Richard Coughlan has escaped from his professional limbo. Unlike last year, when he managed to play sporadically because of his failure to win a golf throughout this season.
Coughlan, from Birr, who is a graduate of Clemson College in North Carolina, last week topped the NGA/Hooters Tour's final qualifying school at the Black Bear Golf Course in Florida to win full exempt status on a circuit which is considered the number one development tour in America.
After winning his full US Tour card for the 1998 season, and narrowly failing to retain it, Coughlan endured a pretty miserable time last year. He failed to win a ticket to either of the major tours but won his card for the Asian Tour in 1999 where he found the schedule "too choppy" for his liking, with no continuity and little prospect of advancing his game.
Last week, the Irishman showed exactly what he is capable of achieving. On a par 72 course measuring over 7,000 yards, Coughlan produced rounds of 67, 72, 64 and 69 for a 16-under-par total of 272, eight shots clear of runner-up Pat Nanney, a native of Memphis, Tennessee.
Only four players from the 144-strong field finished sub-par, although another Irishman, Conor Mallon, from North-West Golf Club, also secured his card by finishing tied-15th on five-over-par. Bryan Omelia, who played on the Asian circuit last year, finished in tied 34th, on 11over-par, missing out on his card by one shot.
Run by the National Golf Association, the Hooters Tour is not a mini-tour. It offers only 72-hole events - mirroring the full US and Buy. Com (formerly Nike) tours - and offers a full week of activities that include free practice rounds, free range balls, 72-hole tournaments, pro-ams, junior clinics and shootouts.
This year's circuit tees off in Ocala, Florida, next month and runs until October with a guaranteed 22 tournaments offering $3 million in prizemoney and a minimum top prize of $20,000. So, Coughlan and Mallon are both assured of regular tournament play as they seek to break into the big time.
"Our main goals for the 2000 season are to have more PGA influence, thus providing a competitive environment for aspiring professionals," remarked Rob Waters, President of the NGA/Hooters Tour. The season-finishing Tour Championship will have a top prize of $60,000 and, as an added incentive, the top three points leaders prior to that tournament will have their 2001 US PGA Tour Qualifying School paid by the NGA.
