Two-Time eGolf Tour Winner Brice Garnett Finishes Solo-Third at Web.com Tour’s WNB Classic
Brice Garnett
By Stewart Moore
Midland, TX – Brice Garnett of Gallatin, MO, a two-time winner on the 2011 eGolf Tour, continued his torrid play of late on the Web.com Tour, posting rounds of 70-65-69-71—275 (13-under) for a solo-third-place finish at the WNB Golf Classic – his third top-6 effort in his past four starts on the PGA TOUR’s developmental circuit.
The 29-year-old Garnett entered the week at host Midland Country Club as one of the tour’s hotter players, having earned a career-best-tying T2 finish at the Chile Classic in March, and a T6 at the Brasil Classic just last week.
Opening rounds of 70-65-69—204 (12-under) put the former Missouri Western State University star in a tie for fourth heading into the final round, trailing former eGolf Tour member Edward Loar by three shots with 18 holes to go.
On Sunday, Garnett turned at 1-under 35 after posting birdies on two of his first seven holes, in turn moving to 13-under par for the tournament, trailing the red-hot Alex Aragon – who birdied six of his first seven holes to vault to 16-under for the week.
Garnett’s charge stalled somewhat on the closing nine, as a bogey at the par-5 15th moved him back to 12-under for the event, and out of title contention as Aragon was en route to posting a 16-under clubhouse total – good for his first Web.com Tour title.
A closing birdie at the 72nd hole gave Garnett a final-round 71, and sole possession of third place at 13-under 275. The finish, worth $40,800, pushed his season-long earnings up to $125,023 – good for fourth place on the tour’s money list. Garnett is currently the highest ranked player on the Web.com Tour money list without a win, as well as the only player inside the top seven without a win.
Garnett began his 2011 season on the eGolf Tour, missing two of his first four cuts before breaking through with wins in back-to-back starts at both the River Hills Classic in June and the Southern Open in July.
In between the two wins, however, Garnett finished T15 and T30 in back-to-back Web.com Tour starts, and then posted a T19 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational after getting into the field based on his 2011 earnings. The T19 in Ohio led to a start at the following week’s Utah Championship, where Garnett missed the cut, yet gained more comfort playing week in and week out on the Web.com Tour. His next start came at the Price Cutter Charity Championship – an exemption he earned via his win at the Southern Open. Garnett went on to finish T55 at the PCCC before missing the cut the following week at the Midwest Classic.
The runner-up in October came after he successfully Monday qualified for the event, and Garnett has competed full-time on the Web.com Tour ever since. In 2012, he collected four top-10 finishes on the tour en route to a 47th-place finish on the season-ending money list, which in turn secured his card for 2013.
Edward LoarFormer eGolf Tour players Will MacKenzie, Edward Loar and Nick Flanagan each finished T4 at 12-under par, four shots back of Aragon.
MacKenzie, a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR, vaulted into tournament contention with a third-round 65, moving into fourth place through 54 holes of play at 12-under. On Sunday, the charismatic North Carolina native was even par through 11 holes prior to suffering a double-bogey on the par-5 12th that dropped him to 10-under for the week. Late birdies on 15 and 17 gave MacKenzie a final-round 72, in turn moving him back inside the top-5 for the tournament. The T4 tied a career-best on the Web.com Tour for MacKenzie, dating back to an identical finish at the 2011 BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Loar posted a 9-under 63 on Saturday to grab hold of the tournament lead heading into the final round, but notched six bogeys in his first 14 holes on Sunday to finish with a final-round 75.
The T4, however, further continued a promising season for Loar, who is currently first on the tour’s money list with $189,484 in earnings. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy finished T2 at the Chile Classic, then earned his second career Web.com Tour title at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open three weeks ago to move up to No. 1 on the money list.
Loar finished 39th on the eGolf Tour money list in 2010 with $24,593 in winnings, notching a career-best, fourth-place finish at the Bolle Classic in June of that year. At the tour’s Donald Ross Championship in May of 2011, Loar carded a bogey-free, first-round 62 at tournament host Pine Needles Resort on his way to setting the course record at the famed USGA venue.
Flanagan, who played the eGolf Tour in 2004 and 2005, entered the final round at 14-under par, one shot off of Loar’s lead. At even par through 15 holes, the former PGA TOUR member was two back of Aragon, needing to play his final three holes in 2-under par in order to force a playoff. Instead, the native Australian bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18 to fall to 2-over on the day, closing out his week with a final-round 74.
The T4 finish marked the second top-10 of Flanagan’s 2013 season, dating back to a T9 effort at the season-opening Panama Claro Championship.
Ben Martin, who earned his first professional win at the eGolf Tour’s 2010 Forest Oaks Classic, finished T11 in Midland with rounds of 71-68-67-72—278 (10-under). The finish marked Martin’s first top-15 of the year, and his fourth top-30 effort in four made cuts thus far. The former Clemson University star is currently 45th on the money list with $26,858 in earnings.
Other eGolf Tour players to make the cut in Midland include Russell Knox (T15), Brendon Todd (T15), Lee Bedford (T15), Brian Duncan (T26), Morgan Hoffmann (T32), Andrew Putnam (T35), Scott Harrington (T40), Kyle Reifers (T40), James Nitties (T40), Reid Edstrom (T40), Aron Price (T52), Nate Smith (T52), Dawie Van der Walt (T60), Philip Pettitt (T60), Stephan Jaeger (T69), Chris Wilson (75), Corey Nagy (76) and Rob Oppenheim (77). For full results from the WNB Golf Classic on PGATOUR.com, please click here.