NBC Sports to air special on PGA TOUR graduates

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The ultimate dream for virtually any golf professional is to play on the PGA TOUR. Every year, 50 highly skilled -- and fortunate -- players realize that goal through two totally distinct paths. While 25 members of the Nationwide Tour earn their way through season-long excellence on the highly competitive circuit, 25 others survive the grueling six-day marathon that is known as PGA TOUR Qualifying School.

NBC Sports will air a 90-minute special on Saturday that captures the drama and pressure as players battle for PGA TOUR membership toward the end of 2008. Ticket to the TOUR presented by Nationwide Insurance takes an intimate look at the grueling process and what happens outside of the headlines. It will air 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET.

Produced by PGA TOUR Productions, the show begins at the Nationwide Tour Championship in McKinney, Texas for all of the drama of the season-ending event held in November. It was at TPC Craig Ranch that the 30-week schedule came to a conclusion and "The 25" top money earners for the season earned their PGA TOUR membership in 2009.

Celebrating its 20th season this year, the Nationwide Tour truly has been a proving ground for future PGA TOUR stars. Through 2008, Nationwide Tour alumni have won 237 PGA TOUR titles. From the latest group of graduates, the show follows and tells the personal stories of young rising Alabaman Garrett Osborn, Nationwide Tour veteran Chris Tidland, golf nomad Bill Lunde, 2002 U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes and Matt Weibring, son of Champions Tour member D.A. Weibring.

The next stop after the Nationwide Tour Championship is the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in Palm Springs, Calif. This is the culmination of a three-stage event that began with well over 1,000 entrants pursuing their dream of PGA TOUR membership. It is here that 163 finalists play six intense rounds to determine which 25 players earn their TOUR card.

Ticket to the TOUR captures the increasing drama and pressure of Q-School with exclusive access to players during the final 24 hours prior to accomplishing or not accomplishing their goal. Cameras follow the players off the golf course as they experience the anxieties, and reliving the paths they took to get to this point in their careers.

Ticket to the TOUR presented by Nationwide Insurance is a showcase of the stories of players outside of the headlines, providing a glimpse at the lives of golfers on the verge, where their career paths can go in two very different directions.