ALUMNI UPDATE – TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS AND SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
Posted in Alumni News
By Ryan Woodcock
Two weeks of the PGA TOUR season are in the books, and former Gateway Pro Tour players were in the hunt down the stretch at both venues in Hawaii.
Let’s start with the 2012 opener, the Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. Martin Laird shot 20-under 273 over the four days to finish in second place, just three shots back of winner Steve Stricker. Laird got to within one shot of Stricker in the final round, but couldn’t keep pace down the stretch. He did shoot a 6-under 67 in round four, and his birdie on the 18th hole secured his solo-second finish. It was a great start to the 2012 campaign for the Scotsman, following a 2011 season that saw him earn his second career victory (Arnold Palmer Invitational) while posting six Top-10s and 11 Top-25 finishes.
A total of five former GPT players were in the TOC field. Sean O’Hair was the second highest finisher among former GPT players, carding rounds of 73-70-70-69 to finish 17th at 10-under par. Bubba Watson finished two shots back in 18th at 8-under, followed by Gary Woodland (T24, 3-under par) and Brendan Steele (25th, 3-over par).
SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
Sean O’Hair made it back-to-back weeks that a former GPT’er finished runner-up in a PGA TOUR event. O’Hair followed up his strong performance at the Tournament of Champions with an even better performance in week two. He shot rounds of 67-67-68-67 to finish T2 at 11-under par, just two shots back of winner Johnson Wagner. O’Hair had bogey-free efforts in the first and fourth rounds, and he closed out his tournament with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole, moving him up into his T2 position. After his two strong outings to start the year, he currently sits 5th in the FedEx Cup standings (yes, it’s early but still) and fifth on the money list with $462,000 in earnings.
Two other former GPT players finished in the Top-10 at the Sony, while seven finished in the Top-20 (A total of 20 GPT players made the cut for the week). Matt Every was in the hunt all week and finished T6 at 10-under par. He put together three solid rounds of 66-64-68 before struggling to a 2-over 72 in the final round. Michael Thompson also finished T6 at 10-under par after rounds of 70-65-68-67.
Chris Stroud and Ted Potter finished T13 at 8-under par, while William McGirt and George McNeill finished T19 at 7-under 273.
That wraps up the first two weeks of the 2012 PGA TOUR season. Congrats to Martin and Sean for their great outings, and to all of those who started their season on the right foot. The TOUR leaves Hawaii and heads to Southern California for the Humana Challenge at PGA West in LaQuinta, Calif., Jan. 19-22.
Good luck to everyone, and as always, check back here for a complete recap of all the action!
