Thatcher edges Day at Cox Classic for second win in a month  PGA TOUR Staff OMAHA, Neb. -- Roland Thatcher continues to make things look easy on the Nationwide Tour. His latest exploits involved capturing his second victory of the season at the $650,000 Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet.  Roland Thatcher has collected two of his three Nationwide Tour trophies in the last five weeks. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
Thatcher put an exclamation mark on a week that included four rounds in the 60s with a final-round 6-under 65 to clip 19-year-old Australian phenom Jason Day (63) by one stroke. "The excitement isn't just limited to the fans because we enjoy it as well," said Thatcher, a 30-year-old resident of The Woodlands, Tex. "We all have a pretty healthy addiction to competition and it doesn't get any better than what we faced out there today." Despite beginning the day with a two-stroke lead, Thatcher was quickly joined atop the leaderboard by the Tour's youngest player. After beginning the day three strokes back, Day stormed out of the gate with birdies on three of his first six holes to join Thatcher in the lead at 16 under. The two then battled back and forth -- with Day rolling in a 25-foot eagle putt on the drivable par-4 ninth hole to post a 6-under 29 on the front nine (just one day after firing a 28 on the same nine), while Thatcher later birdied the hole to enter the final nine holes deadlocked at 21 under. "Every time I turned the corner, I looked up and saw him knocking in another important putt," said Thatcher. "I had a front-row seat to what he was doing. It had an effect on me and spurred me on." Day blinked first on the closing nine, making his first mistake when a poor fairway bunker shot led to a bogey on the par-4 11th hole. Thatcher reciprocated with a bogey of his own at the par-3 12th hole, seeing his two-shot lead shrink to one. Day made pars the rest of the way before draining a 25-foot birdie on the last hole to once again pull within one. Thatcher was up to the challenge, two-putting for birdie on No. 17 and then safely tapping in for par from two feet on the last hole. "It was such a hard-fought day out there," said Thatcher, who perhaps won the tournament on Nos. 6-11 when he went a combined 6 under, thanks in large part to a perfectly-struck 7-iron to three feet for eagle on No. 10. "There were a lot of fireworks and the fans got their money's worth. Jason and I stood toe to toe and I'm proud of my own ability to not back down." Day agreed. "It was a lot of fun out there today," he said. "It was an outstanding day for me ... and obviously for Roland as well. It was hard to catch him because he played so well. He just took off on the back nine and I made a few fundamental errors. But there are a lot of positives I can take out of the week." Thatcher joins Nick Flanagan as the only players this season with multiple wins, moving within one victory of earning the Tour's Three-Win Promotion -- and an immediate ticket to the PGA TOUR. He relishes the opportunity, especially after finishing 177th and 173rd on the money list during his first full seasons on TOUR in 2004 and 2005. "It would have been premature to think about the Battlefield Promotion after one win," said Thatcher. "But now with two wins I can start setting my sights on getting that third win. It is squarely in my sights. If I take the game that I have right now out to the PGA TOUR, I think I'll stay out there this time. I'm a much more complete player and a more mature player." In the meantime, the $117,000 first-place prize propels Thatcher to the head of the pack among The 25 with $371,204. Day sits in the second spot with $270,955. "I'm now in the No. 1 spot on the money list and I just want to maintain that position the rest of the season," said Thatcher. "Finishing in the top spot on the money list is so important on the Nationwide Tour."
Sunday marked the third tournament in which Thatcher has been in the final pairing on the final day. Based on his solid play of late, the pressure seems to be having little effect on the former Auburn University All-American. After falling in a playoff to Flanagan in his first attempt at the Henrico County Open, Thatcher has reeled off victories in his last two attempts -- racing off to a three-stroke win at the Peek'n Peak Classic and Sunday's one-shot victory. "This win was certainly tighter down the stretch," said Thatcher. "I had a four- or five-stroke lead coming down the stretch at Peek'n Peak, so I was able to enjoy it a little more. I couldn't enjoy it today until the last putt rolled in." One thing Thatcher could enjoy on Sunday was the knowledge that he topped one of the game's best young Australians. It wasn't the first time. "My first win in 2002, I battled Aaron Baddeley down the stretch and came out with the win," said Thatcher, who notched that maiden win at the Monterey Peninsula Classic. "Anytime I saw him on television after that it was nice to know I had beaten him head to head. The same will hold true with today's win. The sky is the limit for Jason ... especially to be as good as he is and as young as he is. But there are still some of us older guys that will take a little money from him when we can." Game on. Next Nationwide Tour stop is Wichita, Kan. Final-Round News & Notes: Jason Day's 17-under 125 total in the final two rounds equals the lowest 36-hole score in Nationwide Tour history. It had been posted on three previous occasions by Jeff Freeman (2001 Fort Smith Classic/Rds. 3-4), Jason Gore (2002 Gila River Classic/Rds. 1-2) and David Branshaw (2002 Gila River Classic/Rds. 2-3). How good did Day play over the weekend? He played the front nine on Saturday (28) and Sunday (29) at 13 under par. ... After setting a new Nationwide Tour record during the third round with a 67.758 scoring average, the final-round average came in at 68.485. For the week, the par-71 Champions Run played at 68.980 -- the lowest four-day average in Tour history. ... Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, winner of "The Big Break VII" on the GOLF Channel, finished in a career-best tie for eighth place at 18-under 266. His top-25 finish makes him eligible to play next week in Wichita, but he will miss the tournament to attend his brother's wedding. Gainey's previous best finish was a tie for 30th place at the 2007 BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs. ... The 54-hole leader has now won 13 of 20 events this season. The 54-hole leader at the Cox Classic has gone on to win five of 12 72-hole events. ... There were eight bogey-free rounds on Sunday, bringing the total for the week to 46. ... The Nationwide Tour heads to Kansas this week for the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, one of four tournaments that began during the Tour's inaugural campaign in 1990. Last year, Doug LaBelle II finished two strokes ahead of Nick Flanagan for his first Tour win. |
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