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December 3, 2007

Adamonis earns PGA Tour card

Brad Adamonis completed a dramatic career turnaround over the last two months when he earned himself a PGA Tour playing card today.

The Cumberland native, who grew up playing at Kirkbrae and Pawtucket, fired a final round 69 at Orange Country National in Winter Park, Fla., to easily earn a 2008 card. Adamonis tied for ninth place at 18-under 414 in the six-round event.

He moved up every round after an opening 72 by shooting scores of 68, 70, 68, 67 and 69 in the last five days. The top 25 players earned cards. It took a score of 14-under to be in that group.

Others who advanced, from the original field of 1,300 applicants, included Northeast Amateur champion Dustin Johnson, who closed with a 74 to finish in a tie for 14th at 16-under. Frank Lickliter, the leader throughout, finished at 29-under to earn medalist honors.

The performance for the 34-year-old Adamonis, who has played numerous pro tours over the past decade, capped two huge months. He had taken some time out from his career over the past two years to help his brother, Dave, coach at Johnson & Wales University in Florida. They took over when their father, Dave Sr., the founder and coach of the Johnson & Wales program, became seriously ill with cancer. Their father is still fighting illness, but has recovered enough to return to his job, allowing Brad Adamonis to go back to playing full time.

For most of this year, Brad Adamonis was fighting for position on the Nationwide Tour. He was floating around the 100th spot on the money list heading into the fall. But he had three strong weeks at the end, capped by winning in Midland, Tex., in mid-October.

That was a big step since it clinched him a full-time spot on the Nationwide Tour for 2008. He entered qualifying school _ with an exemption to the finals because of his win in Texas _ knowing he had to finish in the top 25 to earn a promotion to the big tour, and he did exactly that.

Posted by Paul Kenyon  at 4:04 PM to Paul Kenyon on Golf | Permalink

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