Storylines: Reavie's special text, Compton to wed

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TOUR'S MIDWEST SWING WRAPS UP IN WICHITA THIS WEEK -- The Nationwide Tour's four-tournament Midwest run concludes this week in Wichita with the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open. The swing began in Springfield, Mo., (Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr. Pepper) before heading to Columbus, Ohio (Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational) and Omaha, Neb., last week (Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet). Much Tour history has been made in these events with Wichita and Springfield among two of the four original events still on the schedule and Omaha a Tour regular since 1996.

Lyle

MONEY LIST IS TIGHT AT THE TOP AT SEASON'S 2/3 MARK -- Leading money winner Jarrod Lyle has a lead of $26,780 on No. 2 Greg Chalmers, yet the difference between Chalmers and the next seven players is a mere $22,483. Lyle has earnings of $293,366, Chalmers $266,586 and No. 9 David Mathis $244,103. Twelve players have won more than $200,000 this year, 42 are in excess of $100,000 and No. 25 Scott Dunlap has collected $140,483. By way of comparison, through 20 events last year, six players had surpassed $200,000 and 30 were above $100,000. No. 25 B.J. Staten had earnings of $118,211.

"25" BUBBLE IS EVEN TIGHTER -- Ryan Hietala's win in the Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet on Sunday enabled him to catapult from No. 148 to No. 26 on the money list. Scott Dunlap is this week's man on the bubble at No. 25 with $140,483. Only $10 separates Dunlap and Hietala on the money list.

McLachlin

PARKER McLACHLIN BAGS WIN NO. 231 FOR THE NATIONWIDE TOUR -- Hawaii's Parker McLachlin captured the 231st PGA TOUR win by a former Nationwide Tour player over the weekend at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. The 2002 UCLA grad's seven-shot cushion was one of the largest TOUR victory margins by a Nationwide Tour grad. The largest was David Duval's nine-shot win in the 1999 Mercedes Championship. McLachlin played the Nationwide Tour full time in 2006, finishing 29th on the money list. He was one of two Punahou School (Honolulu) graduates in the Reno field, the other being Michelle Wie.

SCOUTING THE RYDER CUP -- In early September Captain Paul Azinger will announce his 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup squad, which will consist of eight players based on points and four captain's picks. As was the case in 2006 when there were nine, plus Captain Tom Lehman, the U.S. team will have solid Nationwide Tour representation via its alumni. Of this week's top-10 on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list, five once played regularly on the Nationwide Tour and 16 of the top 25.

Compton

HEART TRANSPLANT PATIENT ERIK COMPTON TO BE WED ON AUGUST 10th -- Three months removed from receiving his second heart transplant (May 20th), Erik Compton is planning to get married this weekend to Barbara Casco of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Erik and Barbara, who met in the gym at the condos where they live in Miami Beach, will exchange vows by the ocean in Palmetto Bay near Miami. Compton received his first transplant at age 12. He rose to become one of the country's top juniors, an All-American at the University of Georgia and a member of the 2001 Walker Cup team. In 84 Nationwide Tour starts dating back to 2002, Compton has seven top-10 finishes and came closest to victory with a T2 in the 2004 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open where he was one of three playoff victims. Congratulations to Erik and Barbara!

"THE GREAT ONE" CHECKS IN WITH CHEZ -- In the aftermath of his recent win in the PGA TOUR's RBC Canadian Open Chez Reavie received numerous messages of congratulations, including one from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. "Great playing. Nice job. You deserve it, you work hard" was The Great One's text message. Reavie and Gretzky became acquainted at Whisper Rock near Phoenix. Gretzky coaches the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes. Said Reavie, "It (the message) is in the phone. It's not going to get deleted. Well, maybe if my phone breaks." Reavie gave much credit for his first-year success on the PGA TOUR to the two preceding years he spent on the Nationwide Tour (2006, 2007). "The Nationwide Tour is amazing," he said. "I obviously wasn't ready for the PGA TOUR right out of college. And some guys are, the superstars are, but I definitely wasn't. I had to learn how to play tournament golf and play week in and week out against the great players and learn how to score before I was ready to play out here."

Muthiya

ZAMBIA'S MADALITSO MUTHIYA POSTS TOP TOUR FINISH IN OMAHA -- Madalitso Muthiya's path to the Nationwide Tour is one of the Tour's unique stories. A native of Kitwe, Zambia, he caught the eye of his country's president, Frederick Chiluba, when he was 15. Chiluba arranged for him to play in a junior event in the U.S. which served to broaden his horizons. Muthiya, who graduated from the University of New Mexico with an economics degree in 2005, has gone on to compete in the U.S. Public Links (2005) and U.S. Amateur (2005), and in 2006 he became the first golfer from his country to qualify for the U.S. Open. A conditionally-exempt player on the Nationwide Tour this year, he has made only six starts. On Sunday in Omaha he recorded his best TOUR finish, a T18. All four rounds were in the 60s.

GARTH MULROY / WOULDN'T HE LOVE TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THAT NINE AGAIN -- In his second full season on the Nationwide Tour Garth Mulroy was as close to victory as he's ever been at the Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet. If only he could get a do-over for Saturday's back nine. The South African who played college golf at North Carolina State raced up the leaderboard on Saturday when he torched the front nine in 29 shots. Things did not go as well on the back nine as Mulroy posted a 41 for a round of 70. A final-round 69 gave him a T3 finish, three shots out of the Ryan Hietala/David Branshaw playoff, which Hietala won. With three top-six finishes in his last five starts, Mulroy has moved 40 spots up the money list to No. 34, putting him in position to vie for one of the coveted "25" spots over the remaining 10 events.

NEXT WEEK -- The Nationwide Tour will be in Rochester, N.Y. next week (August 11-17) for the Xerox Classic, site of Australian Nick Flanagan's three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR last August. The Donald Ross-designed Irondequoit Country Club (1919) will host the event for the fourth year in a row. Golf Channel will televise all four rounds.

THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY -- Heath Slocum (in 2001) and Jason Gore (in 2005) earn immediate promotions to the PGA TOUR on August 5th, both doing so at the Omaha Classic presented by Chevrolet. Also on August 5th (in 1999), Joey Snyder III and Joel Edwards make Tour history when each record a double eagle within one hour of one another in the opening hours of the Omaha Classic on the 528-yard second hole.