Nationwide storylines: Successfully skirting snakes

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Nate Smith bogeyed a par-5 on Sunday, but with good reason -- he was avoiding a rattlesnake. Fortunately, he went on to win his first Nationwide Tour event.

West Texas is known for a number of things, rattlesnakes among them. On Sunday, a rattler could have stood in the way of Nate Smith capturing his first Nationwide Tour win. Looking to close the gap on third-round leader Darron Stiles, the Duke grad by way of Santa Cruz, Calif., hit his tee shot on the par-5 2nd hole into some mesquite. "We heard a rattlesnake in there so we peeled out of there pretty quickly and chose to play my provisional."

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Smith bogeyed the hole but birdies on five of the next eleven allowed him to get to 18-under at the finish, which was good enough for a two-shot victory. Smith now finds himself in the heat of "The 25" competition. As a matter of fact, he is this week's "bubble boy" at No. 25, having jumped all the way from 78th. Smith, 26, was a two-time All-American at Duke who went to Robert Louis Stevenson High School in Pebble Beach, Calif.

CONGRATULATIONS, JIM FURYK -- What a Sunday it was for 1993 Nationwide Tour winner Jim Furyk as he collected $11,350,00 for winning both the FedExCup and the TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. It was win No. 284 by a Nationwide Tour alumnus and one of the more memorable ones. The Pennsylvania native honed his skills as a 23-year-old on the Nationwide Tour winning the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic, before earning his card at that fall's PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Nationwide Tour alumni won 24 of the 41 events during the FedExCup season.

STRONGEST FIELD OF YEAR HEADS TO SOBOBA -- This week's $1 million Soboba Classic has attracted the strongest field to date in 2010. All but one of the top-60 players are entered (50-Fran Quinn) and 95 of the top 100 (all but Quinn, 74-Jarrod Lyle, 88-John Mallinger, 95-Peter Gustafsson and 96-Craig Barlow).

KEY NUMBERS WILL BE IMPACTED THIS WEEK -- The Soboba Classic is one of two events offering $1 million purses (largest on Tour along with Nationwide Tour Championship). There are several key thresholds on the Nationwide Tour that impact where players will play next year. This week in Soboba will be a big one in terms of movement on the money list. The key numbers are: 1 -- the leading money winner is fully exempt on the PGA TOUR next year and receives an invite to THE PLAYERS Championship...25 -- "The 25" leading money winners will earn PGA TOUR cards for 2011...60 -- the top-60 money winners automatically qualify for the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C., where anyone, including No. 60, can play their way into "The 25" with a high finish. A top-60 finish also ensures fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour in 2011....100 -- a finish among the top-100 money winners provides conditionally-exempt status for next year.

Lovemark

CALIFORNIA HOMECOMING FOR LEADING MONEY WINNER, JAMIE LOVEMARK -- San Diego-area native Jamie Lovemark heads home to Southern California and the Soboba Classic this week as the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner. The former USC All-American, college player of the year (2007) and Walker Cup team member (2007) is the Nationwide Tour's youngest player at age 22. His impressive first year on Tour includes a win in Mexico, three runners-up, two third-place finishes, and eight top-10s in all. Lovemark holds an advantage of roughly $9,000 over another former college player of the year Chris Kirk, of the University of Georgia.

OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING -- At No. 126, Jamie Lovemark is the highest-ranked Nationwide Tour player in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is followed by Chris Kirk at No. 138, Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas at No. 159 and Kevin Chappell at No. 185. Lovemark tops the Nationwide Tour money list, with Kirk second, Chappell sixth and Vegas seventh.

JEFF KLAUK SET TO RETURN TO COMPETITIVE GOLF WITH START ON NATIONWIDE TOUR -- Jeff Klauk announced last Thursday he will be making his return to competitive golf next month on the Nationwide Tour. The first event he has committed to play is the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters. The event will be played at TPC Sawgrass on its Dye's Valley course, where Klauk grew up playing and served on the maintenance staff under his father, Fred, who was the club's longtime superintendent. The 32-year-old had back surgery in May and subsequently opted to have a procedure done on his left ankle for a lingering injury. Klauk played the Nationwide Tour from 2002-08, winning twice and earning his PGA TOUR card after finishing third on the money list in 2008.

GOLF CHANNEL REMINDER -- Five events remain on the 2010 Nationwide Tour schedule. Four of those events will air on Golf Channel -- this week's Soboba Classic, followed by the final three, the Miccosukee Championship/Miami, Fla., Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters/Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. and Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island/Charleston, S.C.

STEM EDUCATION -- This Wednesday (Sept. 29), Golf Channel and Time Warner Cable will introduce their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) initiative to approximately 25 students from the Boys & Girls Club of Southwest County and the host Soboba Tribe at the Soboba Classic. The interactive tour titled On the Greens and Behind the Scenes will demonstrate practical applications of STEM learning principles using the environment of a professional golf tournament and Golf Channel's on-site compound as classrooms.

The tour will include hands-on learning about science, technology, engineering and math applied in the equipment used to play the game, with the assistance of Nationwide Tour players, as well as a tour of the TV production trucks to see the equipment used to beam GOLF Channel pictures around the U.S. and the world and the real-time decision making involved. STEM is an extension of Time Warner's Connect A Million Minds program which is designed to inspire students in learning opportunities and careers related to the four STEM subjects.

BIRTHDAY BOYS -- Celebrating birthdays this week in California are Scott Gutschewski of Omaha, Neb. (Oct. 1 / turns 34) and Andrew Svoboda of Larchmont, N.Y. (Oct. 2 / 31).

NEXT WEEK -- The Nationwide Tour heads east for the Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek (Oct. 7-10) in Tennessee.