BMW Charity Pro-Am

Monday, 11 May 2009 15:08

BMW CHARITY PRO-AM
May 14-17
Thornblade Golf Club (host course), Greer, S.C. /
The Carolina Country Club, Spartanburg, S.C. / Bright’s Creek Golf Club, Mill Spring, N.C.
Purse: $700,000 First Prize: $126,000
2008 Champion: David Mathis
9^th of 29 Nationwide Tour events
Golf Channel will televise all four rounds

POPULAR BMW EVENT ENTERS 18^th YEAR – The Nationwide Tour returns to the Greenville, S.C. area for the 18^th year. Only the four original events from the first season in 1990 that are still on the schedule (Boise, Id., Knoxville, Tenn., Springfield, Mo., Wichita, Kan.) surpass Greenville’s longevity. With BMW’s support since 2002, the tournament and its popular pro-am format have flourished, with the Pro-Am becoming a leader year-in and year-out in charitable giving on the Nationwide Tour (approximately $6.6 million for 80+ charities since ’02). Last year the event moved from The Cliffs courses to new venues near Greenville and Spartanburg, S.C. and Mill Spring, N.C. With 168 professionals in the field, it is the largest field of the year.

CELEBRITIES CONTINUE TO SHOW STRONG SUPPORT – Celebrities have become the centerpiece of the BMW Charity Pro-Am and this year is no different. The roster includes actors Oliver Hudson, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Sorbo, talk show host Greg Kinnear, sports legends George Rogers, Sterling Sharpe and Kordell Stewart, Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney, Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts, and a host of others.

HOT MICHAEL SIM RETURNS TO PLAY AFTER VISIT HOME TO AUSTRALIA – When Michael Sim left Athens, Ga. last month following his playoff defeat to head home to Australia, he was arguably the hottest golfer in the world. He returns to the Nationwide Tour this week to play in his seventh Nationwide Tour event of the year. In five starts in March and April he had a 3^rd, T4, missed cut, win and playoff runner-up. In 26 rounds this year, the 24-year old is 56-under par. With $241,417 in earnings, Sim currently maintains a commanding lead of $90,176 on the money list, far and above the largest lead in Tour history after eight events.

ROOKIES JEFF KLAUK / SCOTT PIERCY CONTINUE TO SHINE – Local favorite Jeff Klauk had the best showing of the 19 first-time participants in THE PLAYERS, held at TPC Sawgrass where Klauk learned the game while his father, Fred, tended to his superintendent duties for almost 25 years. Klauk played steady shooting 71-72-71-71—285 (-3) to finish T14. Fellow 2008 Nationwide Tour “25” graduate Scott Piercy had the second best showing, finishing a shot back at 286. Virtually all year long Klauk and Piercy have been the top rookie performers on the PGA TOUR. Klauk is currently 37^th on the FedExCup points list and Piercy 44^th. Klauk hit 45 of 56 fairways (80.36%) to lead the Driving Accuracy stat at THE PLAYERS.

“TRUCK” TALK – With its reputation as the “home away from home” for Nationwide Tour players, the Tour’s “Truck” and the staff who man it have special meaning to the players, including Boo Weekley. “They turned me around as a person, these guys on the Truck,” said Weekley. “They believe in all of us. They helped me start believing in who I was and what I wanted to do. I still think about them as much as they think about me.” Weekley played on the Nationwide Tour from 2003 through 2006, earning his PGA TOUR card after finishing seventh in ’06. “The Truck”, an 18-wheeler that serves as the on-site operational compound at Nationwide Tour events, was the staging ground for last Monday’s 20^th-Year Tour reunion at TPC Sawgrass which Boo and approximately 35 of his fellow alumni attended.

NEXT WEEK – With the recent postponement of the Mexico Open presented by Corona Light, the Nationwide Tour will be off next week. The Tour resumes play May 25-31 at The Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C. The new date for Mexico has not yet been announced.

20 YEARS / THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY –

May 13, 1990: Jeff Maggert wins the Knoxville Open, making eagle on the first extra hole to defeat Greg Ladehoff. Maggert would go on to be named the Nationwide Tour’s first Player of the Year.

May 15, 1998: Notah Begay III records the first 59 in Nationwide Tour history, shooting a 13-under-par 59 in the second round of the Dominion Open at The Dominion Club in suburban Richmond, Va. Begay joins Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis Classic) and Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas Invitational) as the only players to shoot 59 in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event at that time in TOUR history.