ALUMNI UPDATE – DUKE FINISHES T7 AT PEBBLE; LEVIN, STREELMAN AND WALKER ALSO TOP-10

By Ryan Woodcock

Famed Pebble Beach was the latest stop on the PGA TOUR, and a number of GPT alums had strong outings at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Ken Duke was the highest former GPT player on the leaderboard, finishing T7 at 10-under par. Duke got off to a torrid start, shooting a first-round 8-under 64 that included 7 birdies and an eagle. Actually, most of that came on the back-nine at Pebble Beach Golf Links which saw him card six birdies and an eagle on the way to shooting a blistering 28 on the backside.

Duke sat near the top of the leaderboard after the first round, but couldn’t keep pace the rest of the week, shooting rounds of 73-65-74 for his T7 finish, the best finish so far this year for the 43-year-old who finished seventh on the Nationwide Tour money list last year to earn his 2012 PGA TOUR card.

Three other players joined Duke in the Top-10, including Spencer Levin, who was on his way to winning the WM Phoenix Open last week before faltering down the stretch. He rebounded nicely though, shooting rounds of 69-69-71-68 to finish T9 at 9-under par. His final round at Pebble Beach included five birdies and just one bogey.

Kevin Streelman and Jimmy Walker joined Levin at 9-under par – Streelman actually was at 13-under late in the final round, but he was four-over in his last three holes to fall back to T9. Walker shot steady rounds of 69-68-71-69 to earn his second Top-10 of the young season.

For the week, 22 GPT alums made the cut, with four finishing in the Top-10 and seven in the Top-25.

Steven Bowditch closed with a final-round 68 to finish T15 at 8-under par, while Richard Lee used an opening-round 65 and a final-round 69 to finish T15 alongside Bowditch. Lee carded seven birdies and just two bogeys in the first round at Monterey Peninsula, and finished with a 33 on the final nine on Sunday at Pebble Beach to record his best finish of the season.

Bowditch may have found a new best friend in actor/comedian Ray Romano, his playing partner in the pro-am. The duo finished fifth in the pro-am portion of the event at 30-under, the first time that Romano has made the cut in the pro-am in his 13^th try.

Robert Garrigus finished T20 at 7-under par, his second Top-20 of the year (finished second at Humana Challenge); while rookie Brian Harman put together a fantastic first round that earned him a Top-20 finish. That hot first round 64 included two eagles, five birdies and just one bogey at Pebble Beach. He shot 73-71-71 the rest of the way, but still cracked the Top-20, his best career finish on the PGA TOUR. Harman also paired with Gregg Ontiveros to share the pro-am title with Padraig Harrington and J.P. McManus at 35-under par.

Kevin Stadler closed with a final-round 68 to finish T25 at 6-under par, Sean O’Hair finished T29 at 5-under par, and Charley Hoffman opened with a 67 and finished T35 at 4-under par.

For complete results from the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, CLICK HERE.

Next up the PGA TOUR heads to Riviera for the Northern Trust Open, Feb. 16-19. Great job at Pebble this week guys, and good luck to everyone who is in the Northern Trust field this week. As always, check back here for a complete recap!