Turnesa Keeps PGA Card With Win In Vegas
21/10/2008 01:34
LAS VEGAS - Marc Turnesa completed a wire-to-wire victory for his first PGA Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 on Sunday to hold off Matt Kuchar by a stroke in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The fourth rookie to win on the PGA Tour this season, Turnesa opened with rounds of 62, 64 and 69 at TPC Summerlin en route to a tournament-record 25-under 263 total. He earned a career-best US$738,000 to jump from 138th to 75th on the money list.
Turnesa birdied Nos. 9, 11, 12 and 14 to reach 25 under on the mostly sunny, breezy day. He also birdied the par-3 17th, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 18th.
''I only won by a shot, so obviously every birdie I made was important,'' said Turnesa, the 30-year-old former North Carolina State star who broke the event mark of 23-under 264 set last year by George McNeill.
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SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
This is a great story. It’s nice to see a young lad like Turnesa win and keep his PGA Tour Card. As you know, only the top 125 money winners on the PGA Tour in any given year are fully exempt for the next year’s tour – unless you qualify under one of the PGA Tour’s “Special Exemptions.”