Boise, Idaho -- Canadian Jon Mills won his second career Nationwide Tour title Sunday to lock up a spot next year on the PGA TOUR, closing with a 7-under 64 in chilly conditions for a three-stroke victory over D.A. Points in the Boise Open.
Mills finished with a 21-under 263 total on the Hillcrest Country Club course and earned $121,500 to jump from 24th to fifth on the money list with $282,283. The top 25 at the end of the season will earn 2008 PGA TOUR cards.
‘It feels great. This is one of the biggest tournaments of the year out here,’ said Mills, also the winner of the tour’s 2005 Canadian PGA Championship.
‘I feel like I have been so close for the last couple of months. It seemed like I was getting a lot of top-20, top-15 finishes and not moving anywhere up the money list. I have been on the bubble of ‘The 25' for a long time. Now I’ve got my PGA TOUR card locked in. I’m looking forward to getting back out there. My main focus can now be preparing my game for the PGA Tour next year.’
With the temperature barely reaching the high 50s, the 29-year-old former Kent State player birdied the first three holes on the back nine, but dropped strokes with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 15. He got both shots back with a 35-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th and finished with a birdie on the par-4 18th.
‘Making that second bogey probably helped me actually,’ Mills said. ‘After seeing that I had the three-stroke lead, I was a shocked and got distracted. Making the bogeys got me a little mad and helped me just refocus on golf.’
Points finished with a 70. Nicholas Thompson (66) and Garth Mulroy (67) tied for third at 17 under, and Matthew Jones (69) and Jim McGovern (72) followed at 16 under. Points and McGovern shared the third-round lead at 17 under.
‘I was playing to win out there,’ Points said. ‘I’m disappointed, but all the credit goes to Jon. A 64 on this golf course in these conditions on a Sunday is a great round.’
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