Philadelphia PGA Classic offers $100,000 payday
The one-day tournament at Sunnybrook Golf Club paid off for Dave McNabb last year. Hes back to defend his title.
With the largest first-place purse - $100,000 - of any one-day PGA of America local event in the nation at stake, 138 area professionals will try to keep their minds from wandering and their nerves from jangling Tuesday in the Haverford Trust Philadelphia PGA Classic at Sunnybrook Golf Club.
The field features eight past champions including last year's winner, Applebrook Golf Club head pro Dave McNabb, who shot a 5-under-par 67 and won by 2 strokes.
Recalling that victory, McNabb said Monday he managed to stay steady with his pre-shot routine and not concern himself with the potentially large payday.
"My thinking was to just focus on what it takes to hit a quality shot each and every time you get up to hit it," he said. "That's really what I tried to do and not worry so much about what the [final] outcome was going to be."
Down the stretch, he said he stayed focused on making a couple of more birdies.
"I knew I was probably in a pretty good position," he said, "but I didn't know exactly where I stood. I felt like I probably needed to get one or two more birdies to seal the deal. I hit all those greens [late in the round] and made a couple of [birdie] putts coming in."
McNabb called it "gratifying" to be able to see all the preparation he put in pay off "on the day it counted the most."
McNabb and Radnor Valley head pro George Forster, the 2008 event champion, are coming off last weekend's Senior PGA Championship in Potomac Falls, Va. They were two of 35 club professionals in the field.
McNabb said a stretch of bad weather in Friday's second round led to a high score and a missed 36-hole cut but added, "I feel like I'm hitting it good and I'm in a good frame of mind, so we'll see what happens" on Tuesday.
Sunnybrook, a par-72 located in Plymouth Meeting, will play at 6,893 yards for the tournament.
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