Mallinger Wins Pebble Beach Invitational
John Mallinger, who is headed to
the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, made birdies on four
of his last six holes to win the Callaway
Pebble Beach Invitational at Pebble
Beach Golf Links.
Mallinger, who lost his exempt
status on Tour this year after finishing 133rd on the money list, collected
$60,000 from a purse of $300,000 in
this limited-field, off-season event
that featured 76 men and women
professionals.
Tim Thelen earned a European Senior Tour card.
Mallinger shot a final-round 68 at
Pebble Beach, including a 25-foot birdie
putt on the 72nd hole, for a two-shot
victory over Jason Gore. Gore, who shot
65 in the final round, is also headed to
the final stage of Q-School.
Mallinger posted a 72-hole total
of 15-under 273 in rounds at Pebble
Beach, Del Monte and Spyglass Hill in
the Monterey Peninsula area.
Pat Perez (65) and Champions Tour
player Russ Cochran (71) tied for third
at 11 under.
Annika Sorenstam, completing her
first 72-hole tournament since her
LPGA Tour retirement in 2008, shot a 73
to finish at 3 under.
Mallinger, winless on the PGA Tour,
has eight top-three finishes on the
Tour, including two thirds at the AT&T
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He
also tied for 22nd in the U.S. Open in
June at Pebble Beach.
TRYON BACK IN Q-SCHOOL FINALS
There will be some familiar names
missing from PGA Tour leaderboards
in 2011 after a number of well-known
players failed to get through the second
stage of Qualifying School last week at
six sites across the country.
Among those not making the trip
to Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge outside Orlando for the
finals Dec. 1-6 include Len Mattiace,
Frank Lickliter, Jay Williamson, Daniel Chopra, Olin Browne, Bob May,
Jay Haas Jr., Tadd Fujikawa and Brett
Quigley.
On the positive side, Ty Tryon
advanced to the finals. Now 26, Tryon
made history in 2001 when he made it
through the PGA Tour qualifying process to earn exempt status at age 17,
the youngest to accomplish that feat.
Others moving onto the finals
include Erik Compton, Will MacKenzie, Omar Uresti, Dicky Pride, James
Driscoll, Skip Kendall and Carlos
Franco.
CLEARWATER CHAMPIONS MEDALIST
Keith Clearwater couldn’t duplicate
his 9-under-par 63 from Thursday,
but his even-par 72 on Friday was
enough to earn the 51-year-old medal-
ist honors at the 2010 Champions Tour
National Qualifying Tournament at TPC
Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Florida.
Clearwater, a two-time winner on
the PGA Tour, finished with a 72-hole
total of 16-under-par 272 and a three-
stroke victory.
THELEN HEADS EURO SENIOR TOUR
2011 QUALIFYING SCHOOL CLASS
American Tim Thelen closed with
a 6-under 65 on Thursday to lead 16
graduates who gained cards for the 2011
European Senior Tour at the Pestana
Carvoeiro Resort’s Vale de Pinta course.
Thelen finished on 9-under-par 275
for 72 holes, finishing five strokes clear
of Irish amateur Pat Errity and Swede
Peter Dahlberg. The 49-year-old Texan
will become eligible to join the Tour
when he turns 50 in June.
He started the final day two strokes
behind Gordon Manson, but the Austrian struggled to a 75 on the last day to
finish in a four-way tie for seventh.
Errity carded a flawless 66 the final
round and will join the Tour in March
when he celebrates his 50th birthday.
Dahlberg, 56, shot a closing 68 to im-
prove on his 18th place finish of a year
ago.
BOWDITCH WINS NSW PGA
Australian Steven Bowditch, who
played his way onto the 2011 PGA Tour
with a top- 25 finish on the Nationwide
Tour money list, continued his fine play
by winning the Cellarbrations NSW PGA
Championship by two shots at Wollongong Golf Club.Bowditch finished
at 17 under, two strokes ahead of New
Zealander Gareth Paddison.
SENIOR WINS AUSSIE SENIOR OPEN
Despite dropping two shots on the
back nine, Peter Senior won the 2010
Handa Australian Senior Open at Royal
Perth Golf Club on Sunday.
After matching the course record
of 7-under 65 in the opening round,
Senior comfortably held all challengers
at bay to record his second senior title
by three strokes from two-time major
champion Sandy Lyle.
