Sept. 29, 2013
By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press
– Chesson Hadley had to settle for a victory Sunday in the Web.com Tour Championship.
Hadley closed with a 1-under 69 for a two-shot victory in the fourth and final event of the series that determine PGA Tour cards. But a late bogey by Scott Gardiner kept Hadley from winning the special money list and getting full status on the PGA Tour and a spot in The Players Championship next year.
This was a day for plenty of winners.
John Peterson wound up winning the special money list. And perhaps the biggest winner was Lee Williams. Needing a birdie on the 18th hole of the Valley Course on the TPC Sawgrass, he rolled in a 55-foot over a ridge and into the cup to earn a tour card.
Hadley, a 2010 Tech graduate and ACC Champion, had won the Rex Hospital Open earlier in the summer and finished third in regular-season earnings on the Web.com Tour, securing his 2013-14 PGA Tour card before the Finals began. But only the money winner in the four-event series gains full exempt status and a spot in The Players Championship.
Troy Matteson, former Tech All-American and NCAA Champion in 2002, regained PGA Tour status by finishing 17th in the special four-event Web.com Tour Finals earnings list, despite missing the cut in the Web.com Tour Championship this weekend. Matteson had finished outside the top 125 in PGA Tour earnings in 2013 and needed to finish in the top 25 in winnings in the Web.com Tour Finals to return for the 2013-14 season.
