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Oct. 18, 2013
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Former UNLV men's golf All-American Kevin Pennerhas made the cut at his first PGA Tour event - the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which is being played here in Las Vegas at TPC Summerlin.
2013 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Leaderboard
Penner shot an opening-round even-par 71 on Thursday, then carded a 6-under 65 on Friday. He is tied for 28th overall at 6-under 136. Webb Simpson leads the tournament by four shots at 15-under 127.
Penner, who had eight birdies and two bogeys during his second round, is one of four former Rebel golfers to advance to the weekend. The others are Ryan Moore, who is tied for seventh at 10-under, Charley Hoffman, who is also tied for 28th at 6-under and Chad Campbell, who is tied for 37th at 5-under.
Penner is playing in this tournament on a sponsor exemption. He was 2-over after 12 holes in the first round after making double-bogey on his third hole of the tournament, but birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 got him back to even par. He was over par again after starting Friday's round with a bogey at the 10th hole. He made birdies at Nos. 13 and 15-17 to make the turn at 3-under 33. He had four birdies and a bogey on his back nine as well.
Former Rebel golfers have won a total of 21 PGA Tour events, including defending Shriners Hospitals for Children Open champion Moore and this year's Masters Champion Adam Scott.
In addition to being a two-time All-American, Penner, who finished his Rebel playing career this past spring, was also a two-time PING All-West Region team member.
The Sammamish, Wash., native is a three-time All-Mountain West award winner and earned the individual title at the MW Championship in May. He led UNLV in scoring last season with an average of 72.11 over 35 rounds and in 12 tournaments played as a senior, he recorded seven top-10 finishes, including five in the top five, finishing in a tie for second individually at the NCAA Championship before helping his team to an "Elite Eight" finish in match play.
