Nationwide Tour Insider: How to pronounce 'Prugh'

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Alex Prugh won his first Nationwide Tour event earlier this year at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open.

THIS WEEK'S Q&A: In his first full season on the Nationwide Tour, Alex Prugh finished 46th on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list, earning $144,790. This year, with a victory at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open already to his credit, Prugh has earned more than he totaled all of last season and is third on the money list. Prugh, a native of Spokane, Wash., who played collegiate golf at the University of Washington and lives in Las Vegas, recently visited with Laury Livsey of the PGA TOUR Communications Department.

Alex Prugh

Q: What's the best part about Spokane?
PRUGH: You have all four seasons, there is a lot of good golf there, but there is a lot of recreation to take your mind off golf.

Q: How did you settle on the University of Washington?
PRUGH: My brother was already attending there. I did consider the University of Oregon. I had a couple of buddies who were there. And both my folks went there. But I always knew I was going to go to Washington.

Q: Your name rhymes with "true," but how often does your name get butchered?
PRUGH: Oh my gosh. Generally, spelling isn't a problem. But it seems maybe once or twice a week, people pronounce it right. I'm actually more shocked when people do get it right. In New Zealand, someone said it "Pruge," rhyming with "rouge." I'd never heard that pronunciation before in my life. It's the same with "Spokane." A lot of people call it "Spo-KANE."

Q: What was your favorite thing to do in Seattle?
PRUGH: Our university is right there on the lake (Lake Washington), so especially in the springtime and early fall we would go hang out on a boat.

Q: Are you any good at fishing?
PRUGH: My roommate my senior year would go up in the mountains in the Snoqualmie area, just a little out of Seattle. I'd go with him, and we'd go fly fishing in the rivers there, which was a lot of fun.

Q: How did you land in Las Vegas?
PRUGH: I'm there for the golf. I grew up playing high school golf with Andres Gonzales, who played a little on the (Nationwide) Tour. I was going to go to Phoenix and probably move there, but I called Andres up, and he said come down. I had met a girl from Spokane who was living in Las Vegas, and I've never left because of her. We're still dating.

Q: So which is it, the golf or the girl?
PRUGH: Um. . . Next question.

Q: What's your favorite band?
PRUGH: Dave Matthews Band?

Q: What is your most-hated song?
PRUGH: "Say What You Need to Say" by John Mayer. I love John Mayer, but he seems to repeat the lyrics over and over and over. When that song comes on the radio, I always turn it off.

Q: Other than golf, what's your best sport?
PRUGH: I'd have to say snow skiing. My folks have a ski condo in northern Idaho at Schweitzer. It's about an hour north of Coeur d'Alene near the Canadian border. I also love Jackson Hole (Wyoming) and Whistler Blackcomb (British Columbia, Canada).

Q: Do you always ski, or do you snowboard?
PRUGH: I've tried snowboarding a couple of times. I get down fine. But everybody in my family skis, and skiing is just second nature to me.

Q: Do you worry about getting hurt skiing?
PRUGH: I don't. Unfortunately I don't ski as much as I'd like to because of the restrictions of our season. We go to November, and basically January is when I start practicing again. But I don't worry about missing skiing. But if I have an opportunity to go, I definitely will.

Three things to know about ...

The Rex Hospital Open

1. In the last 21 years, The Rex Hospital Open has raised more than $5.2 million to support programs and services at Rex Hospital. For the first 17 years, the tournament was well known as the Rex Classic, a one-day LPGA pro-am. It has now evolved into The Rex Hospital Open, an official event on the Nationwide Tour. 2. Skip Kendall, who won the inaugural Rex Hospital Open on the Nationwide Tour in 1994, is in the field this week looking to play his way back to the PGA TOUR. Four additional past champions of the event are in the field this week: Kyle Thompson (2007), Brendan Pappas (2006), Chris Anderson (2004) and Vance Veazey (1999). 3. All of the top 25 money leaders of the 2009 Nationwide Tour season are playing this week. At the conclusion of the season, the top 25 earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2010. At the top of the current money list is Michael Sim, with two wins already under his belt in 2009. Another victory this week would earn him an instant promotion to the PGA TOUR for the remainder of 2009 and all of 2010.