Over 65% of #2 Tour’s Field, including Four past Players of the Year and Four Exemption Winners, spent time on SwingThought Tour (formerly the NGA/Hooters Tour)
Greenville, S.C. – May 14, 2015 – When the best professionals not on the PGA TOUR tee it up today in Greenville, S.C. at the Web.com Tour BMW Charity Pro-Am, one hundred ten (110) of them will have something in common. Almost two-thirds of the field will have competed on the SwingThought Tour (formerly the NGA/Hooters Tour) at some point in their careers. The list includes four past Players of the Year, four past Rookies of the Year, two Golf Achievement Award Winners, and 10 players who have won on the SwingThought Tour either this year or last. The 4 past Players of the Year include Casey Wittenberg (2007), David Skinns (2008), Jeff Corr (2011), and Dominic Bozzelli (2014). Bozzelli, who finished T9 in last year’s event, also won Rookie of the Year in 2014, the only player to ever win Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year on the SwingThought Tour in the same year. The other three Rookies of the Year are Vaughn Taylor (1999), Will Wilcox (2010), and Ryan Spears (2011). The two Golf Achievement Award Winners are Mark Silvers (2012) and J.C. Horne (2014). Bozzelli, Corr, Horne, and Skinns all won events on the SwingThought Tour in 2014 along with Brian Richey, Patton Kizzire, Crawford Reeves, and Richy Werenski. Wade Binfield and Albin Choi have won on the SwingThought Tour this season.
By way of their wins this season, Binfield and Choi earned exemptions into this year’s field. While the SwingThought Tour has been awarded exemptions into the BMW Charity Pro-Am since 2013 this was the first year the tour was awarded four exemptions into the event. Mark Blakefield and Thomas Sutton earned the other two exemptions. Blakefield played his way via a T2 finish at the SwingThought Tour Ocala Marion Classic while Sutton earned his way in by being the 36-hole leader in the SwingThought Tour season opening Valdosta event. Binfield’s win in the Pine Classic at Diamondhead earned his exemption while Choi’s Cardinal Classic at Diamondhead earned his. In addition, 2015 SwingThought Tour members Mackenzie Hughes and Trey Mullinax are also in the field.
To follow all the action from this year’s BMW Charity Pro-Am please visit http://www.pgatour.com/webcom/tournaments/bmw-charity-pro-am-presented-by-synnex-corporation.html and on Twitter @BMWCharityProAm
SwingThought Tour alumni in the 2015 BMW Charity Pro-Am:
Affrunti, Joe
Anderson, Mark
Aragon, Alex
Atkins, Matt
Baker, Chris
Barnes, Erik
Bertoni, Travis
Bertsch, Shane
Binfield, Wade EXEMPTION
Blakefield, Mark EXEMPTION
Blaum, Ryan
Bolli, Justin
Bozzelli, Dominic POY/ROY
Bray, Dustin
Brown, Ted
Burgoon, Bronson
Buttacavoli, Michael
Castro, Roberto
Choi, Albin EXEMPTION
Cochran III, Rick
Collins, Wil
Corr, Jeff POY
Crawford, Adam
Curl, Jeff
Curtis, Ben
Davidson, Matt
Day, Glen
Diaz, Roberto
Driscoll, James
Duncan, Tyler
Eason, Greg
Etulain, Julian
Fast, Matt
Fischer, Zack
Flanagan, Nick
Gainey, Tommy
Gardiner, Scott
Gibson, Rhein
Gove, Jeff
Hack, Jhared
Hamrick, Hunter
Hebert, Michael
Hopfinger, Brad
Horne, J.C. GA AWARD
Hughes, Mackenzie
Jaeger, Stephan
Jobe, Brandt
Kaufman, Smylie
Killeen, J.J.
Kim, Michael
Kizzire, Patton
Klauk, Jeff
Kraft, Kelly
La’Cassie, Bronson
Lancaster, Neal
Landry, Andrew
Leon, Hugo
Lickliter II, Frank
Lindheim, Nicholas
List, Luke
Loar, Edward
Long, Adam
Loupe, Andrew
Mackenzie, Brock
Macpherson, Bryden
Mallinger, John
Malnati, Peter
Mayfair, Billy
McCarron, Scott
McCumber, Tyler
McLuen, Jay
Mullinax, Trey
Mulroy, Garth
Nitties, James
Oppenheim, Rob
Pampling, Rod
Parel, Scott
Persons, Josh
Peters, Justin
Pope, Andy
Price, Aron
Purdy, Ted
Reeves, Crawford MOS
Richey, Brian PSO
Ridings, Tag
Roach, Wes
Rollins, John
Schneider, Brad
Silvers, Mark GA AWARD
Skinns, David POY
Spears, Ryan ROY
Stegmaier, Brett
Stiles, Darron
Sullivan, Ryan
Sutton, Thomas EXEMPTION
Taylor, Vaughn ROY
Teater, Josh
Thompson, Kyle
Tyler, Nathan
Vanegas, David
Varner III, Harold
Villegas, Manuel
Vogel, T.J.
Watkins, Aaron
Werenski, Richy
Wilcox, Will ROY
Wilson, Chris
Winings, Andy
Wittenberg, Casey POY
Wright, Chase
About SwingThought Tour
Since its establishment in 1988, SwingThought Tour alumni have won an amazing 16 Major Championships. Alumni include Masters champions Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson, PGA Championship winners Keegan Bradley, Shaun Micheel and David Toms, Open Champions Ben Curtis, Stewart Cink and Tom Lehman, U.S. Open Champions Jim Furyk, Lee Janzen, and Lucas Glover, Open and PGA Champion John Daly, Tour Championship winners Chad Campbell, Billy Mayfair, and Camilo Villegas, and recent PGA Tour winners such as Matt Every, Robert Streb, Ben Martin, Kevin Streelman, Michael Thompson, Ted Potter Jr., Gary Woodland, Chris Kirk, John Senden, Brian Harman, Brendon Todd, Chesson Hadley, Russell Henley, Mark Wilson, George McNeill, Scott Stallings, Scott Piercy, and many many more. In addition, 89 of the 150 players competing in the 2014 Web.com Tour Q School Final Stage were past players on the SwingThought Tour.
For more information on the new SwingThought Tour visit swingthought.com or call 800-992-8748.
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Contact:
SwingThought.com Tour Media Relations
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