SANDY — When teeing it up at the beginning of the season, almost every player on the Nationwide Tour has one goal in mind — play well enough to make it the PGA Tour.
The top 25 players on the Nationwide money list at the end of the year receive an automatic promotion to the big show. While nothing is finalized until the last tournament next month, Kentucky native Josh Teater's four-stroke win at the Utah Championship Sunday at the Willow Creek Country Club went a long way toward securing his playing card.
"It feels good," Teater said of his first win on the tour. "I played six years on the Hooters Tour and never really came all that close. I had won a few smaller tournaments around Kentucky but nothing like this."
With six tournaments to go, Teater has a firm grasp on a spot on the top 25 money list. He entered the week at No. 21, but with the win and $99,000 check, he moved to eighth in the standings.
"It definitely helps, for sure," said Teater of gaining entry to the Tour. "I don't know if they are saying it is a lock, but I don't know if anything is a lock in this game. We're not going to bet on that. We'll try to do it again next week."
If he can continue his stellar play next week as the Nationwide moves to Boise, it is a pretty sure thing he will earn another large payday. For the week, Teater finished first in eagles, tied for third in birdies, first in driving distance, second in putts per round and tied for ninth in greens in regulation.
While things were clicking for Teater during his stop in Utah, he felt there was a turning point last month at a tournament in Missouri that helped springboard him toward his ultimate goal.
"I played well earlier in the year but just didn't play well Saturday or Sunday. I was just one round away from having a chance," said Teater. "Then I went through a spell where I missed a few cuts. I went home and took a week off and refreshed a little bit, and came back out the next week in Springfield and played terrible the first round. Actually, that Friday round in Springfield I think changed the momentum of the year. I was well outside the cut and shot 7-under to make the cut on the number. Ever since then I have been playing well."
Teater played well enough to have a piece of the tournament record at 22-under going to the 18th hole after he holed a chip from 75 feet for eagle on the 17th, but a double-bogey cost him after he hit his tee shot in the water on the closing hole.
"I'm not really sure what happened," he said. "It should have been a full eight iron for me, but I hit it a little thin. It was nice to have that six-shot cushion going in there."
His winning score of minus-20 was four better than Tyler Aldridge's minus-16. Andrew Buckle, Matt Jones, Steve Wheatcroft and John Kimbell all finished five back at 15-under.
There may not have been a dramatic finish, but midway through the round it was not a foregone conclusion that Teater was going to take his first career title. He bogeyed three of the last four holes on the front nine, and when he played hole No. 12, Aldridge had just birdied 16 to catch him at minus-18. Teater birdied No. 12 and 13, while Alridge finished bogey-bogey to take away most of the drama coming down the stretch.
"It really was a good round," said Aldridge, who shot a final-round best 66 despite the final two holes. "I tried not to look at the leaderboard, but as the galley started getting bigger around me, I kind of had a feeling that I was in somewhere near the top."
Aldridge moved from No. 227 on the money list to No. 70 with he second-place check of over $59,000.
Utah's Daniel Summerhays rebounded nicely from his third-round 75 to shoot a 4-under 67, which was the second-best round of the day behind Aldridge's. He finished at minus-7 for the tournament and a 25th-place tie.
e-mail: mblack@desnews.com