Flanagan birdies final three holes to win BMW Charity Pro-Am
TRAVELERS REST, S.C. -- Australia's Nick Flanagan moved within a victory of an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour, birdieing the final three holes Sunday for a one-stroke victory in the Nationwide Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs.
BMW Charity Pro-Am scores
1. Flanagan, (-15)
2. Thompson (-14)
T-3. Turnesa (-13)
T-3. Johnson (-13)
T-5. Fischer (-12)
T-5. Tomasulo (-12)
• Complete scores
Flanagan, the 2003 U.S. Amateur champion who won the Henrico Country Open last month in his last tour start, closed with a 7-under 65 for a 15-under 271 total. He earned $117,000 -- and a BMW X5 -- to take the money lead with $229,077.
"Two-for-two is good fun," the 22-year-old Flanagan said. "I'm planning on playing the next three weeks, so hopefully I'll get another one soon."
Three-time winners in a season earn immediate promotions to the PGA Tour, while the final top 25 on the money list will get 2008 PGA Tour cards.
"Hopefully I've cemented myself in the top 25 now," Flanagan said. "But better yet, this means I only need one more win. I'd love to go out and win another one and be able to play the last half of the year on the PGA Tour. This means I can just go out and have fun the rest of the year."
The BMW is Flanagan's first car.
"I've never owned a car," Flanagan said. "This is a nice one to have as my first. My neighbor across the street would lend me his pickup truck when I first started driving. Since then, I've been living out of hired cars for the past three years."
Nicholas Thompson (64) finished second, and Marc Turnesa (66) and Richard Johnson (70) tied for third at 13 under. Janet Jones-Gretzky and professional partner Darren Angel won the Pro-Am/Pro-Celeb portion of the tournament at 44 under.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

