try to play my best golf,” Hicks said. “I’m out there playing a game and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”

 
 
Martin Piller wins Athens Classic PDF Print E-mail

ATHENS, Ga. (AP)—Former Texas A&M player Martin Piller won the Athens Classic on Sunday for his first Nationwide Tour title, shooting an even-par 71 for a one-stroke victory over Daniel Summerhays.

The 24-year-old Piller finished at 12-under 272 on the University of Georgia Golf Course and earned $99,000 to jump from 16th to second on the money list with $157,886.

Summerhays took a share of the lead to the final hole, but finished with a bogey after pushing his 6-iron approach. He settled for a 73.

Piller two-putted for the victory after hitting an 8-iron to 8 feet.

“I was shaking. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was,” Piller said. “It was the first time in my life that I really thought about how hard it was to two-putt. Luckily, the putt was straight uphill. I couldn’t have had an easier putt.”

Piller is $28,497 behind former college roommate Bobby Gates on the money list. Gates finished with a 73 to tie for seventh at 5 under.

“He came up to me after and congratulated me and said, ‘Good win, but you’re still behind me,”’ Piller said. “It gives me motivation. We’re good friends and we hate losing to each other. It’s just a testament to Texas A&M and the players they’re producing.”

Gary Christian (66) was third at 10 under.

 
 
Ewan Porter wins South Georgia Classic PDF Print E-mail

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP)—Australia’s Ewan Porter won the South Georgia Classic for his second Nationwide Tour title, parring the last four holes in fading light Sunday to hold off Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas by a stroke.

Porter shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 11-under 277 at Davis Love III-designed Kinderlou Forest. Also the tour’s 2008 Moonah Classic winner in Australia, Porter earned $112,500 after missing the cuts in his first four starts of the year.

Vegas finished with a 71. Brandt Jobe (69) was third at 9 under, and Canadian David Hearn, the third-round leadeer, was 8 under after a 74.

 
 


 

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