Trevor Murphy picked up his first professional win on The Gateway Tour. |
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Murphy Wins Gateway Tour Event
Aug. 25, 2008
Charlotte, N.C. - (Edited Article appeared at www.gatewaytour.com)
Former Charlotte 49er Trevor Murphy, who helped the 49ers to a tie for eighth place at the 2008 NCAA Championship, picked up his first professional victory by winning at the Longbow/Mesa event on the Gateway Tour.
Murphy had shot an 11-under par 60 to take a one stroke lead into the final round and backed it up with a one-under par 70 to hold off Warren Schutte and a charging Steven Taylor by one stroke.
Murphy finished with a three-round 16-under-par, 198 (68/60/70-198) while Shutte (66/63/70-199) and Taylor (68/67/64-199) finished tied for second at 15-under.
Murphy's victory was worth $14,400.
It was his first tournament title as a golf professional, and after struggling to 2-over par through the first five holes of today's final round, it's one he's proud to have.
"Obviously I had a lot of good things going for me this week, especially with yesterday's round," Murphy told thegatewaytour.com afterwards. "Really every aspect of my game was on and I made pretty much every make-able putt I had. But you try to keep that going and tell yourself to stay in the mindset of staying aggressive and making birdies, and it's tough to do that."
Murphy suffered two bogeys and a double-bogey in his first seven holes today, but offset those with birdies on hole Nos. 2 & 6, then three more on hole Nos. 9,10, & 12 to get himself back in the red for the day.
Holding steady on the way home, he finished with seven-straight pars to claim the one stroke win.
"I was nervous starting the day, I'll admit that," said Murphy. "But it was a good nervous, and after I started off poorly, I'm very proud of the fact that I came back well. It was just an awesome week and a lot of fun."
Murphy graduated from the University of North Carolina - Charlotte this past May, and now after making every cut in the Desert Summer Series to date and earning $28,362.50, he's putting together a solid rookie season preceding his first go at PGA Tour Qualifying.
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Even though he's still wet behind the ears in professional golf and looking to break through to the PGA Tour, however, he's already received a taste of playing with the big boys after Monday Qualifying for the Wachovia Championship in May (where he missed the cut by 2 shots and tied for 93rd), - which ultimately got him to play The Gateway Tour this summer.
"I was paired with (former Gateway Tour player and recent RBC Canadian Open winner) Chez Reavie at the Wachovia, and he said The Gateway Tour would be a good place to play," said Murphy. "And it's true, because I really love this area and like the fact that there are so many good players you have to beat every week."
As for how he feels he's performed thus far on The Gateway Tour, three solid days of play this week stand out as his biggest accomplishment because he feels that's been something of an issue.
"I feel like I've played well all summer, shooting good rounds here and there, but I haven't been able to put three solid rounds together...I'm just very happy to finally have been able to do that this week, and now I'm ready to go tee it up again next week and try to shoot some more low numbers."
This week's event at Longbow completes the Desert Summer Series' 9th of 12 Series events preceding The 2008 Gateway Tour Championship Presented by Mercy Medical Center (Sept. 28 - Oct. 4 at The Legacy GC in Norwalk, IA). Stay tuned for more great action as the Desert Summer Series returns next week, August 27-29, at the Vista Verde & Tatum Ranch in Rio Verde, AZ...
