Oct. 15, 2006
ATLANTA – Troy Matteson, twice a first-team All-American at Georgia Tech and the 2002 NCAA Champion, captured his first PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Frys.com Open in Las Vegas, Nev.
Matteson, a 2003 Tech graduate from Austin, Texas., shot a three-under-par 69 in Sunday’s final round to hold off a host of hard-charging pros including Ben Crane (-7), Daniel Chopra (-6) and Frank Lickliter II (-8). His 22-under-par tournament total was one shot better than Crane and Chopra on the final leaderboard.
Three shots ahead after 54 holes, Matteson played steadily but fell into a tie for the lead on several occasions during the final round. He bogeyed the par-5 13th at the TPC at Summerlin course, but responded with birdies at 14 and 16, then held onto the lead with pars at 17 and 18.
The victory puts Matteson, who ranked 143rd on the Tour money list with just over $505,000 in earnings, in solid position to keep his Tour card for 2007. A PGA Tour rookie this year, Matteson earned his card by finishing No. 1 on the Nationwide Tour earnings list last year. The Tech grad has recorded top-10 finishes in each of the last three weeks.
Matteson’s win is the first for a Georgia Tech alumnus on the PGA Tour since 2004, when Stewart Cink won the WGC-NEC Invitational. It is the 24th PGA Tour victory by a Tech alum.
