Scherrer caps perfect week with third Nationwide win Veteran wins by four, moves into position to return to TOUR in 2008 SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- From the hole-in-one on his birthday during Friday's round, to the hybrid that he hit off the 18th tee that took three bounces off the cart path and ended up being a perfectly placed 400-yard tee shot, it just seemed to be Tom Scherrer's week at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr. Pepper. ![]() Tom Scherrer made 25 birdies and two eagles in Springfield. (WireImage) Scherrer shot 26-under-par at Highland Springs Country Club to win by four strokes over Franklin Langham for his first victory since winning the PGA TOUR's Kemper Open in 2000. Scherrer's win is his third career Nationwide Tour victory, but his first since the 1998 Upstate Classic. At a tournament known for low scores, Scherrer finished the four rounds with scores of 66-63-66-67 for the lowest four-round total of the Nationwide Tour season. "It was a long process since my last win," Scherrer said. "It's great to be back and it's very gratifying. I wasn't sure if I would make it back. It's been a long time and it feels good." With the $108,000 winner's check, the 37-year-old moves from No. 62 on the money list and into 'The 25' at No. 14. At the end of the year, the top 25 players on the Nationwide Tour money list will receive their PGA TOUR cards for 2008. Scherrer joined the Nationwide Tour in 1994 where he played until earning his way onto the PGA TOUR in 1999 where he spent five seasons. The victory and the opportunity to earn a place on the PGA TOUR for 2008 mean a lot to the 15-year veteran. "Playing out here is about getting into that top 25 and we recognize that, but winning is what you play golf for," he said. "Winning is something that will stay with you forever and your name will be associated with that tournament. Winning is on your mind and is what stays with you, but the immediate goal is to make it into the top 25 and earn a spot on the PGA TOUR." The win was a nice gift to the University of North Carolina graduate who celebrated his birthday on Friday during his round of 63. He set the tournament record with a third-round score of 21-under-par.
"It's rewarding to get my complete game going. I've been playing so well tee to green for a long time now, but I just haven't been able to get my putter going," he said. "The last two weeks, I have finally started rolling some putts and I've finished T5 and now with a win." Scherrer was paired with Langham on Sunday. Langham cut the lead to one stroke as the pair made the turn. Bogeys on the 10th and 12th holes sandwiched around a birdie on No. 11, combined with Scherrer's birdie on the 11th, moved Scherrer to three strokes ahead. "I knew I needed a great round -- a flawless round," Langham said. "Tom was playing so good. I figured he was going to shoot at least 4-under, so that meant I was going to have to shoot 7-or even 8-under-par to catch him or beat him. All-in-all, I would have taken 22-under on a putt-putt course coming into this week. After this week, it looks like my game is starting to turn around and that's the exciting thing for me." Langham, who coincidently finished second when Scherrer won the Kemper Open seven years ago, records his first top-10 finish of the season and his best tournament since finishing 2nd at the 2004 Utah Classic. Langham and Scherrer are both veterans of both the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour. During that time Langham has gotten to know Scherrer very well. "Franklin played great. If a few breaks go his way or if he makes a few putts, he could easily have been the winner instead of me," Scherrer said. Final-Round News & Notes: Scherrer's four-stroke win matches the largest margin of victory in tournament history and is the first time since 1991 that the tournament has been decided by more than two strokes.... Zoran Zorkic, Steve Pate and Jamie Broce shot bogey-free rounds on Sunday.... The scoring average for the tournament finished at 70.929 compared to last year's average of 69.502.... The Nationwide Tour heads to Omaha for the always-exciting Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet, the 20th event of the season. |