McNeill earns first PGA Tour win at Frys.com Open

2007-10-17

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LAS VEGAS (TICKER) -- George McNeill won't have to worry about Q-School anytime soon.

McNeill fired a 5-under-par 67 to post his first career PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the Frys.com Open.

A rookie on tour, McNeill made nine trips to Q-School before earning medalist honors last year to earn his card. On Sunday, he earned $720,000 for his breakthrough win at the $4 million event.

"To even think about having to go back to tour school and to do this is pretty special," McNeill said. "I feel good with everything that went on this week, and hopefully I can continue and hopefully the whole thing about what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, hopefully my game travels. We'll see."

At 23-under 264, McNeill finished four shots ahead of D.J. Trahan. Cameron Beckman (68) and Robert Garrigus (70) tied for third at 15-under 272.

The 32-year-old McNeill, who was working as an assistant pro in Fort Myers, Florida last year, had his previous best PGA Tour finish in July when he tied for third at the Canadian Open.

McNeill got off to a fast start with birdies at Nos. 1 and 3. He added four more on the back nine and did not card a bogey until the final hole, with the tournament well in hand.

The victory definitely takes the pressure off of McNeill, but he does not want it to be the highlight of his career. "In the sense that know I have a job for the next two years, that takes the pressure off," McNeill said. "But there's a lot of things on the tour and with my own game that I want to accomplish.

"So obviously everybody wants to win a major. I want to play in the Masters. I played in three U.S. Opens and I made the cut for the first time this year. But I want to play in the Masters and the British and the PGA. All the majors I'd love to play in. I know what a U.S. Open is like, but I want to see what the others are like. There's a lot of stuff I want to accomplish."

Trahan - who played with McNeill in the final group - signed for a 6-under 66 to finish at 19-under 268. He tried to put some pressure on McNeill with four straight birdies to start his round, but he had only three more plus a bogey the rest of the way.

"It was nice to see some putts fall. Obvious I left a few out there on the last few holes," Trahan said. "It almost seemed insignificant with George's lead being so big. He played great and I was proud of myself that I played so well. I hung in there and I played tough today, but he was just too good."