Final stretch for Nationwide Tour begins this week

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After a two-week break, the stretch drive to the end of the Nationwide Tour season begins in earnest this week at the WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Texas. It is one of four remaining events. Midland will be followed by two full-field tournaments in Chattanooga, Tenn. ,(Oct. 16-19) and Miami, Fla., (Oct. 23-26) then the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch near Dallas, Texas, (Nov. 6-9) where only the top-60 money winners through the Miccosukee Classic (Miami) get into the field. Currently, Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe and Virginia Tech University is No. 1 on the money list ($7,911 advantage over Jarrod Lyle). Ricky Barnes of Stockton, Calif., and the University of Arizona is No. 25 ($6,399 advantage over Bubba Dickerson). Australian Cameron Percy is No. 60 ($1,363 over Dustin Bray). With only $4,737 separating No. 17 Matt Weibring and No. 23 Ryan Hietala, the Nationwide Tour is in store for a lot of excitement over the next four tournaments.

Haas

NO. 27 HAAS IS "WALKING WOUNDED"
Dallas native Hunter Haas injured his right thumb during the Nationwide Tour's two-week break while assembling a toy for his one-year-old daughter. Injuries never come at a good time, but this one comes at a particularly bad time. The former University of Oklahoma star has been in very good form the last several weeks and seen his position on the money list improve from 69th in late July to 27th, only two spots outside the coveted "25". Haas tore off the nail of his right thumb. "I'm having difficulty just trying to tie my shoes," he told PGATOUR.COM on Sept. 26th. Nonetheless, Haas says he'll be in Midland. He even plans to haul his mobile barbecue pit and smoker and serve up a meal or two for his fellow players and members of the Tour's on-site staff.

"BUBBA" AND "BOOM BOOM" IN TIGHT DRIVING-DISTANCE BATTLE
Only 1/10th of a yard separates the leaders in the competition to see who will be king of the long drive among TOUR members in 2008. Bubba Watson leads the PGA TOUR with an average drive of 315.4 yards, while Won Joon "Boom Boom" Lee is atop the Nationwide Tour stats at 315.3 yards. Watson, a 2005 Nationwide Tour graduate, led the Driving Distance stat in his first two years on the PGA TOUR (2006-07). Lee, a native of South Korea who grew up in Australia, is the second youngest player on the Nationwide Tour. A Tour rookie, he turns 23 on Oct. 23rd. Watson is 53rd on the current PGA TOUR money list, while Lee, 69th, is striving to make the top 60 and earn a spot in the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch.

Day

JASON DAY HUSTLING TO MAKE THE PGA TOUR'S 125
"It's been a positive and a negative year," PGA TOUR rookie Jason Day told PGATOUR.COM last week. "It's positive in that I've learned a lot and am out here playing. I've got no more back injury and am really happy with my life. I've let a few things go off course, didn't work as hard as I could, but I've started practicing a lot harder the last three or four months." The 20-year-old Aussie, who became the youngest winner of a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in 2007 when he won on the Nationwide Tour in Cleveland, is 128th on the PGA TOUR money list after his tie for 19th at the Turning Stone Resort Championship on Sunday. At season's end (Nov. 9th), the top 125 money winners on the PGA TOUR will be fully exempt for 2009. "It's great to be out on the PGA TOUR earning a living playing golf, doing what I love and playing in front of a lot of people. It's an awesome feeling."

TOP-HEAVY INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE
The international presence on the Nationwide Tour has been strong throughout the year, but the balance has shifted some in the last few months. Brendon de Jonge of Zimbabwe and Jarrod Lyle of Australia hold down the first and second spots, respectively. Englishman Greg Owen is No. 5 with Aussie Greg Chalmers one behind him. Of the next 24 spots, however, 23 are owned by Americans, the lone exception being Aron Price of Australia at No. 20. Spots 31 and 32 belong to a pair of tournament winners whose forms were not particularly strong throughout the summer -- Canadian Bryan DeCorso and another Aussie, Ewan Porter.

NEXT WEEK
The Nationwide Tour is in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek. Black Creek Club has hosted the event since its inception in 2003.

THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY
Oct. 7, 2001: David Toms earned the 100th PGA TOUR title by a former Nationwide Tour player when he won the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. It is his seventh PGA TOUR win.
Oct. 10, 2004: Chris Nallen caps a record-setting week with a win in the Gila River Golf Classic near Phoenix. The 22-year-old University of Arizona grad became the 17th Monday qualifier to win, the 10th player to win his first career start and 19th to lead wire to wire. Nobody in Tour history had accomplished two of those feats in the same week, let alone all three.