Notebook: Lovemark secures PGA TOUR card with win

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JAMIE LOVEMARK SECURES 2011 PGA TOUR CARD: The rookie from the University of Southern California won his first Nationwide Tour career title last week at the Mexico Open Bicentenary, picking up $108,000 and moving from No. 10 to No. 2 on the money list with $247,351. Last year Fran Quinn, who finished 25th on the money list, earned $191,467. Lovemark has earned enough money through the first 13 events to have finished No. 15 on the 2009 end of the year money list.

THREE FORMER COLLEGIATE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR HAVE WON IN 2010: When Jamie Lovemark tapped in for eagle from three feet to defeat B.J. Staten in a playoff on the first extra hole at the Mexico Open Bicentenary he became the third former collegiate player of the year to win in 2010. Lovemark, the 2007 NCAA Individual Champion, was the 2007 Jack Nicklaus Award recipient. Chris Kirk, who won the Fort Smith Classic two weeks ago, was named the 2007 Ben Hogan Award winner. He is the only Georgia Bulldog to receive the honor. Former UCLA Bruin Kevin Chappell, also a NCAA Individual Champion and Jack Nicklaus Award recipient in 2008, won the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in April.

CELEBRITIES TURN OUT FOR "THE GREAT ONE": Next week's Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic in Ontario's cottage region will once again feature an all-star lineup of "The Great One's" celebrity friends. Scheduled to appear are former NHL stars Mathew Barnaby, Grant Fuhr, Brett Hull, Marty McSorley, Eddie Mio, Kirk Muller and Darren Pang, Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Keenan, basketball's Charles Barkley and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Andre Tippett, among others. It will be the sixth country outside the U.S. the Nationwide Tour will travel this year. The Tour began the season in New Zealand and Australia in late January/early February before visiting Panama and Colombia in late February/early March and was in Mexico last week. The Nationwide Tour has played eight tournaments in the U.S. so far this year.

ALL BUT ONE: Of all the events that were on the PGA TOUR schedule prior to 2010, this week's AT&T National is the only one that has not been won by a Nationwide Tour alumnus. The AT&T National was first played in 2007. Since the Nationwide Tour's launch in 1990, alums have won 276 TOUR titles, including Bubba Watson's win on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, and 15 of 26 events in 2010 alone. It took 122 starts for Watson to claim his first career TOUR win. Watson played on the Nationwide Tour from 2003-05, earning his TOUR card by finishing 21st on money list in 2005.

FIRST TIMERS: Nationwide Tour members Madalitso Muthiya of Zambia and former University of Nebraska Husker Brady Schnell made their first cut of the season at last week's Mexico Open Bicentenary. Muthiya, who is better known for being the first Zambian to play in a U.S. Open (2006/MC), finished T9 in his first Nationwide Tour start of the season. Schnell, a rookie from Spencer, Iowa, entered the final round T10 but fell back to T17 after a disappointing one-over 73. Muthiya and Schnell's top-25 finishes get them into the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.

BIRTHDAY BOYS: Celebrating birthdays this week are Dan Buchner of Long Beach, Calif. and the University of California-Santa Barbara (June 30 / turns 37).

NEXT WEEK: The Nationwide Tour is off this week before heading to Canada (July 5-11) for the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic and then the new Chiquita Classic (July 12-18) outside Cincinnati where Anthony Munoz will be the host. Gretzky and Munoz are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, respectively.