Nationwide Tour Storylines: Tour Championship  PGA TOUR Staff BIG PURSE GIVES EVERYBODY A CHANCE AT THE 25 -- This week's $775,000 purse is the largest in Nationwide Tour history. The winner will receive $139,500, which means every player in the field has a chance to make THE 25 and earn a PGA TOUR card for 2008 on Sunday. No. 60 Arjun Atwal is $84,261 behind No. 25 Brenden Pappas.  Roland Thatcher (WireImage)
MONEY TITLE STILL IN PLAY, TOO -- Auburn grad Roland Thatcher maintains a healthy lead in the money title race. Nos. 3 and 5-9, Jon Mills, Nicholas Thompson, Richard Johnson, Matthew Jones, Justin Bolli and Patrick Sheehan, respectively, could still catch Thatcher. With No. 2 Nick Flanagan and No. 4 Jason Day not in the field (see two notes down for more details), Mills is Thatcher's closest pursurer, $46,538 behind. The Canadian is arguably the Tour's hottest player of late. Since August he has finished T16 or better in all but one event, recording a win, a runner-up last week and five top 10s in nine starts. NATIONWIDE AND PGA TOUR PLEDGE MINIMUM $200,000 TO RELIEF EFFORTS -- Nationwide Insurance and the PGA TOUR will donate a minimum of $200,000 to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund in support of the victims of last week's devastating fires in the San Diego area. Both organizations will contribute $100 each for each birdie recorded at Barona Creek this week. Total contributions per organization will be at least $100,000. BRENDEN PAPPAS AT NO. 25 FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WEEK -- The odds are high that one player would not park himself at No. 25 for the four weeks leading up to Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek, but that's exactly what Brenden Pappas has done. The South African who now lives in Ocala, Fla. was as far down the money list as 81st in April and has consistently advanced up to his current and highest position of the year. Pappas has a $2,754 lead over Michael Letzig, who dropped three spots this week. Miccosukee Championship winner Marc Turnesa secured his card with a move of 30 spots to No. 13. There was no other movement into or out of THE 25. JASON DAY TO MISS CHAMPIONSHIP -- Jason Day's highly-successful year on the Nationwide Tour has come to a premature end. The young Australian who turns 20 on Nov. 12 has not played since missing one of his few cuts in the Mark Christopher Charity Classic in early October. Day withdrew from last week's Miccosukee Championship citing a sore wrist. According to his swing coach and caddie Colin Swatton, he decided not to risk further injury. He is scheduled to meet with a specialist on Wednesday to discuss results from an MRI that was taken last week. Day, who is fourth on the money list, sewed up his PGA TOUR card several weeks ago but was hoping to catch Roland Thatcher at the top of the money list. In 2004, Day came to San Diego and won the Callaway Junior World Championship. Three other eligible players will not be at Barona Creek this week -- No. 2 Nick Flanagan (earned three-win PGA TOUR promotion in August), No. 38 Jay Williamson (has secured his PGA TOUR exempt status for 2008) and No. 52 Garrett Willis (injury). NATIONWIDE "CARD CEREMONY" SHOW TO AIR ON GOLF CHANNEL ON MONDAY -- The 25 PGA TOUR cards for 2008 will be presented shortly after play on Sunday at Barona Creek. Golf Channel will tape the proceedings and produce a one-hour special that will air on Monday night (Nov. 5) from 7-8 p.m. ET, followed by four replays within the week. MARC TURNESA - KEEPING UP THE FAMILY TRADITION -- To avid golf fans, the name Turnesa is a familar one. In winning the Miccosukee Championship on Sunday, Marc Turnesa, 29, joined his famous relatives in the winner's circle. Grandfather Mike won six PGA TOUR titles and finished second to Ben Hogan at the 1948 PGA Championship. Mike's brothers, Willie, Jim and Joe also won prominent titles in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. In all there were seven brothers who competed. Turnesa, who was born in Greenwich, Conn. and now lives in Jupiter, Fla., said after his win, "it's nice to come through for the family name. It means a lot. This is what I needed to do to get out there on the PGA TOUR where they all played." ATWAL GRABS 60TH AND FINAL BARONA CREEK SPOT -- Despite missing the cut in Miami, Arjun Atwal of India secured the 60th and last spot in the Nationwide Tour Championship field. He started the week 57th. Californian Todd Fischer made a good run at playing his way into the top 60 but came up $3,383 short at 61st. Two who did are David Mathis of Raleigh, N.C. and Texan Kelly Grunewald. Mathis' final-round 64 propelled him to a T2 finish and from 76th to 47th. With a T4 finish, Grunewald moved from 67th to 55th. Chris Riley and Joe Daley exited the top 60. ADMISSION FREE / FIREFIGHTERS RECEIVE PRO-AM INVITES -- The Century Club of San Diego, which is managing the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek, announced last week that there will be no charge for admission and the tournament will accept donations to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund in lieu of a ticket purchase. Also, 28 firefighters were invited to play in Tuesday's Barona Pro-Am, along with eight junior golfers from San Diego's First Tee program, the Pro Kids Academy. The spots were donated by Nationwide, which is concentrating its effortsthis week on assisting their customers and supporting local relief efforts. |
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