For those on Nationwide bubble, the heat is on in Miami ![]() Joe Daley doesn't have much of a cushion heading into Miami. (Rogash/WireImage)
MIAMI, Fla. -- The Nationwide Tour travels to Miami this week for its final full-field event of 2007, the Miccosukee Championship. While 144 players will be vying for the top prize of $103,500, the focus, not to mention the pressure, will be on those players who are seeking to earn a top-60 spot on the money list and a place in next week's finale, the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek. Pennsylvania native Joe Daley enters the Miccosukee Championship No. 60 on the money list, only $245 ahead of David Morland IV of Canada. The goal of each of the 60 competitors who make it to the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek is to finish inside THE 25 and earn their PGA TOUR card for 2008. At the very least, players who finish 26-60 on the money list are ensured a spot on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. Two-time winner and money leader Roland Thatcher will be in Miami this week. The Auburn grad stands to pad his money lead of more than $70,000 over his nearest pursuer despite missing five of his last six cuts. No. 3 Jason Day is not in Miami this week as he is recovering from a sore wrist. He has missed the last three events due to health issues, in addition to the wrist this week. No. 2 Nick Flanagan is now on the PGA TOUR and has indicated he will not be playing any more Nationwide Tour events this year. Nicholas Thompson, a former Georgia Tech All-American, is No. 4 on the money list and will be playing in his back yard. His home in Coral Springs is only 30 miles up Interstate 95 in Broward County. This is the Nationwide Tour's fourth visit to the par-71, 7,200-yard Miccosukee Golf & Country Club. The winners of the first three events were Craig Bowden (2003), D.J. Trahan (2004) and Bryce Molder (2006). The tournament was cancelled in 2005 due to hurricane Wilma. Molder is on the PGA TOUR this year and will not be back to defend his title, marking yet another year on the Nationwide Tour that no player will have successfully defended a title. The Miccosukee Championship field includes sponsor exemptions Notah Begay III, Bobby Clampett and Tadd Fujikawa. Begay, a college teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford, has four PGA TOUR wins. Clampett, a TNT and CBS golf analyst, has played in 391 PGA TOUR events, having won the 1982 Southern Open. This will be the second Nationwide Tour appearance for the 16-year-old Fujikawa. Last month, he played in the Albertsons Boise Open, missing the cut by three shots. Last week, at the Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek, two players climbed into THE 25. Ron Whittaker, who recorded his first Nationwide Tour title, jumped from No. 27 on the money list to No.11. Australian David McKenzie, runner-up to Whittaker, sailed from 43rd to 24th . Brenden Pappas of South Africa is the man on THE 25 bubble for the third week in a row. All four rounds of the Miccosukee Championship will be televised on the Golf Channel starting Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET. |