'THE 25' taking shape, Tour Championship field changing

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TODD'S TALENT SURFACING QUICKLY
For a guy who didn't get a chance to make his first Nationwide Tour start of 2008 until April, Brendon Todd is doing quite nicely for himself. The four-time University of Georgia All-American has played in all but one event since tying for 25th in his first event -- appropriately enough, the Athens Regional Foundation Classic, played near the UGA campus. The last four weeks have seen him climb from 72nd on the money list to 15th on the strength of ties for 16th, 14th and ninth and last week's win in the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. Only 23, the Atlanta resident is engaged to Rachel Moore and scheduled to be married next March 14th at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia. Asked if he had checked next year's PGA TOUR schedule, Todd replied, "We have -- but we're not changing it."

De Jonge

BRENDON DE JONGE CLINGS TO NO. 1
Jarrod Lyle closed the gap on Brendon de Jonge's grasp of the top spot on the money list at the Utah Championship. The Australian Lyle closed with a 65 to tie for 33rd, while de Jonge of Zimbabwe missed the cut. De Jonge had made the previous eight cuts. Lyle earned $3,355 and now trails de Jonge by only $735. Both are playing in Boise this week. Jeff Klauk closed with a 64 in Utah to jump five spots on the money list to No. 3, more than $75,000 behind de Jonge.

FIVE EVENTS AND COUNTING TO MAKE NATIONWIDE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
It's hard to believe, but the 30-tournament Nationwide Tour season has just five events remaining for players to earn a spot in the 60-player season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. A spot in the field is critical for one of two reasons, depending on where a player stands on the money list:
1) every player in the field has a legitimate chance to play their way into "THE 25," which guarantees a 2009 PGA TOUR card
2) Any player who finishes within the top 60 on the money list is assured of fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour next year. Ewan Porter of Australia is this week's man on the No. 25 bubble, while Chad Ginn of Alexandria, La., is on the Nationwide Tour Championship hot seat at No. 60. Look for lots of interesting developments in the coming weeks.

Damron

THE ALBERTSONS BOISE OPEN PRESENTED BY KRAFT/A TREND SETTER
The Albertsons Boise Open is one of the Nationwide Tour's four original stops (Knoxville, Tenn., Springfield, Mo., and Wichita, Kan.) from the 1990 season that remain on the schedule. Throughout the years, the event has made many contributions to the Tour and become an extremely popular event among the players. The field this week reflects this. You have to go all the way down the money list to No. 52 -- Robert Damron -- to find a player who is not entered in the Boise field ... and he is sidelined having had shoulder surgery in August. Other than Damron, only two players among the top 100 who are Tour regulars are not in the field -- Cameron Percy (No. 55) and Ben Bates (No.100). Every 2008 winner but Damron is entered. The Albertsons Boise Open is a leader in charitable giving on the Nationwide Tour having donated $8.4 million since its inception and a single-season mark for the Tour of $2,026,000 last year. Its "Tickets For Charity" program has been successfully adopted by a number of other Tour events.

VILLEGAS' WIN IS NO. 232
Camilo Villegas' win in the third event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, the BMW Championship, brings the total number of PGA TOUR titles won by former Nationwide Tour players to 232. The Colombia native's victory was the 15th by a former Tour member this year.

PGA TOUR PLAYOFFS FOR THE FEDEXCUP
Fourteen former NWT members advanced to the final event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Thirty players will vie for a purse of $7 million as the $35 million FedExCup comes to its conclusion at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta later this month.

Hietala

RYAN HIETALA -- NO LONGER ON THE BUBBLE
Ryan Hietala birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th holes at Willow Creek Country Club on Sunday to shoot 32 and tie for second. The birdies played a big role in moving the Cox Classic champion off the No. 25 bubble spot and into 17th position on the money list. Hietala plays a "home game" this week as the Nationwide Tour moves to Boise, Idaho, where he currently resides.

WON JOON LEE POSTS BEST TOUR FINISH
The Nationwide Tour's longest hitter and second youngest player, Won Joon Lee, enjoyed his best Nationwide Tour finish on Sunday. A final-round 64 (30 on the back nine) moved the young man with the nickname "Boom Boom" into a tie with five others for second place. He improved 22 spots on the money list to No. 68. Lee, 22, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Australia at an early age. Last December, he finished runner-up in the Australian Open. The former basketball player hit his first golf shot just eight years ago. His 315.7 average in Driving Distance moved him ahead of Bubba Watson (315.0) as the longest driver on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour based on TOUR-measured statistics.

Ogden

CLAY OGDEN -- A WINNER BEFORE AT HILLCREST CC
Hillcrest Country Club is the host venue of this week's Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft. It is also the site of Clay Ogden's first AJGA win, which came when he was 15 years old. Ogden was a Monday qualifier at last week's Utah Championship. His top-10 finish (tie for eighth) earned him a place in the Boise field this week.

NEXT WEEK
The Nationwide Tour stays in the northwest for the Oregon Classic presented by Kendall Automotive Group in Eugene. Kyle Thompson captured his second victory of 2007 at host Shadow Hills Country Club.

THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY
• September 8, 1996: Stewart Cink joins Michael Christie as a multiple winner, adding the Colorado Classic to his earlier victory in the Ozarks Open. Cink would go on to lead the money list and graduate to the PGA TOUR where he is closing in on $25 million in career earnings (10th all time).
• September 13, 2001: The PGA TOUR cancels the Oregon Classic in the aftermath of the terrorist tragedies of September 11th in New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania.