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ORLANDO - Sweden's Mathias Gronberg won the PGA Tour qualifying tournament Monday, and former Ryder Cup player Steve Pate and veteran Jay Delsing also secured 2004 cards.
Gronberg, a four-time winner on the European tour, topped the 34 PGA qualifiers, closing with 4-under 68 to beat Danny Ellis by two in the six-round event.
Gronberg finished 20-under 412 and earned $50,000. Pate (68), who lost his card after finishing 180th on the money list, tied for 21st, and Delsing shot 69 to make it by a stroke at 7 under. Delsing, who had 1995 U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin as his caddie, was at 2 under after bogey at the fifth hole, but birdied five of the last 13 to reach the cut line of 7 under.
Wook Soon Kang, Dennis Paulson, Robert Garrigus, Kenechi Kuboya and Brian Henninger tied for 35th at 6 under and received conditional Nationwide Tour status.
SLAMMED: Attendance for the PGA Grand Slam in Poipu Beach, Hawaii, dropped about 37 percent. PGA of America officials reported the two-day figure at 7,600, down from 12,000. Though it did get unusually rainy at times, the biggest factor may have been the absence of Tiger Woods. It was the first Grand Slam in seven years without Woods, who failed to win a major this year, precluding him from participating in the exclusive 36-hole event for the four major winners. Jim Furyk, the U.S. Open champion, took much of the drama out of the tournament, completing an eight-stroke win Saturday over Masters champ Mike Weir.
WINTER SERIES: Jim Kiely shot 3-under 69 to lead by three in the 40-54 age group at Palm Beach. Peter Jackson of Valrico shot 73 to lead the 55-64 division.