Insider: Revisiting the best from the 2011 season

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Erik Compton's win in the Mexico Open Presented by Banamex in late June gave him a PGA TOUR card after a decade of trying.

The Nationwide Tour had a little bit of everything in 2011.

From 21-year-old rising star Danny Lee to two-time heart transplant hero Erik Compton, the many different winners made it tough for anybody to predict how the season would unfold.

Of the 26 tournaments, which includes the Nationwide Tour Championship, there were 21 different winners that included two amateurs.

It didn't matter the age this season on the Nationwide Tour and 43-year-old Ken Duke proved that at the Tour Championship becoming the second-oldest winner in tour history.

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Once again, the race for the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour's money list was a good one. The final 25 all received PGA TOUR cards for 2012. Of the 25 players who graduated from the Nationwide Tour, 13 will be on the PGA TOUR for the first time. That's a testament to the opportunity the Nationwide Tour provides.

Here's a look at some of the best of the best this season.

Most lopsided win: Steve Wheatcroft at the Melwood Prince George's County Open.

He set the tour record by winning by 12 shots, as he fired 29 under over four days. For good measure, he eagled his final hole to shoot 255 for the week. It was the lowest 72-hole score in the 22-year history of the Nationwide Tour.

"I had the pedal to the floor all day," he said about his final round.

Yeah, he floored it pretty good.

Most inspirational win: Erik Compton at the Mexico Open Presented by Banamex.

If you aren't cheering for this guy you aren't paying attention. He's had heart trouble his whole life and twice has been given a heart transplant that kept him alive. He first got a new heart in 1992 and again in 2008. After he won in Mexico he continued to play well and will be going to the PGA TOUR next season thanks to finishing in the top 25 on the money list.

He had to gut it out this season during a long stretch of tournaments because his stamina isn't what it used to be.

"I've been playing professionally since I was 20," said the 31-year-old, "And never won, so I feel like it's a monkey off my back."

If he wins on the PGA TOUR next season his legend will grow even more.

Killeen

Most consistent player: It has to go to J.J. Killeen, the tour's top money winner, who was one of four players who won twice this season.

Killeen was the leading money winner for the final eight weeks of the season and because of that he'll get to play in next year's THE PLAYERS Championship. The former Texas Christian golfer has never played on the PGA TOUR, but he'll get his chance in 2012.

Here's how consistent he was this past season. He played in 25 tournaments and made 21 cuts with seven top-10 showings. That is what you call getting it done.

Do these guys even shave?: For the first time in the 22-year history of the Nationwide Tour there were two college kids who won on tour.

In early May, it was University of Georgia senior Russell Henley who won the Stadion Classic at Georgia to become just the second amateur to ever win on tour.

But that wasn't enough because in late July Henley's teammate, Harris English, won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.

Potter

Paying his dues: Ted Potter Jr. probably wasn't on anybody's list of players who was going to break through this season on the Nationwide Tour.

Potter, who turned pro at age 19, has toiled on the minitours for many years but at the age of 27 has figured things out. That's why he won twice this season and was second on the Nationwide Tour money list.

As for his struggles to gain some traction in pro golf, Potter was honest when asked what the Nationwide Tour has done for him. "It's changed my life," he said.

Next major winner: In 2010 Keegan Bradley was on the Nationwide Tour, but in 2011 he won the PGA Championship.

With that in mind is there somebody from the Nationwide Tour who could do the same thing in 2012? Two players that come to mind are Jason Kokrak, who won twice this season and can hit it a country mile, and 21-year-old Danny Lee. Both players have all the tools to succeed and who knows, maybe they can follow in the footsteps of Bradley and make a run at a major in 2012.

Pressure, what pressure? Sure there was pressure on Billy Hurley III this past weekend at the Nationwide Tour Championship but it was just golfing pressure. That's nothing compared to his time spent serving in the Navy and working on a destroyer in the Persian Gulf.

Hurley was at No. 25 on the money list entering the Nationwide Tour Championship but he did enough to keep his spot and now he'll be going to the PGA TOUR for the first time. He would have probably been on the PGA TOUR a few years ago, but he served his five years of military service after graduating from Navy.

Hurley has the game and the proper perspective to do very well in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR.

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 17 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. You can reach him at johndell@triad.rr.com.