PGA TOUR Player Matt Bettencourt

JULY UPDATE: The week after the US Open, Matt made the short trip up to Hartford, Connecticut for the Travelers Championship at the TPC Cromwell, where he finished T34. The following week at the AT&T National Invitational at Congressional Country Club, Matt fired rounds of 66-68 on the weekend and made a big move up the leaderboard, finishing T11th. At his tour-leading 21st event played, the John Deere Classic, Matt shot a bogey-free 65 in the first round, and finished T39. He will play in the U.S. Bank Championship at Milwaukee this week — follow his scores live on http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r029/.

reported by Pete Wlodkowski – www.amateurgolf.com

official USGA photo

After opening with a 75, Matt made six birdies at Bethpage Black on Saturday in the second round to shoot 67 and make a huge move up the leaderboard. He made the cut at 2-over par, and got some nice TV time — enjoying the New York crowd and using the “two arm windmill” to encourage them to celebrate his birdies and rewarding them with a golf ball — just two weeks after putting his name in front of golf fans around the world when he finished 5th at the Memorial.  

Rounds of 71-69 over the weekend put Matt in site of the magical even par number and a gave him T10 finish (and an exemption into next years US Open).  Not bad for his first major!

Matt looked comfortable all week, and enjoyed every minute of it.  [I'll be talking to him about his experience for an upcoming blog post this week, Ed.] To view Matt’s hole-by-hole scorecards for the tournament, click here>

Posted by Pete Wlodkowski – amateurgolf.com

co-leaders Matt Bettencourt (left) and Mark Wilson

After 54 holes at one of the PGA Tour’s most important events, Matt is tied for the lead with Mark Wilson. A pair of Friday and Saturday 68s leave him at 9-under.

Saturday saw Matt get plenty of air time and a superb post-round interview, and Sunday is going to be his first time playing in the final group of a PGA Tour event. Follw the action by clicking on the live leaderboard here>

The 18th Green at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth

Matt shot 69-70 on Thursday and Friday to make the cut at the historic Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth. To view the leaderboard live at, click here>

Matt Bettencourt (PGA Tour Photo)

Matt moved up the leaderboard in a big way on Sunday with a very solid 69 (he birdied three of the last six holes, too) on a course that challenged players with firm greens, tough pin placements, and a stretch of final holes they call the “green mile”. He moved from T37 to T22 and will make his best check on the PGA Tour since gaining fully exempt status at the end of 2008 when he was top player on the Nationwide Tour. With the Players Championship coming next week, it’s a good time to be playing well on tough courses.  To view the final leaderboard from the Quail Hollow Championship, click here>

Posted by Pete Wlodkowski of www.amateurgolf.com

This week, Matt is playing in the Zurich Classic in New Orleans – he shot a pair of 70′s on Thursday and Friday that put him in good shape to make a move over the weekend. To check scores, click here>

Yup, that’s right. The Chitimacha Open.

Because Matt didn’t get into the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill (he is exempt into the field of all 2009 regular PGA Tour events except invitationals and World Golf Championship events) he decided to keep the competitive juices flowing and returned to the Nationwide Tour for the week.

Matt closed with a stellar 65 that included six birdies and an eagle, and nearly went from 18th into a playoff at 10-under. He missed that by a stroke with a 3-putt on No. 18, finishing as “leader in the clubhouse” nearly two hours in front of the final group. Bubba Dickerson won the event in a playoff. To view the leaderboard, click here>

No doubt, a step in the right direction and a nice check. This week, Matt plays in the Shell Houston Open. Check out www.pgatour.com for full coverage.

Thanks for reading,

Pete Wlodkowski
www.amateurgolf.com

Congratulations!  Matt Bettencourt, of Modesto, California and Kelly Rush, of Greenville, South Carolina were married on Saturday, March 14th in Greenville. Theirs is a charming story which was well-captured by a reporter from the Modesto Bee at the Sony Open in Hawaii - check out the link on the right.

Despite not feeling his best physically, to say the least, (he had a stomache virus) Matt made the cut and finished T52 at a difficult Innisbrook in the Transitions Championship near Tampa (leaderboard) and will no doubt be very focused throughout the season as he continues to enjoy full-exempt status and automatic berths in the field of the Players Championship (May) and the PGA Championship (August). I’m sorry for the delay between postings – look for more frequent updates and quotes and photos from Matt & Kelly throughout the season!

posted by Pete Wlodkowski, of amateurgolf.com

Sony Open Logo

Posted by Pete Wlodkowski of www.amateurgolf.com

I got a quick update from Matt Sunday night on his week in Hawaii. He got to play a practice round on Tuesday with Kenny Perry, and they hit it off well. After a 3-over first round of 73, Matt bounced back with a 69 on Friday and made the cut on the number.

“Making the cut was great for my confidence,” he told me. “I didn’t play that well, and still made it, which tells me I can play out here.”

Indeed, he had 12 three putts on the week, and he told me he’s excited to putt on greens he is familiar with this week in the desert.

By the way, on Saturday Matt was paired with Ernie Els, stepped up to the tough first hole (the members play it as a par 5) hit driver-four iron and made the putt for birdie….