The Honda Classic: Final-Round Notebook
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Monday qualifier Michael Letzig enjoyed the best week of his rookie season. Letzig posted rounds of 70-69-68-71 and tied for seventh place in just his sixth career start. Letzig is a 27-year old rookie on TOUR. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2003.
| Inside the Numbers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Scoring Averages | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
• Letzig finished No. 12 on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list after posting seven top-10 finishes in 28 starts. He closed the year with a runner-up finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek. Letzig would have made the field this week on his number, had he decided not to try and Monday qualify.
• Brett Quigley has now qualified for Major Medical Extension status for the remainder of the 2008 season. Quigley tied for 12th this week and earned $115,500. He had seven events this year to earn $67,769 in order to gain his status. Quigley played in 25 events in 2007 before his season ended with arthroscopic (right) knee surgery on Sept. 7. He had earned $717,411 and needed to reach the equivalent of No. 125 on the 2008 money list ($785,180). Quigley had missed the cut in his first two starts this year.
• Both Dudley Hart and Ben Crane moved closer to achieving their Major Medical Extensions for the 2008 season as well. Crane finished T12 and collected $115,000. He still needs $38,499 in his next 13 starts to reach his intended goal. Hart tied for 15th this week and collected $88,000. He still needs $74,960 in his next 11 starts to reach his goal.
• Australian Nathan Green birdied the final hole for a 3-under 67. Green's 4-under 276 total put him in fifth place at the time he finished. As the field backed up late in the day, Green moved up to finish third, which matches his career best. Green missed the cut in his first two starts this year but has now made four cuts in a row. Green's previous best career finish was a tie for third at the 2007 John Deere Classic.
• Mathew Goggin finished tied for seventh place, his ninth career top-10 in 176 career TOUR starts. Goggin's best finish in 2007 was a tie for fifth at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. His career-best is a 2nd at the 2006 Cialis Western Open.
• Alex Cejka (70) finished in a tie for seventh this week, his first top-10 of 2008. Cejka has now made the cut in five of seven starts. He tied for 19th at last week's Mayakoba Golf Classic. This is his best finish since a tie for sixth at the 2007 Fry's Electronics Open.
• Luke Donald's runner-up finish is his best on TOUR since he tied for second at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii. Donald finished tied for third at the Northern Trust Open. He collects 2,700 FedExCup points and moves up 17 places to No. 14 on the current list.
• Third-round co-leader Matt Jones was one stroke back of Ernie Els, who had completed play at 6 under par, when his hopes for a title were dashed when he his tee shot into the water at the par-3 17th hole. Jones made a double-bogey 5 and wound up tied for fourth, three back of Els. Nonetheless, it's the best career finish for the 27-year-old rookie, who moves up to No. 38 on the season money list.
• Yong-Eun Yang was the first man off the tee Sunday and played as a single. Yang hit his first shot at 8:03 a.m. and finished up at 9:56 a.m. -- shooting a 1-over 71 in the process.
• Ernie Els collects the 222nd PGA TOUR win by a former Nationwide Tour player and the fifth this year. The others came from Daniel Chopra at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, D.J. Trahan at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Steve Lowery at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Brian Gay at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
• A total of 99 different former Nationwide Tour players have won on the PGA TOUR. Ernie Els leads all former players with 16 career wins. David Duval and Jim Furyk have each won 13 times. David Toms is next on the list with 12 wins.
• Ernie Els earns his 16th career PGA TOUR victory in his 247th PGA TOUR start at the age of 38 years, 4 months and 15 days. He earns 4,500 FedExCup points and moves from No. 182 to No. 11 on the season points list.
• His victory is his first since the 2004 World Golf Championship-American Express Championship, a span of 49 PGA TOUR events and 3 years, 4 months and 29 days. The wi is his first on American soil since the Memorial Tournament in 2004, a span of 56 PGA TOUR events and 3 years, 8 months and 26 days.
• His victory comes in his fifth start in this event but first since 1999. He had earned $21,251 in his previous four starts. His first-place check of $990,000 brings his career Honda Classic earnings to $1,011,251, which in turn puts him at seventh on the all-time Honda Classic money list.
• His first-place check brings his season total to $1,030,000, moving him from No. 154 to No. 13 on the money list. He increases his career money total to $32,196,111 and remains No. 6 on the all-time list.
• Els records the biggest comeback win in his PGA TOUR career after starting the final round three strokes out of the lead. Has won five times when trailing at the start of the final round. He has trailed by two shots three times and won, and trailed by a single stroke and won.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FREE iPHONE APP
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network