Charlotte, N.C. – January 13, 2011 – The first full-field event of the 2011 PGA TOUR season begins today in Honolulu, HI as the game’s best take to Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open in Hawaii. Of the 144 players in the field, 27 are former eGolf Professional Tour players who will be vying for their share of the $5.5 million dollar purse.

The former eGolf Professional Tour players in the field for the Sony Open in Hawaii are as follows:

-          Blake Adams

-          Joe Affrunti

-          Matt Bettencourt

-          Jason Bohn

-          Keegan Bradley

-          Kevin Chappell

-          Brendon de Jonge

-          Tommy Gainey

-          Tom Gillis

-          Fabian Gomez

-          Chris Kirk

-          Kevin Kisner

-          Derek Lamely

-          Jamie Lovemark

-          Steve Marino

-          Ben Martin

-          David Mathis

-          William McGirt

-          Matt McQuillan

-          Jim Renner

-          Nate Smith

-          Scott Stallings

-          Daniel Summerhays

-          Josh Teater

-          Michael Thompson

-          Cameron Tringale

-          Marc Turnesa

Among the grouping of former eGolf Tour players in Honolulu are 2010 PGA TOUR winners Matt Bettencourt (Reno-Tahoe Open), Derek Lamely (Puerto Rico Open) and Jason Bohn (Zurich Classic of New Orleans). All three players competed in the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions last week on Maui, with Bettencourt’s T19 finish leading the way between the three players.

A multitude of fresh faces can be found this week at the Sony Open, and plenty of them feature extensive backgrounds on the eGolf Professional Tour. Perhaps no player has spent more time traveling the eGolf Tour circuit than William McGirt of Boiling Springs, SC, who secured his 2011 PGA TOUR card via a T2 finish at Q-School in December.

For McGirt, successfully qualifying for the PGA TOUR is simply the culmination of years of hard work – the vast majority of which was spent on the eGolf Professional Tour. McGirt, who played his college golf at tiny Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, played top-level amateur golf after school before turning professional, and from there went to compete on the eGolf Tour full time. McGirt was a member of the tour from 2004-2009 before earning his Nationwide Tour card for the 2010 season. During his six full seasons on the eGolf Professional Tour, McGirt was a study in consistency – making over 80 percent of his cuts and finishing as high as No. 2 on the money list in 2007. During that season, he collected his first tour title at the Cabarrus Classic following rounds of 67-68-71—206.

Another familiar eGolf Tour face this week is that of Kevin Kisner, who earned his 2011 PGA TOUR card after finishing 11^th on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list. Kisner is arguably the most experienced eGolf Professional Tour player of the 11 former players who secured their PGA TOUR cards on the Nationwide Tour last year. A former University of Georgia “All American,” Kisner earned his first career Nationwide Tour title at the Mylan Classic in September of last year after rounds of 68-68-68-67—271 netted the Aiken, SC native a winner’s share of $108,000. Kisner would add a T2 finish at the Miccosukee Championship in October to help solidify his spot inside the top 15.

Kisner played the eGolf Tour full time as a member from 2006 through 2009 before earning his Nationwide Tour card. During his tenure on the eGolf Tour, he notched wins at the 2007 Match Play Championship and the 2008 Bermuda Run Open. In 2008, he finished third on the season-ending money list with an impressive seven top-6 finishes in just 14 starts. Kisner is making his first career PGA TOUR start this week.

Two noteworthy names making their debuts as full-time PGA TOUR members this week are Jamie Lovemark and Chris Kirk, who finished Nos. 1 and 2 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list, respectively.

Lovemark, a former NCAA Champion, earned $452,951 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour with six top-3 finishes, including his first career win at the Mexico Open Bicentenary in June.  Lovemark competed on the eGolf Professional Tour in 2009 after a standout career at the University of Southern California. By winning the money list title last year, Lovemark will automatically earn a spot in the 2011 Players Championship.

Kirk, the 2007 Ben Hogan Award winner at the University of Georgia, finally made good on his vast potential with two wins and $411,206 in 2010 to finish second on the Nationwide Tour money list. Kirk spent the vast majority of 2009 on the eGolf Professional Tour, with his best finish being a playoff loss to PGA TOUR player Tom Gillis at the Pine Needles Classic.

A veritable plethora of past eGolf Tour players moved on to the Nationwide Tour, and from there to the PGA TOUR. Some players, like Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey and David Mathis, are returning to the TOUR this week after stepping back to the Nationwide Tour for a season or two in order to re-capture their games and in turn solidify their status.

Gainey is making a return trip to the PGA TOUR after failing to retain his card in his rookie season of 2008. The Bishopville, SC native notched two wins and $403,957 on the Nationwide Tour in 2010 and finished fourth on the season-ending money list. Gainey played the eGolf Professional Tour full time from 2005 through 2007, a stretch during which he collected four wins and finished second on the 2006 money list. Gainey’s first stint on the PGA TOUR nearly ended in dramatic fashion when he closed his season with a runner-up loss to Davis Love III at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Walt Disney World.

Mathis, a multiple winner on the eGolf Professional Tour, is making his second trip to the PGA TOUR in 2011 after pocketing $265,385 en route to a 13^th-place finish on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list. The former Campbell University golfer won the tour’s Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open in October to vault from outside the top 30 to inside the magic number. The win was his first on the Nationwide Tour since capturing the 2008 BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greenville, SC. Mathis played the eGolf Tour full time from 2003 through 2007, with his last win coming at the River Run Classic in April of 2007.

The first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii will begin at 7:10 AM (local time) on Thursday morning. All four rounds will be televised by Golf Channel.