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By Adam Wallace
PGA TOUR Staff

West Virginia golf fans will get to see the PGA TOUR's newest member, Nick Flanagan, this week as he has opted to honor his commitment to play in the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, WV. On Sunday, the 23-year-old Australian captured his third Nationwide Tour win of 2007, the Xerox Classic in Rochester, NY, which earned him an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR.

DID YOU KNOW?

It was four years ago this week that Nick Flanagan won the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont CC in Pennsylvania. He defeated Casey Wittenberg on the 37th hole in the final match.

With the four-event PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup set to begin on Thursday, Flanagan becomes eligible for his first PGA TOUR event next month at the Turning Stone Resort Championship (Sept. 17-23). The Nationwide Tour will be well represented at the Playoffs with sixteen of last year's 22 Nationwide Tour graduates qualified for the competition that features $35 million in bonus money, with $10 million to the winner. Ninth seed Brandt Snedeker headlines the group.

Flanagan remains eligible for the final nine Nationwide Tour events, but the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic may be his last start on this Tour in 2007. He has indicated he plans to return to his native Australia next week to rest and prepare for his PGA TOUR debut in September. The West Virginia event is the 24th of 32 Nationwide Tour events on the 2007 schedule.

Flanagan and the rest of the 156-player field will play a somewhat different Pete Dye Golf Club this year as the nines have been reversed. As a means of encouraging more drama and leaderboard changes over the closing holes on Sunday, the players will face an intriguing three-hole finish that includes a 197-yard par-3, a reachable 504-yard par-5 and a brutal 497-yard par-4 finishing hole.

With Flanagan headed to the PGA TOUR, the focus turns to leading money winner Roland Thatcher, who is only one win away from the PGA TOUR himself.

The Auburn grad continued his consistent play last week in Rochester finishing T-12. Thatcher holds a $16,303 advantage over No. 2 Flanagan and $65,665 on No. 3 Jason Day.

A pair of past champions Jason Enloe (2006) and D.A. Points (2004) are entered, with Enloe vying to become the first player in Nationwide Tour history to successfully defend a tournament title.

Enloe captured his sole Nationwide Tour win last August on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against now popular PGA TOUR player Boo Weekley.

Points' 2004 victory was by a comfortable five shots. Both players need to step things up over the final weeks of 2007 to earn their way into THE 25.

Enloe is currently 65th on the money list and Points is 75th. The 25 leading money winners, including Flanagan, will be on the PGA TOUR next year.

Canadian Jon Mills, who played 27 events as a PGA TOUR member last year, moved from No. 28 to the precarious 25th spot on the money list with his T9 Xerox Classic finish.

Architect Pete Dye is famous for designing world-class golf courses. Some of Dye's renowned layouts include Harbour Town Golf Links, Crooked Stick, TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, The Ocean Course at Kiawah, Teeth of the Dog, Oak Tree, TPC PGA West and Whistling Straits.

"It's like with your children - you're not supposed to say you have a favorite," Dye said. "There's no such thing as the greatest golf course in the world. But this one must be included in the ranks of those at the top of the list," he said of his West Virginia gem.