El Jadida, Morocco – A standout amateur career led many to believe that Phillip Mollica of Anderson, SC would easily make the natural transition to professional golf when he joined the eGolf Professional Tour for the 2010 season. Early struggles with his mental game gave way to a disappointing rookie season, but the talented lefty would more than make up for it at this week’s $250,000 El Jadida Classic. With rounds of 69-71-71-67—278, Mollica collected his first tour title, the $40,000 first-place prize and a spot in the European Tour’s prestigious King Hassan II Trophy.

 

Entering the final round of the history-making event trailing overnight leader Brian Harman by three shots, Mollica – who entered the day at 5-under for the event – knew he would have to make an early move to have any shot. However, he first had to figure out if they were even going to play.

 

“When I woke up this morning, I pretty much assumed the weather would be the same as yesterday,” said Mollica, citing Monday’s torrential rain and wind. “By the time we got out there, it was much better.”

 

Forecasters called for a 70 percent chance of rain on Tuesday, but scattered showers would only hamper a few players, and the setup at host Pullman Royal Golf Club was ripe for the taking.

 

Mollica would birdie his first two holes to immediately move to 2-under on the day and 7-under for the event, before adding two additional birdies at Nos. 8 and 10 to quickly get to 9-under and in the lead.

 

“I didn’t look at the scoreboard until No. 13, but I wasn’t too concerned about it,” said the 23-year-old Mollica. “I knew I had to focus on my game, and up until that point I hadn’t put myself in trouble, so I felt I could just stick to what was working.”

 

What was working was stellar iron play that left him with little-to-no work in order to secure at worst par on about every hole. But, after the birdie at 10, Mollica would hit a stretch of seven consecutive pars to remain at 9-under – still in the lead, but not doing much to increase it.

 

“I hit a lot of good shots on that stretch, leaving myself a lot of 15-footers,” he said. “They (the putts) just weren’t falling.”

 

Fortunately for Mollica, putts weren’t falling all too often for the leaders either.

 

Harman would post a front-nine 38 to fall from contention prior to imploding on the closing nine at Pullman Royal. Derek Fathauer, who entered the day in solo third, was 1-over through 11 and would need a late miracle to have any chance of catching Mollica. Germany’s Christopher Trunzer, who began the final round alone in second, bogeyed five of his first 10 holes to fade from sight, thus leaving the stage for Mollica to take over.

 

Standing on the tee of the par-5 18^th with a two-shot lead over Fathauer, Mollica felt that a birdie would lock the title up, but even a par might do the trick. In turn, the normally-aggressive lefty would play it safe off the tee.

 

“I was thinking a par might do it, but I still wanted to make birdie,” Mollica said. “I hit a 3-wood off the tee and then hit my approach into a greenside bunker.”

Derek Fauthauer

 

From that greenside bunker, Mollica would get up and down for a closing birdie to post a final-round 67 and the clubhouse lead at 10-under 278.

 

Needing a double-eagle to tie Mollica, Fathauer birdied the 72^nd hole to post 8-under 280, in turn giving Mollica his first professional win.

 

“It feels great,” Mollica said after his round. “To know that I was able to go out there and get it done, and to close when I really needed to, it’s awesome.”

 

It wasn’t always this easy for the once can’t-miss standout from NCAA powerhouse Clemson University. While he never secured “All American” honors at Clemson, Mollica did incredible work on the amateur level during summers between school years.

 

In the summer of 2006, Mollica captured the prestigious Monroe Invitational in Pittsford, NY. The following summer, he would win the heralded North & South Amateur at the famed Pinehurst Resort, posting an 8&6 victory in the finals of match play – the largest margin in the prior 24 years of that event. In 2008, Mollica would again capture the Monroe Invitational, in turn becoming the first two-time champion in the event’s storied history.

 

But as with many top-level amateur stars, the slate is wiped clean upon turning professional, and often times the adjustment takes a little while to adapt to. Mollica was certainly no exception in 2010.

Billy Hurley

 

“Last year was a big disappointment. I felt like my game was really good, but I never got anything out of it all year,” he said. “This year, I feel a lot stronger mentally and that has helped a lot. My mental game is 10 times better than it was.”

 

After making four out of eight cuts to start the 2010 season, with no finish inside the top 40, Mollica’s game clicked late in the season with five consecutive made cuts to round out the latter part of his year.

 

A T18 finish at the tour’s 2011 season-opening Swiftwick Shootout at Palmetto Hall would continue the progress earned late in 2010, and the win at the El Jadida Classic would more than solidify his spot as one of the tour’s best up-and-coming players.

 

“I never felt like I was a small fish in a big pond or anything like that, I just think I wasn’t ready mentally,” said an honest and forthright Mollica. “Thankfully, I am now.”

