Arts, Music, and Recreation Sports Web.com Tour Share Flipboard Email Print The Web.com logo is on display during the Web.com Tour Championship tournament. Michael Cohen/Getty Images Sports Golf Tours & Competitions Basics History Gear & Equipment Golf Courses Famous Golfers Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Climbing Cricket Diving Extreme Sports Football Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Skiing Snowboarding Soccer Surfing Swimming Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Sports & Activities View More by Brent Kelley Updated November 04, 2017 The Web.com Tour is the developmental professional golf tour for golfers who do not have membership in the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour owns and operates the Web.com Tour, and the Web.com Tour is the steppingstone for golfers who want to move up to the PGA Tour. As such, the Web.com Tour is the second-level of professional men's golf in the United States, and is the highest-profile "developmental tour" in the world of men's golf. Players on the Web.com Tour earn points for and are listed in the Official World Golf Ranking.Web.com is an Internet services provider to small- and medium-sized businesses; the company is based in Jacksonville, Fla. It became the title sponsor of the tour on June 27, 2012, when it replaced Nationwide Insurance in that role.Beginning in 2013, the Web.com Tour "regular season" is followed by the Web.com Tour Finals, a series of tournaments that is the main method of earning PGA Tour membership.Official websiteAlso Known As ...:This tour has had several names in its history. They are:Ben Hogan Tour - 1990-93Nike Tour - 1993-99Buy.com Tour - 2000-2002Nationwide Tour - 2003-2012Web.com Tour - 2012-The Ben Hogan Company golf manufacturer was the tour's first sponsor, followed by Nike Inc. Buy.com is an online discount retailer, and, as noted, Nationwide is an insurance company.Web.com Tour TournamentsAll tournaments on the Web.com Tour are played at stroke play over four rounds (72 holes), unless shortened by weather conditions. A cut takes place following the second round (36 holes). If a playoff is necessary, it is a sudden-death playoff.The number of tournaments played in a Web.com Tour season typically ranges from the upper 20s to low 30s. Those tournaments take place primarily in the United States, but a handful each year might be played outside the U.S. Tournaments have taken place in Mexico, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand, among other locales. 2018 Web.com Tour schedule'Graduating' from Web.com Tour to PGA TourThrough Money List/Tour FinalsGolfers finishing high enough on the Web.com Tour money list in the past received automatic membership in the PGA Tour for the following PGA Tour season. In 1990, for example, the Top 5 finishers on the developmental tour "graduated" to the 1991 PGA Tour. In 1992, the Top 10 money list finishers received PGA Tour cards; in 1997, it became the Top 15. Later still, it was increased to the Top 20 and then the Top 25.Beginning with the 2013 Web.com Tour season, the "graduation" mechanism changed. The Top 75 on the Web.com money list are joined by players ranked Nos. 126-200 on the PGA Tour money list (plus a handful of others qualifying by other means) in a series of three Web.com Tour tournaments. That series culminates with 50 golfers earning PGA Tour membership for the following season.See Web.com Tour Finals for more information about the qualifying series.'Battlefield Promotion'Beginning in 1997, any golfer who wins three tournaments in the same Web.com Tour season automatically earns PGA Tour membership, and immediately moves up to the PGA Tour. The list of golfers who have earned what is commonly called a "battlefield promotion" are: Wesley Bryan, 2016Carlos Ortiz, 2014Michael Sim, 2009Nick Flanagan, 2007Jason Gore, 2005Tom Carter, 2003Patrick Moore, 2002Heath Slocum, 2001Chad Campbell, 2001Pat Bates, 2001Chris Smith, 1997Web.com Tour RecordsCareer wins: 7 - Jason GoreMost tournaments played: 429 - Paul Claxton (through 2014 season)Scoring, 72 holes: 250 - Stephan Jaeger, 2016 Ellie Mae ClassicScoring, 18 holes: 58 - Stephan Jaegar, 2016 Ellie Mae Classic. 