Golf: Waite over as Grant regains US Tour card

New Zealander Grant Waite regained his United States PGA Tour card after finishing in a tie for 28th place at the last qualifying school in Orange County, Florida, yesterday.

Waite fired a one-under 71 in his sixth and final round to be seven-under overall and finish just inside the 30th-place cutoff for gaining Tour cards.

Fellow New Zealanders Michael Long, who finished three-over in total, and Steven Alker, four-over, were 89th and 96th respectively.

Mathias Gronberg finished with a 20-under 412 total on Orange County National's Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses to win the event.

Waite, whose success in the 1993 Kemper Open means he is one of just six New Zealanders to win a PGA Tour event, lost his full playing privileges last year.

Because of special invitations, he ended up playing more on the PGA Tour this year than on the secondary Nationwide Tour, but finished 188th on the money-list with tournament income of US$151,000 ($233,000).

Alker lost his card after finishing 163rd on the money-list with earnings of US$261,359 in his rookie season this year.

The cut is made at the top 125 in the money-list.

Long said he would return to playing the Nationwide Tour next year.

Other New Zealanders on next year's PGA Tour include Craig Perks, who was 143rd on the money-list with earnings of US$368,163, but has a five-year Tour exemption courtesy of his victory in The Players' Championship last year.

Phil Tataurangi, who is recuperating from a persistent back injury, has a two-year exemption thanks to his win in the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas last year. He may make his comeback to action at next month's New Zealand Open in Auckland.

Michael Campbell, the top New Zealander in the world rankings at 44, has decided to play on the European Tour after aborting an attempt on the US Tour this year following poor results.

- NZPA