San Jacinto, CA – Former eGolf Tour player Ted Potter Jr. recorded a two-putt birdie on the second playoff hole at the Nationwide Tour’s Soboba Classic on Sunday to notch his second win of the 2011 season and move up to No. 3 on the Tour’s money list with $362,934 in earnings.
 
Potter, who won the South Georgia Classic in April of this year to move from the mini tours to the Nationwide Tour, birdied the 72nd hole on Sunday to play his way into a three-man playoff at 14-under with fellow eGolf Tour alum Andres Gonzales and Miguel Angel Carballo – each of whom birdied 17 and 18 to reach 14-under.
 
On the first playoff hole – the docile par-5 18th – Potter and Gonzales managed to post birdies, while Carballo recorded a par to drop out of the extra hole session, in turn leaving the twosome to head back to the 18th tee to continue the playoff.
 
The second time around, Gonzales missed the fairway with his tee shot and wound up hitting his approach long of the green and into a back bunker. Potter, meanwhile, took advantage of Gonzales’ error with a 7-iron approach to 15 feet to set up a possible eagle putt for the win.
 
Gonzales’ bunker shot rolled 10 feet past the pin, in turn leaving the Washington state native an uphill birdie putt to possibly tie Potter.
 
Staring at a 15-footer for the title, Potter missed his eagle try, but left himself with a simple tap-in for birdie. When Gonzales missed his birdie putt from beneath the hole, Potter tapped in the short birdie putt for his second title of the year.
 
"I wasn't trying to lag it down there, I was trying to make three," said Potter of his eagle putt. "I thought it was going to take three to win it but fortunately I made four and it was enough."
 
With the win, Potter became the tour’s third two-time winner on the year and moved up to No. 3 on the money list with earnings of $362,452, thanks to his $135,000 Soboba Classic check. The 27-year-old has locked up a 2012 PGA TOUR card, and can move up to the “big tour” in 2011 if he collects one more win this season.
 
For Gonzales, the T2 finish marked a career-best in 20 starts on the Nationwide Tour. The finish moved him from No. 256 to No. 70 on the Nationwide Tour money list. Currently at No. 215 on the PGA TOUR money list, Gonzales will have to continue his good play on one of the two tours in order to assure himself of a place to play in 2012.
 
Finishing tied for sixth, three shots outside of the playoff, were eGolf Tour veterans John Mallinger, Luke List and Matt Every.
 
Mallinger, who finished runner-up to Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey in the eGolf Tour’s 2006 River Run Classic, posted rounds of 68-69-69-67—273 to notch his fifth consecutive top-10 finish on the Nationwide Tour – in turn moving from unranked up to No. 10 on the tour’s money list.
 
A PGA TOUR conditional member in 2011, Mallinger was forced to play the Nationwide Tour over the past five weeks after not qualifying for the FedExCup, and took full advantage of his opportunity with the five top-10s – three of which were top-3 finishes. Mallinger is now a virtual lock to earn his 2012 PGA TOUR card via the Nationwide Tour, and will likely go back to the TOUR to compete in the remaining Fall Series events. He is in the field at this week’s Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
 
Five-time eGolf Tour winner Roberto Castro and 2010 eGolf Tour member James Sacheck each tied for 11th with 72-hole totals of 9-under 275.
 
Castro, whose last eGolf Tour win came at the 2010 Savannah Quarters Classic, moved up three spots on the Nationwide Tour money list from No. 21 to No. 18 with his $17,250 payday. The finish was Castro’s 11th top-25 in just 20 starts on the year.
 
Other eGolf Tour players to make the cut at the Soboba Classic include Martin Flores (14), David Branshaw (T15), Aaron Goldberg (T15), Rob Oppenheim (T21), Jason Kokrak (T25), Jason Schultz (T29), Casey Wittenberg (T31), Bubba Dickerson (T31), Darron Stiles (T31), Gary Christian (T41), Brent Delahoussaye (T41), Camilo Benedetti (T41), Major Manning (T49), Tommy Biershenk (T54), Jim Renner (T58), Kevin Kisner (T62) and Jin Park (64). For complete results the Soboba Classic on pgatour.com, please click here.
 
· At the PGA TOUR’s Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, former eGolf Tour player Keegan Bradley posted rounds of 64-71-72-70—277 to finish T11 in the tournament, and 20th in the season-ending FedExCup points standings. In a breakout rookie season in which he won the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the PGA Championship, Bradley racked up 12 top-25 finishes in 28 starts, as well as $3,758,600 in total earnings. For complete results from The Tour Championship, please click here.