Maginnes: Vegas week is crucial for many besides McNeill  PGATOUR.com Contributor In the world's biggest city for games of chance, George McNeill left nothing to chance on Sunday. His 18-under-par total through 54 holes staked the PGA TOUR rookie to a five-shot lead going into the final round.  Mathias Gronberg crept inside the all-important top 125 on the money list in Las Vegas. (Feldman/WireImage)
We have seen young men with hot hands fold when the pressure got to be great, but not George, not this Sunday. His only bogey in the final round came at the final hole. He posted a 5-under-par 67 and a four-shot victory. D.J. Trahan started the day in a tie for second with Robert Garrigus. D.J. had the hot hand early, and it looked as if he may just be able to run down George, as he got out to a hot start with birdies at the first four holes. But George made a couple of birdies on those first four holes and his lead never shrunk to less than three strokes. "I didn't think that he would be able to keep up that pace. I just kept telling myself that if I shot 5 under, he would have to shoot 10 (under). If he did that, I would have been shaking his hand and congratulating him," George said after becoming the 11th first-time winner on TOUR this year. Although Sunday served as the coronation for George's career, at this time of year there are other stories that must be followed. Two weeks ago, Mathias Gronberg was 155th on the money list. He moved up to 130th with a third-place finish at the Valero Texas Open, his first top-10 finish of the year. His seventh-place finish at the Frys.com Open moved Mathias inside the all-important 125 at 120th place. Although he probably still has some work to do to maintain his spot over the next three weeks, he admits that he is playing as well as he has ever played. Cameron Beckman made a big move on the money list as well. Beckman's 68 in the final round was good enough to finish in a tie for third. The winner of the 2001 Southern Farm Bureau Classic has struggled over the last couple of years, and finished 176th on the money list a year ago. He returned to qualifying school and finished fourth, but his game still hadn't gotten on track this year. He came into the week 147th on the money list and his third-place finish wasn't good enough to move into the top 125, but he did move up to 128th on the money list. Obviously, no player on the TOUR likes to come down to the end of the year needing to play his best golf to keep his jobs. And for some, their glimmers of hope were dashed on Sunday. John Huston found himself in his most advantageous position in a couple of years through 54 holes, but he was unable to generate any momentum on Sunday. He double bogeyed the first hole and never really recovered, and his 3-over-par 75 dropped him into a tie for 21st. Kent Jones once again found himself in contention late in the year and Sunday started with great promise, but a disaster toward the end of his round cost him dearly as he made a triple-bogey 8 on the short par-5 16th hole. The snowman cost him a significant amount of money-list leverage.
He had an opportunity to finish in the top three and do some serious moving up the list from the 152th spot he was occupying. He did move into 131st with a tie for 10th, but it could have been so much better. These money list stories, however, need to take a back seat to the dream week that this was for George McNeill. "Just being on TOUR is a dream come true. To join the elite fraternity of winners is incredible," he said after the final round. When you consider that a year ago he was working on his game and toiling in the pro shop back home in Florida, the win becomes more than an achievement. This week George hit the Jackpot in Vegas. If only we could all be so lucky. |
