Fansided

PGA 2013: Kevin Streelman Gets First PGA Win At Tampa Bay Championship

By Les Bailey

Sep 2, 2011; Norton, MA, USA; Kevin Streelman on the seventeenth tee during the first round of Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2011; Norton, MA, USA; Kevin Streelman on the seventeenth tee during the first round of Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Kevin Streelman has been many things throughout his PGA career, a caddie, a club professional, and probably a mechanic. After all, driving over 400,000 miles just to get to tournaments he was qualified to play in, he has probably had to fix a few mechanical problems with his ride. Most of that should be over now, after he won the Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank on Sunday afternoon. Streelman played the final two rounds on a very tough Copperhead Golf Course at the Innisbrook Resort, with no bogeys on his scorecard, and ten birdies. That will win a lot of tournaments on the PGA Tour.

Sep 2, 2011; Norton, MA, USA; Kevin Streelman on the seventeenth tee during the first round of Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2011; Norton, MA, USA; Kevin Streelman on the seventeenth tee during the first round of Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

Kevin finished his tournament at -10 under par, and a two shot win over Boo Weekly, Cameron Tringale finished with sole possession of third place at -7 under par. Defending Champion, Luke Donald finished in a tie for fourth place with Australian, Gregg Chalmers, and second round co-leader, Justin Leonard.

The only victory Kevin Streelman has had, was a Club Pros victory five years ago at Whispering Rock. He also won a bonus of $1 Million Dollars at the 2009 Kodak Challenge. Now he owns sixth place on the FedEx Cup points list, and an invite to play in April at Augusta. I love it when a new winner gets a chance at the Brass Ring.

"“Always had a dream of getting here,” Streelman said. “And so to get this is the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of time spent late into the evening, and getting up early in the morning. And it’s really a dream come true.”  “Hopefully, we can do it again,” Streelman said. “This is a lot of fun.”"

Boo Weekly teed off earlier in the day, and shot a tournament best, -8 under par 63 for his final round. He would have to wait around for the afternoon, only to find that he finished alone in second place.

GOLF: U.S. Open-Third Round
June 16, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Jordan Spieth walks from the tee on the 3rd hole during the third round of the 112th U.S. Open golf tournament at The Olympic Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Tour rookie, Jordan Spieth was only able to manage a -1 under par on Sunday, but was projected to be $195 short of having enough to qualify for a special exemption to play the remainder of the year on sponsor exemptions. He holed out with a 50 foot birdie chip on the 17th hole, and made a seven foot par putt on the final hole to get into a tie for seventh place.  He now has earned $521,893 in three starts, the bulk of that coming from a runner-up finish in the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com last week.

"“That would have been brutal,” he said with a grin. “But it’s nice to get the crowd excited on 17. That was one of the coolest shots I’ve ever hit. That was as loud as it gets. Hair on the back of your neck stands up. But yeah, if I was $200, short, I would have just asked if I could pay them $200.”"

Follow us on Twitter @ProGolfNow

Home/Golf