Rio Grande, Puerto Rico – March 16, 2010 – In the early stages of the eGolf Professional Tour, tour member Derek Lamely would spend hours upon hours practicing at Charlotte National Golf Club and looking for an afternoon game. The afternoon games at Charlotte National could be brutal, and often times Lamely wound up giving shots and paying bets. After a spectacular Monday finish at the PGA TOUR's Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular, Lamely's world changed for the better and the days spent on developmental tours became a thing of the past.

Lamely carded rounds of 69-71-63-66—269 to claim his first TOUR title in just his 12th career start. With seven starts thus far in his rookie season in 2010, Lamely had experienced little success with four missed cuts and a T18 at the Bob Hope Classic as his best finish.

Opening rounds of 69-71 allowed Lamely to make the cut, but did little to allow him to threaten the leaders, who sat at 10-under 134 through 36 holes.

After a rain-plagued Thursday featuring over six inches of water accumulation, officials quickly decided that the tournament would conclude on Monday. Players remained in their third-round threesomes for the final two rounds, meaning that Lamely would tee off of No. 1 for his third round and off of No. 10 for his final round.

A third-round 63 vaulted the Belleville, IL native into a tie for fifth with just 18 holes to play, and he would keep putting the pressure on in the final round.

Kris Blanks"I just kept on trying to make birdies, I kept on trying to be aggressive," said Lamely, who became the first winner to start on the back nine in the final round since Keith Clearwater at the 1987 Colonial Invitational.

One birdie in his first six holes soon gave way to an eight-hole stretch where Lamely toasted the Trump International Golf Club with five birdies to get to 6-under on his round. He would finish with a 6-under 66 and a 19-under tournament total, but would be forced to wait for over two hours as the final groups still had yet to finish.

Sitting in the tournament's media center, Lamely and his caddie watched on TV as player after player came up short, thus pushing the former Florida Gulf Coast University player closer to his dream.

Ironically, the one player left who had a chance to catch Lamely was another former eGolf Tour player, Kris Blanks. In his second stint on TOUR, Blanks opened his tournament in Puerto Rico with rounds of 65-70-67 and put himself in position to claim his first title. Four birdies in his first 12 holes placed the Bluffton, SC native within reach of Lamely in Monday's final round, but a stalled finish with one bogey and five pars left him two shots shy of the rookie winner.

The victory was worth $630,000 to Lamely along with securing his TOUR card though 2012.

"I'm still a rookie out here, even though I just won. There's tons I can learn still," Lamely told the AP following his round.

With the win, Lamely moved up to No. 27 on the FedExCup points list and No. 22 on the TOUR's official money list, with 2010 earnings of $717,634.

Always the optimist Lamely felt that he was never too far behind and could make a charge if the birdies kept coming.

"I knew if I kept playing well and I kept trying to make birdies, I knew I would get within striking distance," said Lamely.

For Blanks, the runner-up finish was by far the best of his two seasons on tour, besting a T7 effort at the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship that was his previous best result. Regardless, Blanks acknowledged that Lamely pulled too far forward to be within reach.

"He was kind of like the carrier we were all trying to chase and just couldn't catch him," said Blanks, who made two bogeys all week.

Finishing in a four-way tie for third were former eGolf Tour players Brendon de Jonge and James Nitties. Both players finished at 16-under 272 and earned $168,000 for their work.

De Jonge, a native of Zimbabwe, is in the midst of his third season on the PGA TOUR after competing in 2007 before dropping back to the Nationwide Tour for 2008, and then moving back up for 2009 and 2010. The finish, aided by birdies at Nos. 17 and 18 during Monday's final round, was the best of de Jonge's TOUR career. It marked his first career top-5 finish and his sixth career top-10 finish.

For Nitties, one of the TOUR's up-and-coming stars in his second season, the T3 result was a welcome sign in a 2010 season that saw him miss his first six cuts in a row. The week bettered his T4 effort at the 2009 FBR Open, where the young Australian burst into the living rooms of countless fans across the world with his aggressive play and affable personality.

Other eGolf Tour players to make the cut in Puerto Rico include Cameron Tringale (T17), Martin Flores (T33), Aron Price (T33), Daniel Barbetti (T45), Matt Bettencourt (T54), Jerod Turner (T65) and Brent Delahoussaye (T68).

For complete results from the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular on pgatour.com, click here.

• At the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in Miami, FL, two-time eGolf Tour winner Steve Marino was the tour's lone representative and turned in rounds of 75-71-77-72—295 en route to a T65 finish. It marked Marino's second appearance in an official World Golf Championships event following a T57 effort at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China last November. For complete results from the WGC-CA Championship on pgatour.com, click here.