Golfers with local ties thrive on PGA Tour
For many years now, golfers with Southern Nevada ties have thrived on the PGA Tour.
Some of them grew up here and were high school standouts before moving on to college and pro careers, while others moved to this renowned golfing region after turning pro.
In both cases, there's been no shortage of PGA Tour success stories tied to Southern Nevada.
With the 2012 season gearing up for its first major, the Masters next week in Augusta, Ga., the timing is perfect to give an update on a handful of the best players with ties to the region.
Nick Watney
Watney has lived in Henderson the past few years, with Butch Harmon as his coach out of Rio Secco. He's certainly on the short list of the PGA Tour's best players yet to win a major, something he'll get another chance to do next week at the Masters.
Among those who either grew up here or who have put down roots in the valley, the 30-year-old Watney rates the highest in the world rankings, at 19th. He's 57th on the money list in 2012, having already earned $455,055, with three top-25 finishes. That includes a 12th-place tie in the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and a tie for ninth at the exclusive Match Play Championships last month in Marana, Ariz.
At the Match Play, in a field of 64, Watney advanced to the third round, drilling Darren Clarke 5 and 4 and edging Tiger Woods 1 up before a 3-and-2 loss to Lee Westwood.
Kevin Na
Na is easily the hottest local golfer, having been on fire for months now. The Summerlin resident finished 2011 with a flourish, winning the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on his home course of TPC Summerlin, and he's making huge strides practically every week in the 2012 season.
Na is 20th on the money list this year, having already cleared more than $900,000. And another title seems to be on the horizon, as the 28-year-old has three top-five finishes in 2012 -- fifth-place ties on back-to-back weekends last month in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and a tie for fourth last weekend in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla.
"My swing changes are coming along nicely, and my driving has been the key to good golf," Na said.
He's ranked 64th in the world and, like Watney, will play in the Masters next week, his third straight trip to Augusta.
"I'm very excited for the Masters this year," he said. "My ball-striking is good enough (for me) to do well."
Scott Piercy
Piercy, a former Bonanza High standout who went on to San Diego State, is off to a solid start in the 2012 season, standing 53rd on the money list at $482,142. Piercy, 33, won the Reno-Tahoe Open last summer for his first career PGA Tour title, en route to a banner year in which he earned more than $1.25 million.
This year, he's made the cut in five of nine events, and he's got four top-25 finishes, including a season-best tie for fifth two weeks ago at the Transitions Championship in Tampa, Fla. Piercy finished that event with a huge flurry, shooting 9-under 62 in the final round, the lowest score of his PGA Tour career, including a tournament-record 7-under 29 on the front nine. The 62 left him just 1 stroke shy of a four-man playoff for the title, as he tied for fifth place to earn $193,187.
"It can always be better, but for the most part, it's been a pretty good year," said Piercy, who is gearing up for this weekend's Shell Houston Open. "My goal is to get into the top 50 in the world rankings. Once you're there, things kind of open up for you. I'll just keep playing solid and let the finishes speak for themselves, and hopefully get a couple more wins along the way."
Ryan Moore
Moore remains the best golfer ever to come out of Dwaine Knight's UNLV program -- and that's saying something, considering Knight has helped mold a bevy of outstanding players.
He stands 63rd on the money list at $408,325, with half those winnings coming last weekend after a strong effort at Bay Hill. Moore actually ended up tied with Na in that event at 5-under 283 to earn $209,571. And Moore had one of the highlights of the weekend, with a hole-in-one on the par-3, 201-yard seventh hole -- his third career ace on the PGA Tour.
Moore, 29, won the Wyndham Championship in 2009 but is still seeking his second PGA Tour victory. He's currently ranked 68th.
Charley Hoffman
Hoffman, who played on UNLV's 1998 national championship team, has consistently made cuts this year, reaching the weekend rounds in six of his eight tournaments. Now it's just a matter of parlaying those made cuts into more lucrative finishes.
He was able to do that two weeks ago in the Transitions Championship, where he had three rounds in the 60s. The 35-year-old opened with a 69, followed with a 71, then went 67-68 on the weekend for a 9-under 275 total and a season-best tie for 14th, which was worth $101,750.
The two-time winner on the PGA Tour is coming off a sterling 2011 season in which he made 20 of 27 cuts and earned $1.46 million.
Bill Lunde
Lunde, who captained UNLV's 1998 national championship squad, has been solid at making cuts this year, advancing to the weekend rounds in five of his seven PGA Tour events. Now he just wants to consistently make putts in order to forge higher finishes.
"Things feel good. It's just a matter of (continuing) to make cuts," said Lunde, who won the Turning Stone Resort Championship in 2010 and earned a $1 million bonus in 2011 by winning the season-long Kodak Challenge. "My putting is coming around, and now it's just a matter of putting it all together. More than anything, I need to put myself in position to have a chance to win on Sundays. I want a lot more strong finishes, rather than just making the cut."
Finishes such as the one he had in late January at the Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla, Calif. Lunde opened with a 74, then went 68-68-69 for a 9-under 279 total and a tie for 13th, netting $96,666. The 36-year-old heads off to the Shell Houston tourney this week looking to continue improving.
