Notebook: Beem set to make first Nationwide Tour start

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COMFORTABLE SURROUNDINGS: Price Cutter Charity Championship winner Hunter Haas had an advantage on the rest of the field last week in Springfield, Mo. His instructor, Rick Neal, is based at nearby Hickory Hills Country Club and he stays with him during the tournament. Hickory Hills was the late Payne Stewart's home course when he was growing up. It was the third Nationwide Tour win for Haas. The Fort Worth, Texas native and three-time All-American out of the University of Oklahoma jumped 38 spots on the money list to 10th, greatly enhancing his prospects of making a return trip next year to the PGA TOUR where he played in 2001 and 2005.

NO. 1 JAMIE LOVEMARK...TO NO ONE'S SURPRISE: Price Cutter Charity Championship runner-up Jamie Lovemark has played some serious golf in his last six tournaments. He has a win (Mexico Open Bicentenary), another runner-up, a T19 and a T25 to go from 10th to 1st on the money list. With No. 2 Tommy Gainey missing the cut, the 22-year-old has $393,288 in earnings and a lead of $66,106. For the year, Lovemark has one win, three seconds, two thirds and a fifth. Sunday has been his day to really shine. For the fifth time in 11 tries, he shot 65 on Sunday in Springfield. His fourth-round average is 67.45. Lovemark's success is not a surprise. The San Diego area native won the NCAA individual title and both the Jack Nicklaus Award and Fred Haskins Award in 2007 as a freshman at USC. Later that summer, he played in the Walker Cup. Lovemark turned professional last summer after completing his junior year at USC. He was runner-up in a playoff on the PGA TOUR in October at the Frys.com Open.

BIG WEEK FOR BLIXT: Former Florida State University All-American Jonas Blixt had been struggling in 2010. The Swede was 94th on the money list entering the Price Cutter Charity Championship. A T2 finish there was his best in 41 starts since joining the Nationwide Tour last year. Blixt improved 39 spots on the money list.

CASTRO MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITIES: With his third straight top-25 finish in Springfield, Roberto Castro earned another spot in next week's Knoxville News Sentinel Open field. The Georgia Tech grad out of Atlanta, Ga. is 53rd in earnings in just four starts.

NATIONWIDE TOUR BOMBER: At 5'11", 165 lbs., Kyle Stanley is not a big man but when it comes to hitting a golf ball, he's a bomber. The 2009 Ben Hogan Award recipient out of Clemson University currently leads the Nationwide Tour in driving distance with an average poke of 319.0 yards. Stanley clearly understands you 'drive for show, putt for dough,' though. "I think it's the least important stat in golf," he told John Dell for PGATOUR.COM. "What it comes down to is getting the ball in the hole. Driving distance doesn't mean that much out here." The Gig Harbor, Wash. native is currently 39th on the money list. After a pretty good start to the 2010 season, Stanley has been struggling of late, having missed six cuts in his last eight starts.

RICH BEEM TO MAKE FIRST TOUR START IN KNOXVILLE: Former PGA champion (2002) Rich Beem is entered in next week's Knoxville News Sentinel Open. A member of the PGA TOUR since 1999, it will be his first start on the Nationwide Tour. The Austin, Texas resident has made 314 PGA TOUR starts and has three TOUR victories on his resume. Beem has been idle since April's Shell Houston Open, recovering from a herniated disc.

DID YOU KNOW?: Hunter Haas' full name is Hunter Jefferson Huck Finn Haas.

BIRTHDAY BOYS: Celebrating birthdays during the off week will be Jesse Hutchins of Cleveland, Ohio and Wright State University (Aug. 16th / turns 28) and recent winner Jhonattan Vegas of Maturin, Venezuela/Houston, Texas and Texas A&M University (Aug. 19th / 26).

NEXT WEEK: Play resumes in Tennessee at the Knoxville News Sentinel Open (Aug. 26-29). It will be the 20th of 29 tournaments in 2010.