59 - Notah Begay III, 1998 Dominion Open; Doug Dunakey, 1998 Miami Valley Open; Jason Gore, 2005 Cox Classic; Will Wilcox, 2013 Utah Championship; Russell Knox, 2013 Albertsons Boise Open; Sam Saunders, 2017 Web.com Tour ChampionshipScoring, 9 holes: 27 - Notah Begay III, second round, 1998 Dominion Open; Doug Dunakey, second round, 1998 Miami Valley Open; Chesson Hadley, fourth round, 2013 BMW Charity Pro-Am; Chad Collins, second round, 2013 Utah Championship Fewest Putts, 18 holes: 18 - Mike Brisky, 2003 Wichita Open, first round; Steven Bowditch, 2010 Soboba Golf Classic, third roundWeb.com Tour Money LeadersThe list of golfers who have led the money list on the Web.com Tour:2017 - Chesson Hadley, $562,4752016 - Wesley Bryan, $449,3922015 - Patton Kizzire, $567,8662014 - Adam Hadwin, $529,7922013 - Michael Putnam, $450,1842012 - Casey Wittenberg, $433,4532011 - J.J. Killeen, $414,2732010 - Jamie Lovemark, $452,9512009 - Michael Sim, $644,1422008 - Matt Bettencourt, $447,8632007 - Richard Johnson, $445,4212006 - Ken Duke, $382,4432005 - Troy Matteson, $495,0092004 - Jimmy Walker, $371,3462003 - Zach Johnson, $494,8822002 - Patrick Moore, $381, 9652001 - Chad Campbell, $394,5522000 - Spike McRoy, $300,6381999 - Carl Paulson, $223,0511998 - Bob Burns, $178,6641997 - Chris Smith, $225,2011996 - Stewart Cink, $251,6991995 - Jerry Kelly, $188,8781994 - Chris Perry, $167,1481993 - Sean Murphy, $166,2931992 - John Flannery, $164,1151991 - Tom Lehman, $141,9341990 - Jeff Maggert, $108,644Web.com Tour Players of the YearThe list of golfers who have been named Player of the Year on the Web.com Tour (winner receives the Jack Nicklaus Trophy):2016 - Wesley Bryan2015 - Patton Kizzire2014 - Carlos Ortiz2013 - Michael Putnam2012 - Casey Wittenberg2011 - J.J. Killeen2010 - Jamie Lovemark2009 - Michael Sim2008 - Brendon de Jonge2007 - Nick Flanagan2006 - Ken Duke2005 - Jason Gore2004 - Jimmy Walker2003 - Zach Johnson2002 - Patrick Moore2001 - Chad Campbell2000 - Spike McRoy1999 - Carl Paulson1998 - Bob Burns1997 - Chris Smith1996 - Stewart Cink1995 - Jerry Kelly1994 - Chris Perry1993 - Sean Murphy1992 - John Flannery1991 - Tom Lehman1990 - Jeff Maggert Web.com Tour History and TriviaFormer PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman was the driving force behind the creation of a developmental circuit for the PGA Tour.The first tournament in tour history was the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour Bakersfield Open, which teed off on Feb. 2, 1990. The first tour winner was 1990 Bakersfield Open champ Mike Springer.When Nike took over sponsorship of the tour in 1993, it was Nike Inc., not Nike Golf, that did so. That's because Nike Golf didn't yet exist. Nike Inc. made golf shoes, but the company was still several years away from manufacturing golf clubs.The first golfer to win back-to-back events on this tour was Tommy Armour III. In 1994, he won the Miami Valley Open and Cleveland Open in consecutive starts.At the 1994 Shreveport Open, Omar Uresti set a tour record by making nine consecutive birdies. No golfer has ever made nine straight birdies on the PGA Tour, European Tour or Champions Tour.In 1994, David Duval played on the then-Nike Tour. In 1995, he finished 11th on the PGA Tour money list. That's the highest finish on the PGA Tour money list by any golfer who graduated from the previous year's Web.com Tour.Doug Dunakey's 59 at the 1998 Miami Valley Open came just two weeks after Notah Begah III carded the first-ever 59 in Web.com Tour history. Dunakey probably should have had a 58 - he missed a 3-foot par putt on the tournament's final hole.The tour's first 58 happened at the 2016 Ellie Mae Classic, scored by Stephan Jaegar, who entered the tournament 102nd on the money list. Jaegar won the tournament with a score of 250, lowering the tour's 72-hole scoring mark by five shots. The first golfer to shoot 60 on the Web.com Tour was Jeff Woodland, who did so at the 1991 Dakota Dunes Open.The youngest golfer to play in a Web.com Tour tournament is Michelle Wie, who was 24 days shy of turning 14 when she played the 2003 Albertsons Boise Open.In 2005, Jason Gore became the only golfer to win three straight starts on what was then the Nationwide Tour. In winning the last of those three, Gore threw in a round of 59.When the tour was founded, in addition to grooming PGA Tour players it was also intended to help golfers prepare for the Champions Tour. PGA Tour and former PGA Tour golfers who are 48 or 49 years old and plan to play the Champions Tour are allowed Web.com Tour starts for that purpose.The highest score on an individual hole in tour history is 14, recorded three times, all three times on par-5 holes. The unfortunate golfers who had to write down "14" on their scorecards are Mike Foster (1992 New England Classic), J.L. Lewis (1997 Permian Basin Open) and Matt Hansen (2008 Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational).There are three aces on par-4 holes in tour history. Chip Beck, Richard Johnson and Rahil Gangjee are the golfers who've holed out from the tee on par-4s.Three amateurs have won on the Web.com Tour: Daniel Summerhays (2007 Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational); Russell Henley (2011 Stadion Classic at UGA); and Harris English (2011 Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational). Continue Reading