Dec. 11, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Former University of Virginia star golfer Cameron Yancey (Blackstone, Va.) earned his PGA Tour card on Monday after shooting a final round of 69 at the Tour's Final Stage in La Quinta, Calif.

At age 23, Yancey was one of the youngest players to reach the final stage. With only the top 35 of 171 players earning their tour cards for 2003, he shot 67-76-66-72-74-69 (-8) to finish tied for 34th.

More than 1,000 professional golfers, including former UVa golfers Simon Cooke (1992-95), James Driscoll (1997-00), Steve Marino (1999-02), Tom McKnight (1973-75), and Brian Quackenbush, entered the tour qualifier this fall. More than 100 others were exempted from the first or second stage of qualifying.

Yancey made it through the first stage in October by shooting 67-74-72-69 (-6) at Pinehurst and finishing third of 81 players at that site. He advanced through the second stage in Texas in November, shooting 69-71-73-70 (-5) to finish eighth of 77 players.

The field of 171 players at La Quinta included 19 former Tour winners, players including Billy Glasson, Steve Pate, former U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson, and a handful of European Tour players including Carl Petterssen, and Alex Cejka, the world's 54th ranked player.

Yancey is the first Virginia Cavalier in history to gain fully exempt status on the PGA Tour.

A 2001 Virginia graduate, Yancey has been on a roll since earning his first paycheck as a professional at the Canadian Tour's Lewis Chitengwa Memorial last May. Yancey joined the Golden Bear Tour in the summer and won $49,180, including $28,177 for his victory in the St. Andrews Challenge in September.