NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Two weeks to go from rags to riches

for self-taught Jerod Turner

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
SAN JACINTO, California -- Hello, Hollywood, here's a script that writes itself. Okay, maybe it's not exactly Cinderella, but the Jerod Turner story is close. The 34-year old, self-taught Texan has been chasing his dream and scratching out a living on mini-tours for the past nine years. He'd earned less than $8,000 on the Nationwide Tour and was contemplating a next step that would take him away from golf. Suddenly, in the span of two weeks, he's inches away from playing on the US PGA Tour next year.
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Turner turned his life completely upside down on Sunday, shooting a 2-under 69 to win the Nationwide Tour's $1million Soboba Classic by two strokes. More importantly, the victory was worth $180,000, equal to the largest in Tour history, and propelled the father of two from No. 150 on the money list to No. 17 with only three events left on the schedule.
The top-25 at the end of the year will earn their US PGA Tour cards for next season and it would take a perfect storm to knock Turner out of "THE 25."
"Right now, I still don't know what hit me," said Turner, who finished at 15-under 269. "This week blows everything out of the water."
Two weeks ago, Turner was thinking about whether he should take a job in construction or the oil and gas business during the winter to help pay the bills. Then his phone rang on Tuesday afternoon and he was told Kyle Reifers had withdrawn from last week's WNB Golf Classic. Turner was in -- the second-to-last to make it into the field.
"I think I owe him a thank you note," he said with a laugh.
Turner played well on a difficult golf course and tied for seventh in Midland, Texas, giving him an entry into this week's event.
"I was frustrated I wasn't getting the starts out here. I felt if I got the starts and got the right golf course I could contend. Win? Who knows. I missed 17 tournaments and never got in a field."
Turner tossed conventional wisdom aside this week, as he has done for much of his life, and hit driver where others feared to go, attacked pins that others wouldn't and rolled in par-saving putts that others struggled to make.
He was one shot off the lead after the first day, led by one after two days and was one down to start the final round.
"I thought I'd have to get to 20-under today to have a chance," said Turner, who started the day at minus-13. "As soon as we got on one and two and I saw how hard and tough the course was playing, I realized there weren't a lot of birdies out there."
Sunday's scoring average of 72.836 was more than three full strokes higher than Saturday's third round, which produced the two lowest scores of the week, a 9-under 62 and a 7-under 64.
"This was the hardest golf course I've ever played on," said Turner, who was making only his ninth start on the Nationwide Tour. "It was like a U.S. Open."
Just like an Open, it was a question of who would inch forward while others backed up.
Turner grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at No. 2 and then took the lead for good with another birdie at the par-5, 5th.
"I knew that if I could get it in the fairway and get it on the green and make some pars I'd be okay," he said. "Heck, I think I gained ground."
Third-round co-leaders Derek Lamely (72) and Brian Stuard (74) stumbled but did their best to keep pace with Turner, who admitted his only golf lesson came at the age of 14 but "lasted about 30 minutes."
Tyrone van Aswegen, a Monday qualifier, vaulted up the board with a 2-under 69 that put him at 11-under, but was never in serious contention.
Turner ran off nine consecutive pars starting at No. 6 and was ahead by three when he three-putted the 209-yard, 15th, cutting his margin to two over Lamely, who would bogey No. 15 and birdie No. 16 to keep the margin at two.
Turner approached the 521-yard, par-5, 18th with the same all-out enthusiasm he displayed all week. After a good drive, he hit a hybrid to the green and was just over the back in two.
"I told my caddie this was going to be an up-and-down for a lifetime," said Turner. "I knew he (Lamely) would have to hole it from the fairway. I thought if I could get it up-and-down it would change everything. I've practised and practised and practised and hit thousands and thousands of golf balls and spent hours and hours to get to this point."
Just as the script would have it, Turner knocked it to within a foot or two.
"I don't know how far it was," he said trying to estimate the distance. "If it was any further I might have to think about it but whatever it was, I was still pretty confident."
The short birdie put him at 15-under and out of reach. Lamely, in the final group, had run out of holes.
By the time Turner had finished chatting with the media, his phone was buzzing -- 73 text messages and 51 calls.
"I didn't know I knew this many people," he laughed.
He may not know them, but very shortly, they're all going to know him.
SCOREBOARD TO FOLLOW