Nationwide Tour Storylines: Chattanooga Classic

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Luke List played his college golf at Vanderbilt, two hours northwest of Chattanooga.

HOMETOWN FAVORITE, LUKE LIST: Luke List will get more than his share of attention when he returns home this week for the Chattanooga Classic. No doubt he's hoping that sleeping in his own bed will lift him to a good performance, something he hasn't seen a lot of lately.

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Inside 'THE 25'

The 2004 U.S. Amateur runner-up to Ryan Moore is currently 76th on the money list with $70,000 in earnings. After a respectable start in 2010 that saw him inside "THE 25" in April, he has missed nine cuts since mid May and had just one top 20 (a T16). List, 25, was a star prep golfer in Chattanooga before going on to earn All-American honors all four years at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He now lives in Ringgold, Ga., just south of Chattanooga.

STEVEN BOWDITCH / PUTTING WIZARD: Fantastic is the best word to describe Steven Bowditch's performance on the putting surfaces at The Country Club of Soboba Springs last week. The 27-year-old Australian had only 96 putts (28-24-18-26) for the week en route to his victory, which is one shy of Grant Waite's 2003 Nationwide Tour record for fewest putts in a single tournament. On Saturday Bowditch had just 18 putts when he shot 63, tying Mike Brisky's single-round mark set in 2003.

WIN WAS LONG TIME IN COMING FOR BOWDITCH: Steven Bowditch's first Nationwide Tour win came in Australia in 2005. His second win on Sunday came in 101st career start and spanned 99 starts and five years, seven months and 13 days since the first one. In his last 76 starts dating back to the end of the 2005 season, Bowditch had earned $173,970.

He banked $180,000 with Sunday's win which moved him from 76th to 11th on the money list. In 2005, he finished fourth on the money list to make it to the PGA TOUR where things did not go well. The New South Wales native made only two cuts in 22 TOUR starts in '06, and the last few years have been lean as well. "It feels better once you've accomplished something to lose it and then go back," Bowditch said on Sunday. "I feel a good sense of achievement. It's fantastic."

DANIEL SUMMERHAYS / TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: In early September Daniel Summerhays was inside "THE 25" but certainly had not secured his PGA TOUR card for 2011. Sitting 17th on the money list after the Utah Championship, the 26-year-old BYU grad collected $186,300 with runner-up finishes in his next two starts in Boise and at Soboba. He now sits fourth on the money list with $368,992 knowing he is PGA TOUR-bound next year for the first time.

STRETCH RUN HEADS TO CHATTANOOGA: The Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek is the 26th Nationwide Tour event of 2010. It is one of only three full-field events that precede the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island (Oct. 28-31), which is reserved for the top-60 money winners.

CHRIS KIRK GETS HOMETOWN INVITE: Former University of Georgia Bulldog Chris Kirk has accepted a sponsor's exemption to play in this week's The McCladrey Classic. The inaugural PGA TOUR event will be played at Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island, where Kirk lives. A two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour this year, Kirk is No. 2 on the Nationwide Tour money list. He trails a familiar foe from his college days, USC's Jamie Lovemark, for the top spot by $8,763.

AND NEXT WEEK ... JAMIE LOVEMARK AND KEVIN CHAPPELL GET FRYS.COM EXEMPTIONS: Two of the Nationwide Tour's leading players will compete in next week's Frys.com Open on the PGA TOUR. California natives Jamie Lovemark (San Diego/USC) and Kevin Chappell (Fresno/UCLA) have received sponsor invitations to compete at CordeValle Golf Club near San Jose. Lovemark has already made his mark on the event. Last October he and Rickie Fowler were playoff runners-up to Troy Matteson when the Frys.com Open was played at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Lovemark is currently the leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour and its youngest player at 22. Chappell is No. 8. Both have won events this year.

NO. 285: The number of PGA TOUR wins by Nationwide Tour alumni grew to 285 on Sunday when Bill Haas won the Viking Classic in Mississippi. It was the 25th alumni win on TOUR this year. The Viking Classic field was dominated with Nationwide Tour representation. Of its top-10 finishers, nine were Tour alums as were 27 of the top 35.

Klauk

KLAUK RETURNS TO COMPETITION ON NATIONWIDE TOUR: Two-time Nationwide Tour winner Jeff Klauk will make his first start in Chattanooga, having been sidelined in May to have back surgery. While out, Klauk also had a procedure done to address a nagging injury on his left ankle. The St. Augustine, Fla. resident has also committed to play the following two weeks in the Miccosukee Championship near Miami and the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters at PGA TOUR headquarters. Klauk grew up playing and working on the maintenance staff at TPC Sawgrass where his father, Fred, was the longtime superintendent.

TOUGH MONTH FOR SCOTT BROWN: Scott Brown of North Augusta, S.C. has not teed it up since the Mylan Classic in early September due to a rib injury. At the conclusion of that event Brown was comfortably inside the top 60 on the money list at No. 45. He has since had to withdraw from the last five events, including Chattanooga, and finds himself sitting on the not so enviable 60th spot. Only the top 60 receive invites to the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C. after the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open. A top-60 spot also ensures fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour next year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR FANTASY CHALLENGE: Phil Boyle has taken a healthy lead in Golf Channel's Nationwide Tour Fantasy Challenge. Boyle has 250,520 points to lead Jack Wike, who has 160,962. The nine-week Challenge began in early September and will conclude with the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island on Oct. 31st. Contestants select a different player every week and earn points equal to their player's earnings for that week. The contestant with the most points will win a trip to the SONY Open in Hawaii. It's never too late to register at www.golfchannel.com/nationwidetourfantasy.

NEXT WEEK: The Nationwide Tour is in Miami, Fla. at Miccosukee Golf & Country Club for the Miccosukee Championship (Oct. 14-17).