Headline: Massachusetts' Own Fran Quinn Captures Nationwide Tour Event; Is One of Three Former Bay State Amateurs Also Competing on the 2010 PGA Tour
For Immediate Release: February 28, 2010
Norton, MA — Although he was disappointed not to be playing in the Waste Management Phoenix Open this past weekend, Fran Quinn (Holden, MA) made the most of his time by capturing the Nationwide Tour's Panama Claro Championship on Sunday.
Photo Caption: Fran Quinn (right) celebrates his fourth career Nationwide Tour title in Panama City (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco).
Quinn, a Holden resident who earned his 2010 PGA Tour card by capturing the 25th and final spot on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2009, has conditional status on the PGA Tour and thus is near the bottom of a long list of players hoping to gain entry into tournaments week in and week out.
When he did not receive entry into the Phoenix Open, he returned to the Nationwide curcuit and showed why coming into the 2010 season he ranked 10th in career earnings on the Nationwide Tour.
This past weekend at the Club de Golf de Panama, Quinn posted four strong rounds – including a tournament-low score of 8-under par 62 on Saturday – to post a tournament-record score of 15-under par 265 and edge Brian Smock by two strokes. Heading into the final round, Quinn held a five-stroke lead over the field and managed to hold on despite strong winds and 90-degree temperatures in Panama City. Quinn's stellar performance at Panama Golf Club earned him a winner's check of $102,000.
"I made it interesting for everyone," said Quinn to the Associated Press following his victory. "I've never had a big lead like that before and I just put it on cruise control instead of trying to keep making birdies."
Over the course of his career, the 44-year-old Quinn, whose younger brother Kevin is a mainstay on the local amateur golf circuit, has played in 47 PGA Tour events and made the cut 13 times. On the Nationwide Tour, he has 326 career starts and 176 made cuts. Earlier this year, Quinn partnered with his brother Kevin at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, one of three PGA Tour events he has competed in this year.
When not honing his own skills, Quinn takes time to cheer on another special golfer in his life. Last July, Quinn traveled to Framingham Country Club to cheer on his son Owen who was competing in the 2009 Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship.
As a special treat for golfing fans, Quinn has been checking in with ESPN.com periodically this past season and sharing some of his experiences during his first full-time season on the PGA Tour since 1992. Click here to view his last blog entry.
Finishing T16 at the Panama Claro Championship was Andover-native Rob Oppenheim (Andover, MA). The 2009 Massachusetts Open Champion earned his Nationwide Tour card last fall and is enjoying a strong start to the season. Just last week, Oppenheim captured an NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour event at Forest Lake Golf Club in Ocoee (FL) by firing a score of 9-under par 204.
In his 2010 Nationwide Tour debut, six-time Massachusetts Open Champion Geoff Sisk (Marshfield, MA) made the cut at the Panama Claro Championship.
Finishing third in the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour event at Forest Lake Golf Club was the 2009 Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year Matt Parziale (Brockton, MA).
Two-time Christopher Cutler Rich MGA Junior Player of the Year Jon Curran (Hopkinton, MA) and 2008 Massachusetts Open and 2005 New England Amateur Champion Jim Renner (Plainville, MA) finished in the top 20 of the NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour event at Forest Lake Golf Club.