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By Adam Wallace
PGA TOUR Staff

Nick Flanagan

NICK FLANAGAN'S FIRST PGA TOUR APPEARANCE -- Sunday's Xerox Classic win earned Nick Flanagan an instant three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR. With the new PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup set to begin this week and conclude in Atlanta on Sept. 16th, the Aussie will likely make his first start as a PGA TOUR member at the Turning Stone Resort Championship near Syracuse, NY (Sept. 17-23). He will have Turning Stone and six other PGA TOUR Fall Series events to compete in. With four weeks off before Turning Stone, Flanagan has the option to keep his game sharp by competing in Nationwide Tour events. He remains eligible for the remaining nine events. He may also elect to spend a few weeks in his native Australia to rest up for the Fall Series. At this moment, he is still entered in the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic.

Roland Thatcher

SPOTLIGHT NOW SHINES BRIGHTER ON THATCHER -- With Flanagan on his way to the PGA TOUR, two-time winner Roland Thatcher becomes the center of attention as he continues his quest to duplicate Flanagan's three-win promotion. Thatcher maintained his outstanding summer play with a T12 in Rochester. He leads the money list with $386,254 in earnings and is followed by No. 2 Flanagan ($369,951) and No. 3 Jason Day ($320,589). Troy Matteson set the single season earnings mark of $495,009 in 2005. There are nine events left in the 32-event Nationwide Tour season.

Jason Day

SPEAKING OF JASON DAY -- The 19-year-old Australia continued his torrid play of late in the Xerox Classic. His third-place finish was his sixth top-six finish of the year. He has not finished worse than T15 in his last seven starts, with his earnings climbing to $320,588 (third). He leads the Nationwide Tour in the All-Around statistic.

16 OF 22 IN FEDEXCUP FIELD -- 16 of the 22 Nationwide Tour graduates from 2006 are in the field for this week's first PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup event. Leading the contingent at The Barclays at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY will be Brandt Snedeker (9th in FedExCup points), Boo Weekley (17th), Ken Duke (34th) and Jeff Quinney (41st).

James Driscoll

THE 25 UPDATE / A FEW GOLD CADDIE VESTS WILL EXCHANGE HANDS THIS WEEK -- James Driscoll may not have won the Xerox Classic on Sunday (runner-up to Flanagan) but he did make a 15-spot move to No. 16 on the Nationwide Tour's money list. Canadian Jon Mills recorded his fifth top-10 finish of the year in Rochester (T9) to become this week's bubble boy at No. 25. He started the week 28th. Driscoll and Mills' caddies will enjoy wearing gold "25" caddie vests this week given their new top-25 status. Exiting THE 25 were Kyle Thompson (26th) and Greg Chalmers (27th), who both dropped two spots.

PETE DYE GOLF CLUB TO FEATURE INTERESTING FINISH -- The nines for the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic have been reversed this year with the intent to provide enhanced drama and leaderboard movement on the closing holes on Sunday. The 16-17-18th hole finish will now feature a 196-yard par-3, a reachable 504-yard par-5 and a brutal 497-yard par-4 finishing hole.

BEST FINISHES -- In addition to James Driscoll's runner-up finish (his second of the year), four players had their best finishes of the year in Rochester....Australian David McKenzie and Augusta, GA's Scot Parel (T4), David Mathis of Raleigh, NC (7th), Fran Quinn of Holden, MA (8th) and Ricky Barnes of Scottsdale, AZ (T12).

Brandt Snedeker

SNEDEKER CLAIMS 211th WIN FOR NATIONWIDE TOUR -- Brandt Snedeker captured his first PGA TOUR win on Sunday, the Wyndham Championship. It was the 211th time a former Nationwide Tour player had won on the PGA TOUR. Snedeker is a very strong candidate for 2007 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.

GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE -- Nationwide Tour fans have been getting their money's worth this year. Of the 23 tournaments that have been played to date, 15 have been decided by one shot (11 events) or a playoff (4).

DID YOU KNOW? -- At No. 8 on the money list, Patrick Sheehan has earned the most money in 2007 without claiming a victory. The Rhode Island native who earned almost $3 million in four full seasons on the PGA TOUR, has one Nationwide Tour win, the 2002 Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, MO. Chad Collins is next in line at No. 13.