Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – For the first time since 2009, the 2014
Web.com Tour season had a three-time winner in Mexican Carlos Ortiz.
Ortiz, who automatically qualified to play on the PGA Tour during the 2014-15
season with his incredible year, became the first player since Michael Sim in
2009 to take home three titles in one season on the Web.com Tour.
Ortiz and Adam Hadwin, who picked up two victories on tour, were the only
multiple winners, meaning there was quite a bit of parity throughout the 25
events in 2014.
In his first professional start, Sebastian Cappelen earned a 1-shot victory
over Matt Weibring at the Air Capital Classic in June. Steven Alker and Dawie
van der Walt battled in a playoff for hours to decide the Cleveland Open.
Entering the finals series, which featured the final four events of the
season, the top-25 players on the regular-season money list earned their PGA
Tour cards for the 2014-15 season, with another 25 handed out at the
conclusion of the season.
Now let’s take a look at who else did what in 2014:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR — CARLOS ORTIZ
There was little doubt that Ortiz would earn Player of the Year honors after
hoisting three different trophies throughout the 2014 season.
Ortiz began his season with a third-place finish at the Pacific Rubiales
Colombia Championship, but things only got better from there for the now 23-
year-old Mexican.
Following a missed cut at the Chile Classic and a tie for 22nd at the Brasil
Champions, Ortiz cruised to a 4-shot victory over Jason Gore at the Panama
Claro Championship. Ortiz improved on his score all four days, going
70-68-66-64 to finish the week at 12-under-par 268.
Two events later, Ortiz went on to win on his home soil at the El Bosque
Mexico Championship in April for his second victory in three tournaments.
Ortiz started the week with a 2-over 74, but three straight rounds in the 60s
helped him pick up a 2-shot win over Justin Thomas.
It was over four months between wins before Ortiz took home the WinCo Foods
Portland Open title, his third of the season. Ortiz started the week on fire
with rounds of 66 and 63. While he cooled down to finish 70-71, Ortiz was able
to hold off Adam Hadwin and Gore to win by one shot at 14-under 270.
Along with his three wins, Ortiz had six top-10 finishes, but he did miss
eight cuts in 19 starts, although five of those cuts came over his last six
events to go along with his win in Portland.
While he did not earn any money in the finals series, Ortiz finished the
regular season atop the earnings list with $515,403. He ended second overall
at the conclusion of the finals series.
Hadwin was the only other player to be considered for Player of the Year.
TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR — CLEVELAND OPEN
The 2014 Web.com Tour season featured five tournaments that went to a playoff,
but none were as riveting as the marathon between Steven Alker and Dawie van
der Walt at the Cleveland Open.
While the Cleveland Open was an event on the PGA Tour in 1966 and 1968, this
was the first time it was played on the Web.com circuit and it did not
disappoint.
After Alker fired a final-round, 6-under 65 and van der Walt carded a 66, the
duo finished regulation tied at 14-under-par 270. The tournament was not even
close to over, however, as the duo went on to play a Web.com Tour record 11
playoff holes before Alker finally closed things out with a birdie.
Alker appeared to be in firm control heading to the finish of regulation, but
his 3-shot lead fell apart when he made a pair of bogeys on 17 and 18 at
Lakewood Country Club.
In the meantime, van der Walt used a huge back nine to catch Alker. Van der
Walt made all pars on his first nine holes in the final round, but he started
his way up the leaderboard with birdies on 10 and 12. After a par on 13, van
der Walt drained four gains on his final five holes from 14, with a bogey on
16 sandwiched in between. Van der Walt’s final birdie of the day on 18 forced
a playoff.
The duo went on to play the 18th hole twice in a row to start the playoff, and
then played Nos. 16 through 18 three times until Alker finally ended it on the
par-4 18th.
After exchanging pars with van der Walt on the first 10 playoff holes, Alker
stuck his second shot on 18 to about three feet. Van der Walt was unable to
convert his 15-foot birdie try and Alker tapped in for his birdie and his
fourth career victory on the Web.com Tour.
Alker only had two other top-10 finishes on the season, including a runner-up
finish at the Boise Open. Van der Walt picked up a win on the European Tour’s
Nelson Mandela Championship in December, but he has never won on the Web.com
Tour.
GOOD YEAR
– Adam Hadwin was the only other multiple winner on tour this season along
with Ortiz. Hadwin earned a 1-shot victory at the Chile Classic and a 2-stroke
win at the Chiquita Classic. He also tied for second behind Ortiz at the WinCo
Foods Portland Open. Hadwin had nine top-10 finishes on the year and he ended
atop the cumulative money list at $529,792, which is the third most all time.
– Derek Fathauer took home his first career victory at the season-ending
Web.com Tour Championship. He also finished runner-up to Roger Sloan at the
Nova Scotia Open and tied for third at the Panama Claro Championship. Fathauer
had eight top-10 finishes and missed just four cuts all year.
– Justin Thomas had seven top-10 finishes and missed just two cuts in 20
events in 2014. Thomas won the penultimate event of the season when he
defeated Richard Sterne in a playoff at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Championship. Thomas was also a runner-up to Ortiz at the El Bosque Mexico
Championship and a third-place finisher at the Boise Open.
BAD YEAR
– Fernando Mechereffe made just seven cuts in 21 starts on the Web.com Tour in
2014. His lone top-10 finish of the season came at the Boise Open, where he
tied for 10th.
– Despite losing in the Cleveland Open playoff, Dawie van der Walt made just
eight cuts in 17 events on tour. The runner-up at the Cleveland Open was van
der Walt’s only top 10 of the season.
– Jared Wolfe missed the cut 15 times in 17 events on tour in 2014. His best
overall finish was a tie for 33rd at the South Georgia Classic in May.
