By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
John Somers is in the field for the PGA Championship for the third year in a row and this time it comes in his native state.
Somers, an Elon native, has an early tee time when the tournament begins Thursday morning at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
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He’s slated to start the first round at 7:11 a.m. in a group that also includes Tyler Moore and David Puig. They’re following a group of international stars Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington and Martin Kaymer.
For Friday’s second round, Somers has a 12:36 p.m. tee time. This is the second time the PGA Championship is being contested at Quail Hollow Club following the 2017 edition of the tournament
On Thursday’s opening day of the tournament, Somers turns 34 years old. He now lives in Trinity, Florida. He graduated from Bartlett Yancey before playing college golf for Elon.
Somers was one of 20 golfers from a field of 312 PGA Professionals to earn spots in the tournament based on last month’s PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Somers didn’t make the cut after two rounds in the past two years. Those tournaments were contested at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, and at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
His lowest score in the PGA Championship came with a 72 two in last year’s second round.
