Drew Weaver, Amateur champion in 2007,

chalks up his first professional victory

Remember Drew Weaver, the American who won the British Amateur championship at Royal Lytham in 2007?

Well, the High Point, North Carolina player has just won his first professional title.

Weaver birdied the first play-off hole in the eGolf Tour’s CFAC Classic at the Cabarrus Country Club course to make the breakthrough and pick up a cheque for $17,000. He beat Tadd Fujikawa (66-67-66) and Fernando Mecherett (66-67-66) who tied with him at 17-under-par 199. Weaver's rounds were 64-68-67. 
“It’s huge. I couldn’t ask to be playing any better right now,” said Weaver. “One thing I’ve learned out here is that you can’t get caught up in one week, you just have to build on each day.”
Following the completion of a stand-out amateur career of which the pinnacle was the 2007 British Amateur, Weaver entered the 2010 eGolf Tour season (his first as a pro) with expectations of winning early and often. After missing four of his first seven cuts, his adjustment to professional golf seemed to be at a stand still.
“I was low, I was pretty much rock bottom,” he said. “But I’ve surrounded myself with good people. Just to get positive words in your ear when you’re not playing well means so much. It really helps you keep your head up.”
A decent showing at the Grand Harbor Open in May gave way to a T6 finish at the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn the very next week – his first top-10 of the season.
From there, Weaver would post four top-six finishes in a five-tournament stretch, including two runner-up finishes. The second of those runner-up efforts came just two weeks ago at the tour’s Manor Classic in Farmville, VA. Just putting himself in position to win was a lot for Weaver, who admits that the British Amateur title overshadowed the fact that he really hadn’t won that much on any level.
“I really haven’t won much. Certainly a lot of good things will come out of this,” Weaver said. “I’ve been working very hard and putting in a lot of long hours, and obviously it’s a good time of year to be playing well, so that’s great.”
The time of year Weaver refers to is the fall, which signifies the changing of leaves and the onset of US PGA TOUR Qualifying School, where over 1,200 golfers will attempt to qualify for the 2011 US PGA and Nationwide Tours.
For Weaver, the $17,000 first-place cheque helped to solidify all of the hard work that went into the 2010 season, but he refused to accept all the glory, instead opting to share it with those who mean the most to him.

“I wouldn’t be here without the support of my family, my swing coach, my agent and my sports psychologist,” he said. “I have great support and it means a lot to finally get one done.”