LARGEST GOLDEN TEE FIELD EVER COMPETES FOR FAME AND $25,000!

With the previous night's excitement still fresh in everyone’s mind, the Midwest Open’s “Main Event” began Saturday morning with 190 players of all skill levels eager to compete. But as the players walked through the door the buzz was quickly replaced with the focus of trying to finish in the top-nine for the big money.

The format consisted of a five-course qualifier and the individual scores were then tallied to generate a leaderboard. The player who qualified #1 was to be crowned "King of the Hill" and receive a bye to the final round while those who finished 2-9 would playoff in an 8-man, single elimination tournament to face the "King" in the final round.

As an added incentive throughout the day, the player with the best score on each course received a $100 bonus, and any player who hit a hole-in-one or double eagle received their choice of prizes from the sponsor table, which included Golden Tee LIVE sunglasses from PRATO and Golden Tee LIVE golf balls from Top Flite®.

But before the day could get started a few prizes had to be given away. After squeaking past World Champion Graig Kinzler, Jason Matkovich of Madison Heights, MI was awarded a brand-new set of Ben Hogan Apex steel shaft irons - a $750 value - for being the event’s top online qualifier. The Goldentee.com pro shop also raffled off a beautiful Golden Tee LIVE embroidered golf bag that was won by Chicagoan Brett Decosola.

The action ensued Saturday morning after welcoming remarks from the tournament's emcee and IT marketing director, Gary Colabuono. 190 players were split into two squads - the first featured threesomes and the second twosomes - leaving some Golden Tee LIVE's open for free play!

Chris Thorbrogger of Crystal, MN, 2006's mystery man who almost made the cut, was one of the first players to get started in the first squad and he didn't waste any time getting atop the LIVE leaderboard. Thorbrogger's hot play from Friday night's Pub Championship - he finished fourth - apparently didn't wear off with sleep. He posted the top score for the day on Rustic Bridge - a -28 - and never looked back as he finished with a -129 and King of the Hill status.

Top online qualifier Matkovich rebounded from a disappointing -19 on the first course of the qualifier to put up consecutive -27's on Indigo Mound and Glacier Ranch which won him $200 in GT gift cards for being the best of the day. World Champion Graig Kinzler of Chicago shot an incredible -28 on Moose Landing and Jimmy Parker of St. Charles, MO was another notable name not to be left behind - shooting a -27 on Palm.

With the nine slots filled, the remaining 181 competitors were paid prizes based on their final qualifying position. Every player won something ranging from $200 - $25 for their efforts, with all prize money deposited directly into the competitors’ player accounts.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE 5-COURSE QUALIFIER LEADERBOARD!

While Thorbrogger went off to practice until the Championship round, eight of the Midwest's best players still had their shot at meeting him there. But in head-to-head single-elimination play anything can happen.

How things had changed in a year. In 2006 Kinzler found himself siiting in Thorbrogger's position as King of the Hill. But if he was going to claim the Midwest Open crown that escaped him the previous year he would have compete against fellow former Team USA members Jimmy Parker, Jason Matkovich and the reigning Midwest Open Champ Matt Estepp of Round Lake, IL. The bracket also consisted of Golden Tee's finest in Will Sandstad and Rick Scoville both of the Minneapolis area, Pub Champ Mike Demko of Allen Park, MI and newcomer Dan Wies of St. Charles. MO. The darkhorse in 2007, Wies came relatively out of nowhere to knock off Team USA Shoot-out winner Jeff McClellan of Grand Rapids, MI and be in the top nine. The crowd was crammed in to watch the finals unfold as everybody's eyes were fixed on the big screen televisions to watch the action, hole-by-hole.

But the it didn't take long for the names to start dropping. Demko, Scoville, Wies and Sandstad were all first round eliminations. Each earned $600 each for their 6th-9th place efforts.

In round two, Kinzler defeated Matkovich in a match-up of the top two online qualifiers and Parker took down 2006 Midwest Open Champ Estepp with some impressive hole-outs. Matkovich and Estepp both were awarded $900 for their efforts.

Kinzler and Parker - a duo of "old school" GT stars - matched one another shot for shot through most of the round - swapping leads twice. But controversy came on the 17th hole when Kinzler missed a down hill putt and rolled it into the river - three times. The bizarre and tense moment left some in the room (including Kinzler) speculating that the game's trackball was malfunctioning. But after 17 holes of functional play under the same conditions, the pair had no choice but to advance.

Parker moved on to face Thorbrogger in the finals while Kinzler, though frustrated, proved again to be the consummate sportsman in video golf and settled for a $1,500 payday.

And only two remained. At long last Thorbrogger's wait at the end of the bracket was over. Greeting him was Parker, one of the top players in the world. The course was Glacier Ranch and the play was simply top notch.

Early on everything pointed to Thorbrogger running away with it. He chipped-in hole #1 and took two more strokes on hole #4 when Parker found the water. But Parker was not done putting the pressure on. The former Team USA member forced Thorbrogger to chip-in on #15 to not lose two stokes - which he did.

But hole #16 was possibly the hole of the tournament. Down two, Parker opted to try and snake his way through the trees and onto the green - a low percentage shot at best. But the ball obeyed as he wanted it to, narrowly missing the trees and backspinning away from the water, safely on the green. Now the pressure was on Thorbrogger. If he played it safe he was more than likely losing a stroke. If he went for it and missed he could lose the tournament. But not wanting to be outdone he went for it. As miraculous as Parker's shot was, Thorbrogger's was even more amazing - the ball weaved through the trees, clipped a leaf and spun its way close to the pin! From there it was an easy putt and a coast to the Championship!

"I was just trying to layup," Thorbrogger remembered in an interview with ITtv. "For some odd reason I hit it harder than I wanted to and it struck a leaf. I still don't know how it stuck the green. But I'll take it and move on."

Chris Thorbrogger wins the 2007 Golden Tee LIVE Midwest Open!

Parker pocketed $2,000 for second place while Thorbrogger went back to Minneapolis $5,000 richer and a new sense of accomplishment.

"I'm shocked that I won with the field as tough as it was," Thorbrogger said after he was named champion. "It feels great being on top.

A year ago Thorbrogger left Joliet with the pride of playing well. This year he left with the eyes and ears of the GT universe on him. The mighty "Thor" has arrived and every top player will have to account for his thunder from now on.

Congratulations to Chris Thorbrogger on a Phenomenal Performance
And to ALL of the Midwest Open Competitors!

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