Planet Golf — 15 March 2013 by GW staff and news services
Streelman wins first PGA title

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Kevin Streelman finally won on the PGA Tour with a game that looked as if he had done this many times before.

Streelman didn’t make a bogey over the final 37 holes on the tough Copperhead course at Innisbrook. He didn’t miss a shot over the last 11 holes Sunday on his way to a 4-under 67. That gave him a two-shot win over Boo Weekley in the Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank.

Streelman won in his 153rd start on the PGA Tour. The win gives him 500 FedExCup points and puts him into the Masters for the second time in his career.

Weekley closed with a tournament-best 63 some three hours before Streelman finished.

Jordan Spieth, the 19-year-old from Texas, tied for seventh and earned special temporary membership on the PGA Tour for the rest of the year.

Kevin Streelman

— With his victory, Streelman earns his first career PGA Tour victory at the age of 34 years, 4 months and 13 days in his 153rd career start.

— He earns fully-exempt through 2015 and earns a berth in the 2013 Masters Tournament and the 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

— He becomes the fifth first-time winner in 2013.

— He earns 500 FedExCup points and moves into sixth place in the competition. He also earns a career-best check for $990,000.

— His previous best PGA Tour finishes were T3 at the 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, the 2010 Puerto Rico Open & the 2010 The Barclays.

— Streelman becomes the third player to make the Tampa Bay Championship his first career PGA Tour win, joining Carl Pettersson (2005) and Gary Woodland (2011) with that distinction.

— He becomes the 5th player to win in his 30s in 2013.

— His 2-over-par 73 in the opening round was the highest start by a winner in a PGA Tour event since 2010 when Bill Lunde shot a 73 at the Turning Stone Championship. Streelman was T70 after his opening round.

— A 2001 Duke alumnus, he started his pro career on the Dakotas Tour that same year and in ensuing years burned out three cars (300k miles) while criss-crossing the country playing various Tours before eventually earning his card in 2008.

— Streelman hit 36 of 52 fairways during the week (69.2%/T11), hit 49 of 72 greens in regulation (68.1%/T11) and had 111 putts (T6).

Boo Weekley

— Weekley (8-under-276) had the tournament’s low round, finishing with a final-round 8-under-par 63, which was just one shy of the tournament’s lowest final round (62) set by Scott Piercy in 2012.

— Weekley’s career low was a 62 at the 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (third round).

— Weekly’s second-place finish was his best finish since he won the 2008 Verizon Heritage.

— In Weekley’s previous 20 rounds at the Copperhead Course, Sunday’s 63 was just his fourth sub-par score here. His best finish was a T22 in 2002.

Cameron Tringale

— Tringale’s third-place finish  (7-under-277) was the best showing of his career on the PGA Tour. His previous best finishes (both T4) came at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open as well as at the 2011 The Greenbrier Classic.

— Tringale finished T3 for the week in greens in regulation, hitting 51 of 72 (70.8%) and he was also 9-under-par on the par- 5 holes during the tournament.

Tournament Notes:

— With his win, Kevin Streelman becomes the 12 consecutive player from the U.S. to win this year in as many events and the 14 straight dating back to last year. The 12 straight this year is the longest streak in that category since 1989 when Americans won the first 13 events.

— Streelman also played his final two rounds without a bogey.

— Nineteen-year-old Jordan Spieth earned Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2013 season by virtue of his T7 finish. He earned $148,893 which gave him $521,893 in four starts this season. He needed to earn more than the player that finished No. 150 on the 2012 money list ($474,295). He will now be eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the 2013 season in his attempt to earn his 2013-14 Tour card.

— Defending champion Luke Donald finished T4 in defense of his title.

— Greg Chalmers finished T4, his best effort since finishing T4 at the 2010 RBC Canadian Open.

— Rookie Ben Kohles, a two-time winner on the Web.com Tour in 2012, had his best showing in seven starts on the PGA Tour. Kohles, a former University of Virginia star, finished T7. His best previous effort was a T39 at the Puerto Rico Open in his last start.

— None of the 77 players who completed all four rounds posted four consecutive sub-par rounds.

— South African George Coetzee, who was in tied for the lead after 54 holes, finished T17 on Sunday after a final-round 74. He was playing on a sponsor’s exemption. Coetzee was making his third start of the season on the PGA Tour this week and eighth overall. He finished T33 and T53 at the WGC-Accenture match Play Championship and WGC-Cadillac Championship, respectively.

— Shawn Stefani, the 18-and-36-hole leader, finished T7, his best finish ever on Tour in nine career starts.

— Stewart Cink rebounded from an opening-round 5-over-par 76 with consecutive rounds of 68 to finish T14. Cink was T130 after his opening round.

— A total of 23 players donned green shirts to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday.

 

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