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By Maureen Callaghan
PGA TOUR.com Contibutor

The Nationwide Tour kicks off its 18th season this week with the third annual Movistar Panama Championship in Panama City. Refreshed and ready to start staking their claim on the 2007 money list, 132 players will be on hand to compete for a share of the $550,000 purse with $99,000 going to first place.

(WireImage)

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Located on the southernmost tip of Central America, Panama's exclusive Panama Golf Club will again host the event on its challenging par-70 design. The 7,042 yard course played to a stroke average of 71.045 last year and has ranked among the Tour's 10 toughest courses for the past three seasons. But players needn't be too discouraged by the course's menacing stats- every winner in Panama has parlayed his victory into a PGA TOUR card at the end of their respective winning season.

A look at this week's field reveals an all-star lineup of 56 former Nationwide Tour event winners, accounting for 98 victories in total. Leading the pack is five-time champ, Chris Smith, who also has a PGA TOUR title under his belt after a win at the 2002 Buick Classic. Smith is trailed by Kevin Johnson and Mike Springer, with four Nationwide Tour victories each.

Ricky Barnes enters the season looking to continue on his hot streak of 23 consecutive cuts made -- the second-longest in Tour history. The University of Arizona grad finished T37 in Panama last year.

Others to watch as they tee it up in Panama's capital city include former event winners Jimmy Walker (2004) and Vance Veazey (2005) as well as one of last year's three runner-ups, Brenden Pappas, who went on to win a few months later at the Rex Hospital Open.

Competing in his first Nationwide Tour event is Paraguay native and four-time PGA TOUR winner Carlos Franco.

After a two-week break, the Nationwide Tour travels Down Under for the Jacob's Creek Open Championship in South Australia on Feb. 15 before heading to Christchurch, New Zealand for the final international event of the season, the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship on Feb. 22.

The Nationwide Tour swings into high gear on March 22 as the domestic portion of the 2007 schedule begins at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by Dynamic Industries in Broussard, La.

Each week PGATOUR.com will highlight a "Featured Foursome", brief bios of four players competing in that week's Nationwide Tour event.

RICKY BARNES: Born in Stockton, Calif......Resides in Scottsdale, Ariz.....Turns 26 on Feb. 6.....Single....2003 graduate of Arizona State University where he earned first team All-America honors in 2003 and shared Ben Hogan Award as nation's top collegiate golfer with Hunter Mahan....Captured 2002 U.S. Amateur at Oakland Hills CC in Michigan....Was low amateur at 2003 Masters, finishing 21st......Finished 23rd on 2006 Nationwide Tour money list ($199,276), missing his PGA TOUR card by one spot.....Begins the 2007 season with a Tour-leading 23 straight cuts made, the second best streak in Tour history....Since turning pro in 2003, has played 22 PGA TOUR events (best finish -- T14, 2004 FBR Open) and 50 Nationwide Tour events (best finish -- 2nd, 2006 Oregon Classic)....Lists basketball great, Larry Bird, as his hero.....His dad, Bruce, was a former kicker for the New England Patriots of the NFL....In two appearances in Panama, his best finish is a T7 in 2005.

GARY HALLBERG: Born in Berwyn, Ill.....Resides in Castle Rock, Colo....Age 48....Married w/two children....1980 graduate of Wake Forest University where was the first four-time, first-team All-America selection (later joined by Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Bryce Molder)......Was 1980 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.....Won three PGA TOUR events in 557 career starts..... In recent years, has split time between Nationwide Tour and PGA TOUR....Has one Nationwide Tour win (2002 Northeast Pennsylvania Classic) in 101starts....Created "Saturday Series Pro-Am" held in conjunction with PGA TOUR events....This will be his first appearance in Panama.

JEFF KLAUK: Born in Boynton Beach, Fla......Resides in St. Augustine, Fla.....Age 29.....Married w/one child.....2000 graduate of Florida Southern College where he was a member of the three-time NCAA Division II national championship team....In 2000 won the individual title by seven shots....Named Division II Player of the Year that year....Since turning pro in 2000, has played in 122 Nationwide Tour events, winning once (2003 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open) and collecting 14 top 10s....Father, Fred, is superintendent at TPC Sawgrass at PGA TOUR headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL......Wife, the former Shanna Nagy, won nine collegiate titles and was Division II individual champion in 1996 and 1998 at Florida Southern.....He finished T9 in 2004 in three Panama appearances.

KYLE THOMPSON: Born in Panama City, Fla......Resides in Columbia, S.C....Age 27.....Single....2001 graduate of the University of South Carolina where he earned All-America honors (second team in 1999, '01 and honorable mention in 2000) and was a two-time academic All-America....Won a school record five titles....Since turnng professional in 2001, he has played in 106 Nationwide Tour events and had four runner-up finishes....His best finish in Panama is T6 last year.