Tim O'Neal had his best finish of the season on the Nationwide Tour at the June 20-26 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, finishing second at 15-under 269, two shots behind the winner, former PGA Tour player, Greg Kraft.
The outstanding effort allowed the former Jackson State golfer to pocket the biggest payday of his career, $48,600 and move up the all-important Tour Money List. After the tournament, O'Neal was 18th on the money list with $98,717. The top 20 players on the Nationwide money list at the end of the year gain automatic qualification for next year's PGA Tour.
O'Neal, playing his second full season on the Nationwide Tour, had his second top ten finish of the year. He finished fifth at the BMW Charity Pro Am at the Cliffs in late April.
O'Neal had rounds of 67-71-65-65 and an outstanding start on Sunday's final round enabled him to stay in contention.
O'Neal birdied five of his first six holes and shot 29 on the front nine of the Glenmaura National Golf Club. The Savannah native entered the final round seven shots behind former Kraft.
Kraft finished at 17-under par 267 to collect $81,000. O'Neal was followed by Bubba Watson at 270 and Joe Daley and David Branshaw at 272.
Kraft opened with birdies at Nos. 1 and 5 to get to 18-under, but O'Neal closed the gap to four, playing just head of him.
"I knew I still had a lot of work to go,'' O'Neal said. "I wanted to try and get close to him, but I figured the only way to catch him was to hope he could come back to us. I knew I needed 8 or 9-under. He's such a steady player.''
With his sixth birdie of the day at the par-3 ninth O'Neal went to 15-under and Kraft bogeyed the same hole, getting the lead down to two shots. But Kraft never panicked despite O'Neal's charge.
"You can't help but think when you have a seven-stroke lead and you're down to two at the turn that, "Oh, my God, I could blow the biggest lead ever,'' Kraft said. "But I also knew I wasn't shooting 5-over. I figured he had his nine holes, let me have mine. Just keep the ball in play. Be smart. Make them come after you. Make them go at those pins.''
O'Neal could manage only one birdie the rest of the way after that.
He has missed the cut in the last two tournaments. He shot 74-75 - 149 at last week's National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic in West Virginia. The previous week, he shot 71-73 - 144 at the Lake Erie Charity Classic, to fall one shot short of the cut.
O'Neal is now 24th on the Money List and third on the Tour in putting average at 1.732 per green hit in regulation and tied for fifth in putts at 27.5 per round.
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Thursday, July 14th 2005 at 1:24AM
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