Las Vegas, Nevada (September 14, 2010)–At the beginning of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, there were no less than 11 golfers with strong ties to Las Vegas golf courses who made the season-ending playoffs. And about half of those, five, have qualified for the finale, the Tour Championship. Only 30 PGA Tour pros made the final event, and the Las Vegas golf contingent is led by resident Charley Hoffman, who is third in the standings. Others making it were Adam Scott, Kevin Na, Nick Watney, and Ryan Moore. Click for the official FedEx Cup standings. —By Brian Hurlburt.
There are more than 30 pros who play the major golf tours who have strong ties to Las Vegas golf courses. This area is also the home to many Las Vegas golf courses, including Cascata, generally regarded as one of the best golf courses in America. You can click to view the official website of Las Vegas golf course Cascata, which recently received 29 out of 30 stars in a ZAGAT survey.
Hoffman was on the 1998 NCAA title team at UNLV, and recently won the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of four tournaments during the 2010 FedEx Cup playoffs. The win was the second of Hoffman's career, coming about three years after his 2007 win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Hoffman will be hosting a pro-am during the week of the Las Vegas' PGA Tour event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Click for more details about this Las Vegas pro-am.
Scott, who is a former player at UNLV, stands 14th in the standings and is said to be a lock for PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year. Scott, who two years ago was ranked as high as number three in the world, was injured and plummeted down the rankings but won the Valero Texas Open earlier this year. Na is a fairly new Las Vegas Golf Region resident who plays and practices at the two PGA Tour-owned Las Vegas golf courses, the private TPC Summerlin and the resort TPC Las Vegas. TPC Las Vegas is known as the home to pro golf in Las Vegas because of the many tour pros who play and practice there. Na is 20th in the rankings.
Moore was a 4-time All-American at UNLV, and spent this past weekend near the top of the leaderboard at the BMW Championship. His tie for third there moved him into the top 30. Moore, who is 26th in the standings, had a one-stroke lead entering the final round before faltering. "At the beginning of the year you want to be there," Moore told the media about the Tour Championship following the BMW final round. "That's the tournament you want to get into if you play some good golf throughout the year. I played finally well enough at the right time to get into it, so I'm excited to go actually."
Watney is also a Las Vegas resident who moved to the Las Vegas area a few years ago to be closer to his instructor, Las Vegas golfer Butch Harmon. Harmon operates the Butch Harmon School of Golf at Las Vegas golf course Rio Secco Golf Club. Watney is 28th in the standings and was the leader of the 2010 U.S. Open heading into the final round but struggled and didn't claim the major championship. The Tour Championship Presented by Coca-Cola is being played September 23-26 at Eastlake Golf Club in Atlanta. Quote: ASAPSports.com.