Las Vegas, Nevada (August 7, 2010: UPDATE 8/8, 9:00 PM)–TPC Las Vegas is one of two PGA Tour-owned golf courses that are located in Las Vegas, and there are a bunch of tour pros who play and practice at these Las Vegas golf courses. Two of those are Alex Cejka and John Mallinger. Cejka was in the lead after two rounds of the Turning Stone Resort Championship while Mallinger was in a tie for fourth, three shots back. The success of these two this week is just more proof of the terrific talent honing their games in Las Vegas. BILL LUNDE, a Las Vegas Resident, won the tournament. Look for article coming soon. He is the second Las Vegas golfer to win on the PGA Tour in 2010). —By Brian Hurlburt.
"It's great that our local players are playing so well week in and week out," says TPC Las Vegas General Manager Dan Hammell. "It boost's the prestige of the TPC Las Vegas by having such great players practice and work on their games out at our facility. It is a great talking point when guests from out of town visit the club and see the top players in the world on the putting or chipping greens right next to them. It is a PGA TOUR Experience for our guests in every sense of the word." Click now to view the official website of TPC Las Vegas, a resort Las Vegas golf course that all Las Vegas golfers can play. You can reserve your tee times in Las Vegas at the website.
Cejka, who originally hailed from the Czech Republic (he fled with his family to Germany when he was a little kid), but has lived in the Southern Nevada area for several years. He first moved to the Laughlin area (90 miles south of Las Vegas) before relocating to the Summerlin area to be near the TPC golf courses plus McCarran Airport. Cejka is a PGA Tour veteran who has had solid success but is still seeking his first PGA Tour win. In his official PGA Tour profile, he lists 11 international wins. This year, heading into Turning Stone, he was 92nd on the money list. Other Las Vegas tour pros in the Top 15 were Dean Wilson, Craig Barlow and Charley Hoffman. Bill Lunde, a Las Vegas resident, fired a 64 on Saturday to vault into the top 10 while another resident, Scott Piercy, was going low during the final round and jumping spots on the board. The other guys were still lurking around the top 25. Former Las Vegas resident Tommy Armour III was in the lead on the Champions Tour as well. Armour III fired a 71 on Saturday and fell from the lead to a tie for 8th entering the final round.
Not only is Las Vegas the home to many tour pros who have strong ties to Las Vegas golf courses, but there are many terrific Las Vegas golf courses and is known as an ultimate golf destination. TPC Las Vegas was designed by Bobby Weed with consultation by Raymond Floyd. The other TPC course in Las Vegas is TPC Summerlin, a private golf course that is the host course for Las Vegas' PGA Tour event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Cejka was at 10-under par heading into the weekend.
"I've been playing really well the last two months," says Cejka. "I was struggling a little bit the last two weeks. I missed the cut, I was a little bit hurt, but I came here, I like the course. I've been coming here I think every year. And I in the past have really played well; I didn't maybe score as well as I wanted to, but I played well. And, you know, two rounds to go, a lot of things can happen but I'm playing well. We'll see what happens. If I keep playing like the last two days, I'll be very pleased." Cejka is joined by such PGA Tour players as Rickie Fowler, Scott Piercy, Hoffman, Wilson, and several others as those who play and practice at the TPC golf courses. Two weeks ago, Wilson had a chance to win the Canadian Open before faltering in the final round.