With the win, Mollica collected a winner’s check for $40,000 and moved to the No. 1 spot on the tour’s 2011 money list with earnings of $42,567. More importantly, he earned an exemption into the European Tour’s King Hassan II Trophy, to be contested at Agadir Royal Golf Club in Agadir, Morocco on March 31 – April 3, 2011. The tournament, which pairs professionals with amateurs in a Pebble Beach-style format, was first contested in 1971 and boasts past champions such as Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Nick Price, Seve Ballesteros and Lee Trevino. The exemption was granted courtesy of The Association du Trophee Hassan II de Golf (ATH) in Morocco.

“I’m looking forward to coming back over and playing in the King Hassan II Trophy, it should be a great event,” Mollica said. “It has been really good over here, and although I can’t wait to get home, I’m really looking forward to getting back to Morocco.”

 

With his matching birdie at the 18^th, Fathauer secured solo-second-place honors with his 8-under total. The finish marked the best of Fathauer’s two-year eGolf Tour career and came with a $21,000 runner-up check.

 

A 2009 member of the PGA TOUR, Fathauer joined the eGolf Tour in 2010, and again in 2011, with hopes of re-claiming his spot on golf’s biggest stage. The runner-up effort in El Jadida was his fourth top-7 finish in 13 career starts on the eGolf Tour, and moved the Jensen Beach, FL native to No. 6 on the 2011 money list.

 

Finishing in solo third, with rounds of 70-69-70-72—281, was Billy Hurley of Annapolis, MD. Hurley collected $14,400 for his play in El Jadida.

 

At 1-over par through 12 holes in his final round, Hurley had somewhat taken himself out of title contention, but managed to finish strong to put himself inside the top five. Birdies at Nos. 12, 15 and 16 allowed the former Naval Academy “All American” to move back into red figures with a final-round 70. The finish was his best on the eGolf Tour since capturing his first professional title at the 2006 Cedarwood Classic.

 

Hurley, the 2004 Byron Nelson Award winner while at the Naval Academy, is a 2011 conditional member of the Nationwide Tour and is also a member of the eGolf Tour. Once back from Morocco, Hurley will head south to Orlando, FL after being awarded an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. The event, to be contested on March 24-27, is one of the TOUR’s most prestigious titles with past champions such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Payne Stewart and of course, Mr. Palmer.

 

Taylor Hall of LaGrange, GA, Scott Parel of Augusta, GA and Seamus Power of Ireland each finished tied for fourth at 6-under 282 for the week. Each player earned $10,333 for their efforts.

 

Hall, a former Georgia Tech golfer, carded the low round of the day on Tuesday when he posted a bogey-free 66 to move from T19 to T4. The finish marked the best of Hall’s two-year eGolf Tour career, and was his fourth career top-10 finish.

 

Harman, the tournament’s 18-, 36- and 54-hole leader, struggled mightily during Tuesday’s final round. The two-time United States Walker Cup star bogeyed three of his first seven holes en route to a final-round 79. His T21 finish marked just the fourth time in 17 career starts that Harman finished outside the top-10, and his round of 79 was the highest single-round score of his eGolf Tour career.

Chris McCartin and Phillip Mollica

 

The El Jadida Classic concluded a magnificent two weeks for the eGolf Professional Tour in Morocco. The Samanah Classic, won by Chris McCartin, was the first of the two events and provided a memorable experience for all players in the fascinating city of Marrakech. At the conclusion of the Samanah Classic, players moved to the dramatic Atlantic coastline and the city of El Jadida for this week’s event. eGolf Tour president David Siegel felt that the two events were the crowning achievement of the tour’s 10-year history.

 

“I would personally like to thank His Majesty The King, His Royal Highness President Of The ATH and the Atlas Pro Tour and their entire staff for their gracious support of both events,” said Siegel. “From the sponsors to the volunteers, to the host clubs and the Moroccan golf fans, we would like to say ‘thank you’ for making these two tournaments so special for our staff and players.”

 

With the two events, the eGolf Professional Tour became the first United States-based tour to conduct multiple stroke play events on the continent of Africa. This bit of history was not lost on Siegel.

 

“As a tour, we were honored to be a part of these historical tournaments,” he said. “The globalization of golf is very important to the game’s future, and I feel that Morocco is at the forefront of that future. We are excited about the future possibilities in such a wonderful country, and I personally look forward to returning in the coming year.”

 

 

·         The tour will be off next week before returning to action on March 30 – April 2 for the Irish Creek Classic, to be contested at The Club at Irish Creek and Cabarrus Country Club. Players will have the option to sign up for a South Georgia Classic Exemption in advance of the first round. The low participating player who signs up for the exemption will earn a spot in the Nationwide Tour’s South Georgia Classic presented by First State Bank and Trust on April 28-May 1, 2011.