Australia's James Nitties won the Midwest Classic on Saturday for his first Nationwide Tour title after shooting with a 6-under 65 for a five-stroke victory.
Nitties earned $99,000 to jump from 53rd to 12th on the money list with $150,537, putting him in position to earn a 2012 PGA Tour card as top-25 finisher on the final list.
''I've been waiting for this one for a while,'' said Nitties, who spent the past two seasons on the PGA Tour. ''It seemed like everything went my way this week. It was my day today. There's still a lot of golf left to play this season, but this puts me in good position to get back to the tour.''
He opened with rounds of 65, 63 and 65 and finished at 26-under 258 at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate.
''Usually I'm a streaky putter,'' Nitties said. ''I'll putt good for one round and then not hole anything the rest of the week. This week, I actually holed the putts I should hole and then made the most of my opportunities.''
Jonas Blixt (66) and Australian Nick Flanagan (68) tied for second, and J.J. Killeen (70), Jason Kokrak (65) and Josh Geary (69) followed at 20 under. Killeen was trying to win for the third time in four weeks.
