ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 30, 2012) - In two years since turning pro, Kevin Foley enjoyed his most lucrative day on a golf course — so far. The 2008 Ike champion's fifth-place finish Sunday at the web.com Tour's Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational not only netted the biggest paycheck of his professional career ($32,000), but earned him enough money for a Special Temporary Membership on the web.com Tour for the remainder of 2012.

Foley, 25, entered this past week with $35,984 in only four Web.com Tour starts and needed to attain a total of $43,293 — the equivalent of No. 100 on the 2011 money list — to receive the conditional status. Not only did he reach the dollars he needed, he jolted 34 spots, from No. 78 to No. 44 ($67,984), on the web.com Tour's money list. The top 25 on the money list at the end of the season earn their PGA Tour cards.

"It feels good to get that first step of temporary status," said Foley, who spoke to mgagolf.org on the phone from Omaha, Nebraska, where he'll tee it up in the Cox Classic starting August 2. "Now that I have that, I’m able to redevelop some goals for the rest of the season."

And make no mistake, Foley's ultimate goal is to reach the PGA Tour. It would be quite a leap for the Somerville, N.J., native, who won the 2008 Ike Championship at Mountain Ridge Country Club and tied for third in his pro debut at the 2010 Met Open at Bethpage Black. Since then he's had a somewhat rocky road.

"Since turning pro, it’s been a bit tougher than I expected just in the sense that I had a slower start than I anticipated," he said. "I went through a tough learning process of learning the different levels of professional golf, and I think it’s helped me become mentally tougher."

He began 2012 with no status on any Tour and relied on Monday qualifying to gain entry to two Nationwide Tour events in April. He made the most of them, tying for 7th place in two consecutive events and establishing himself on the game's major developmental circuit. In fact, he had a chance to earn Temporary Membership back in May at the BMW Pro-Am in South Carolina, but had a poor final round to fall short.

"I tried to draw off that experience," Foley said. "Here was another opportunity to do the same thing, and I learned from that. I just went out Sunday and tried to do the same thing I did the last few days."

The Penn State graduate also saw some early success on the eGolf Tour, where he lit it up with a win, runner-up, and four other top-10 finishes in just 11 starts this year. But there is no question that the web.com Tour affords Foley the chance to test himself on what is unquestionably the world's finest developmental tour.

"The level of competition is strong. These guys are knocking on the door, and a lot of them are guys I played with in college and in amateur golf," said Foley. "I’ve had proven success against them and it shows that I can do it on this level."

He now joins the list of former MGA tournament winners who are now members of the web.com Tour, including Andrew Svoboda, Marc Turnesa, and Chris DeForest. In addition, 2005 Carter Cup champion Morgan Hoffmann, who played nine holes with Foley during a practice round this week in Columbus, is less than $5,000 away from earning his Special Temporary Membership as well.

With Foley now in the mix as well, the Met Area is well represented on a tour that is the primary route to the game's biggest stage.