Steve Flesch top PGA Tour money winner in Texas Open field in San Antonio

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Hard work and perseverance early in the year have been paying off of late for veteran golfer Steve Flesch.

Ranked 25th on the PGA Tour money list with $2,244,886 in earnings this season, Flesch is one of the headliners this week as the Fall Series makes its stop at the Valero Texas Open at San Antonio. Flesch is coming off a victory in his last start on Sept. 23 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship and has both of his 2007 Tour victories in the past two months, also winning in early August at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

Besides bearing down on the practice tee, Flesch said he's also been helped by some equipment changes, including a ball that he said has helped him improve his play with his irons.

"My iron game was always the best part of my game," Flesch told reporters. "That's what was deficient the last two years. I just got my iron game back and got a little streaky.

"I got streaky with the putter for a couple weeks, but my iron game comes back (and) kind of the rest of my game seems to come back. That's kind of been it, really."

After shooting 15-under to win the Reno-Tahoe Open, Flesch went on to tie for 23rd the following week in the PGA Championship. He then tied for 12th in the first FedEx Cup playoff event at The Barclays before falling off to a 75th-place effort in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

That knocked Flesch out of the running for the FedEx Cup, but left him well-rested for his next event at Turning Stone. Flesch shot 18-under to win the event, picking up the first-place check of $1.08 million.

"That golf course really fit my eye and the greens are perfect," Flesch said. "I had a good week striking the ball. Got some good rest and I think I attribute a lot of that to my good play at Turning Stone."

Another player coming off a win who will be teeing it up at the par-70 LaCantera Golf Club Resort Course is Chad Campbell. The Texas native was victorious at last weekend's Viking Classic in Mississippi.

"Prior to last week, it's kind of been a long season," Campbell told reporters. "I only had I think one top-10 before that at the Match Play and I really hadn't been playing that well but … [I] had been working hard on it and felt like there were good things coming so, it's nice to get a win last week and be back to playing a little bit better."

Although the Texas Open might not have a reputation as being one of the Tour's top events, Campbell said he likes to support the Lone Star State tournaments and thinks the event represents a chance for a lot of players to improve their standing or reach their season goals.

"It's a great opportunity for younger players," Campbell said. "Some of the top guys aren't here and, I know there are a lot of guys fighting to go keep their card -- fighting for top-70, top-30 -- all sorts of different things."

The field, which features John Daly as one of its top name players, also includes defending champion Eric Axley. A 32-year-old rookie last season, Axley got his first career victory in the Texas Open in 2006.

"I still have good memories," Axley said. "It's always easy when you've played well somewhere because you remember the targets you were aiming at off the tees, you remember the pins and kind of where to be, where not to be. It's always good to come back."

October 4, 2007