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NATIONWIDE TOUR NEWS

Click here for the recent GOLFWEEK article on Jeff Klauk

Jeff Klauk has been a member of the Nationwide Tour since 2002. He recently concluded the 2008 season with a 2nd place finish at the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch, collecting $108,000. He finished the season 3rd on the 2008 year-end money list. This sealed his qualification for the 2009 PGA Tour and brought his career earnings total to $1,062,449, with $407,418 collected from his 2008 successes. For the first time in his seven-year professional career, Klauk's dream of being on the PGA Tour is coming to fruition with the SONY Open in January 2009.

Klauk enjoyed his first Nationwide tour victory at the 2008 Melwood Prince George's County Open in May. His 12-foot birdie putt in the closing hole was not only a display of staying calm under pressure, but his newly discovered self-confidence. "I've been working with my coach, Cody Barden, on keeping my mind quiet," Klauk said after his big win. "Everybody knows out here that you've got to really trust yourself and believe... I've finally started doing that." For a player who hadn't won a tournament in nearly five years, this attitude shift was been monumental to his game.

Klauk acknowledges that he's more prepared now than he has ever been before, recently stating that he's "been working on a lot to improve, both swing-wise and mentally. I think I'm a different player than I was last year." And he's certainly a different player from his earlier years on the Nationwide Tour. After several unsatisfactory seasons, Klauk connected with Cody Barden, the Director of Instruction at White Columns Country Club in Alpharetta, Georgia. Barden is a frequent instructor on the Golf Channel, distinguished as a Golf Digest Top Teacher, was nominated for Golf Magazine's Top 100 Instructors list, and is the recipient of the prestigious Georgia PGA 2008 Teacher of the Year award. Barden's continued instruction and Klauk's determination to improve is no more evident than in this year's rankings. Klauk continues to score low, averaging 70.22 this year. He was ranked second in greens in regulation with a 74.46% and had six Top-10 and twelve Top-25 finishes this year. In the last two years, he has risen an impressive 97 spots on the money list. His qualification for the 2009 PGA Tour is certainly well deserved.

Klauk's consistent 2007 season set him up for his current success. Last year, he made the cut in a career-high of 23 in 30 tournaments. He wrapped up the year No. 34 on the money list with $168,702; posted a career-high 12 Top-25 finishes, including four Top-10 finishes. Klauk's strongest performance of 2007 was his season-best of T3 at the South Georgia Classic. Other top-10s posted at the Miccosukee Championship (T4), the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open (T7) and the LaSalle Bank Open (T9).

He made the cut in seven of 23 starts on Tour in 2006, with Top-10 finishes coming at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open (T9) and the Cox Classic (T3). He finished the season No. 100 on the money list, with $50,553. He posted four rounds in the 60s that led to a T3 at the Cox Classic, five shots behind champion Johnson Wagner. Klauk equaled the best birdie-eagle streak of the season by going 6-under (B-E-B-B-B) on Nos. 8-12 during the third round in Omaha.

Klauk made the cut in seven of 24 starts on Tour in 2005, with two top-10 finishes, and finished the season No. 94 on the money list with $50,121. Though Klauk struggled early in the season with only one top-10 finish, he made the cut at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs. His solo eighth-place there was his best on Tour since a T8 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am in 2004. A T9 at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic rounded out his two top-10 finishes this season.

On the 2004 Nationwide Tour, Klauk made the cut in 16 of 26 starts and had nine top-25 finishes. He ranked No. 55 on the money list, with $106,427. His best showing of the season was finishing T8 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs. In 2003, he made the cut in 14 of 25 events on Tour. That year, he finished No. 34 on the money list, with $132,912. He had posted only one top-25 finish (T21 at the Knoxville Open) before grabbing his first career victory at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, his 18th start of the year. He fired rounds of 66-69-64-66 to finish 19-under-par, one shot in front of Mark Hensby and Mike Brisky and collected $85,500 for his efforts. During his rookie season in 2002, accumulated $146,316 in earnings, good enough for No. 22 on the final money list. He made the cut in twelve of 22 tournaments entered and finished in the Top-25 in six of them. Klauk finished T2 at both the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open and the season-ending Tour Championship; the latter T2 was good enough for a season-best $44,800. He was just two strokes behind tournament winner Patrick Moore after 54 holes, but weather forced the cancellation of the final round. His Valley Course record 10-under 62 in the second round of the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs was the second-lowest 18-hole score of the season.

While still a young professional, Klauk has worked his entire life for a successful golf career. His father, a recently retired superintendent at TPC Sawgrass, introduced Klauk to golf at a young age, and he grew up studying the habits of Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, and other skilled players. Klauk has said that his early experiences with golf professionals allowed him to dream big-and, as witnessed after seven years on the Nationwide Tour, dreams can come true.

Klauk's debut in the 2009 PGA Tour is one that is widely anticipated by the golf community. Twenty-five Nationwide players earned their PGA Tour cards for 2009. With the changing scope of the ‘09 Tour, golf is perhaps more exciting now than it has ever been before. And with Klauk's increased determination to play well, 2009 could be Klauk's strongest season yet.

Personal

Jeff Klauk credits his father for giving him his start in golf. His father, Fred, served as the superintendent at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, and was chosen as Golfweek Golf Father of the Year in 2000. Klauk's wife, Shanna (Nagy), won nine collegiate titles and was NCAA Division II Championship winner in 1996 and 1998 at Florida Southern.

Klauk was a 2006 inductee into the Florida Southern College and the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame. His brother John joined the 2004 Nationwide Tour after a successful college career at the University of Texas, and younger brother, Jason, was a distance runner for the University of Florida track team.

Click the links below to learn more about Nationwide Tour Player Jeff Klauk