Wichita, Kansas – August 11, 2010 – 2010 eGolf Tour members Roberto Castro and Matt Davidson missed the tour’s regular-season-ending Tour Championship last week to compete in the Nationwide Tour’s Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open. While Castro was a two-time winner at Tour Championship host Spring Creek Golf Club, and Davidson was the two-time defending champion of the event, the chance to play on the Nationwide Tour was too good to pass up – and both of them took full advantage of their opportunities.

Castro, a five-time winner on the eGolf Tour, earned his spot in Wichita following a T19 finish the week before at the Cox Classic of Omaha. Each week on the Nationwide Tour, players finishing inside the top 25 earn automatic berths into the next event. With a guaranteed place to play on the world’s No. 2 tour, Castro immediately went to work.

Opening rounds of 64-63 gave the former Georgia Tech “All American” the 36-hole lead in one of the Nationwide Tour’s most prestigious events. A third-round 67 kept him atop the leaderboard at 19-under on the week and put him one step closer to his first Nationwide Tour title.

Castro, a former Byron Nelson Award winner in college, entered the 2010 season as arguably the best developmental tour player to have never attained status on either the PGA or Nationwide Tours. A T54 finish at the Fresh Express Classic in April was his only Nationwide Tour start of the year prior to successfully Monday qualifying for the Cox Classic. After utilizing his start in Omaha to play his way into Wichita, Castro was poised to finally break through on his immense promise.

Paired with Australian Steven Bowditch in Sunday’s final round, the going got rough for Castro early in the day. A one bogey, eight par effort on the outward nine left the Alpharetta, GA native with a 1-over 36 at the turn. Birdies at 10 and 11 would be slightly offset by an untimely bogey at the par-5 13th, and Castro was left to look at leaderboards for the move being made by Jhonattan Vegas just a few groups ahead.

Vegas, arguably the longest driver of the ball in all of golf, entered the final round in a tie for 11th, but posted an immaculate bogey-free round of 64 to charge up to 20-under for the tournament. A birdie at the 72nd hole would give the Venezuelan native the clubhouse lead, and he would be forced to sit and watch as the day’s final pairing made their way to the reachable par-5 18th.

With pars on 15, 16 and 17, Castro came to the 18th needing a birdie to tie Vegas and force a playoff. After his tee shot drifted into the left rough, Castro’s approach to the green found the right rough, in turn short-siding himself on a closing-hole pin tucked on the right side of the green.

"I hit [the approach] a little right, and with that wind it was done-zo," said Castro. "I told my caddie I have to get a look at the putt. I would make a 20-foot putt easier than I would if I flubbed the chip in the bunker and tried to hole out.”

With a smart attitude towards his flop shot, Castro overplayed his pitch to 20 feet behind the hole. As Vegas prepared for a possible playoff, Castro lined up his putt for the tie. With good speed in front of the 72nd hole gallery, Castro watched helplessly as the tying putt slid low and right, thus giving Vegas his first career title.

"It wasn't a putt I could rip in there," said Castro of his birdie try. "The greens were baked out and stepped on. But the key was my second shot. That was the mistake."

Matt DavidsonAn honest Castro nevertheless collected $62,100 for his runner-up effort in Wichita, thus moving to No. 57 on the 2010 Nationwide Tour money list. His top-25 finish put him in this week’s Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, and his newfound standing on the money list will net unlimited starts following the tour’s next re-shuffle. At season’s end, Nos. 26-60 on the money list are fully exempt for the 2011 Nationwide Tour.

"I haven't been playing out here, and now I'm going to get some starts," said Castro, who won the eGolf Tour’s Savannah Quarters Classic in February. "I'm excited I'm going to play some tournaments."

For Davidson, a 2010 conditional member of the Nationwide Tour, top-25 finishes at the Fort Smith Classic and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational gave the former Furman University star enough earnings to earn his way into Wichita.

Davidson posted a first-round 63 at host Crestview Country Club and was the tournament’s 18-hole leader. Ensuing rounds of 67-70 put the New Jersey native in a tie for 11th through 54 holes, but he would nevertheless position himself for a final-round move on Sunday.

Birdies at Nos. 2, 5 and 8 allowed Davidson to turn at 3-under for the day and 16-under for the event. Birdies at 14 and 15 pushed him even further into the red, and suddenly the soft-spoken eGolf Tour member was in contention to win alongside Castro.

Unfortunately, a double-bogey at the par-3 17th diminished his title hopes as he dropped back to 16-under, four shots behind Vegas. A closing birdie at the 18th would push Davidson back into a tie for fourth, where he would finish the week. He earned $20,083 for his T4 finish and moved from No. 103 to No. 78 on the tour’s money list.

As it turned out, Castro and Davidson made wise decisions in skipping the eGolf Tour Championship. Both players virtually played their way into full Nationwide Tour status, and are thus one step closer to achieving their goals of playing on the PGA TOUR.

For Castro, the week provided a bit of a double bonus as he maintained his position inside the top 20 on the 2010 eGolf Tour money list (No. 6) and in turn earned the tour’s coveted Q-School Bonus. The top 20 members on the tour’s money list following the Tour Championship will have PGA TOUR Q-School paid for by eGolf.

Other eGolf Tour players to make it to the weekend in Wichita include Jin Park (T4), Daniel Summerhays (T4), Chris Kirk (T11), Kyle Thompson (T17), David Robinson (T17), Stephen Poole (T17), Kevin Kisner (T23), Fabian Gomez (T23), Chris Mundorf (T29), Rob Oppenheim (T29), Justin Hicks (T41), Luke List (T41), Jeff Curl (T41), Kevin Chappell (T41), Justin Peters (T41), Michael Schachner (T41), Jesse Hutchins (T51), Scott Stallings (T51), Daniel Barbetti (T59), Kyle Reifers (T63), Hugh Leon (T63) and Ted Potter (T66). For complete results from the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open on pgatour.com, please click here.

• At the PGA TOUR’s Turning Stone Resort Championship, Brendon de Jonge once again led all eGolf Tour players with a T16 finish in Upstate New York. Rounds of 70-71-66-69—276 gave the native Zimbabwean his ninth top-25 finish of the year and his ninth consecutive made cut – the latter being a personal record for de Jonge. Six of his nine top-25 finishes have come during his nine made cuts streak, with his best finish being a solo third-place effort at the inaugural Greenbrier Classic. Matt Bettencourt and John Mallinger rounded out the tour’s representation inside the top 25, with each player posting a T22 finish. Bettencourt, who picked up his first PGA TOUR title last month at the Reno-Tahoe Open, has now posted four consecutive top-25 finishes dating back to that win. For Mallinger, the week boiled down to a tale of two nines. The former Long Beach State start played the front nine of the Atunyote Golf Club in 11-under par for the week, while playing the back nine in even-par. A four-birdie stretch from Nos. 5-8 during Sunday’s final round moved him into contention, but a closing nine of 1-over 37 dropped him outside the top 10. Other former eGolf Tour players to make the cut in Verona, NY include Garth Mulroy (T33), Tom Gillis (T41), Aron Price (T48), Billy Hurley (T61), Will MacKenzie (T61) and James Nitties (T66). For complete results from the Turning Stone Resort Championship on pgatour.com, click here.