Notebook: Nationwide Tour Championship

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• November 3-9, 2008
• TPC Craig Ranch; McKinney, Texas
• $1,000,000 Purse / $180,000 First Place
• 30th of 30 events
• 2007 Champion -- Richard Johnson 66-64-67-67-264 (-20)

A new venue for the Championship: This year's event has changed venues to TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, just north of Dallas. The tournament has been on a three-city rotation since leaving the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, where it was contested for a total of nine years. The 2006 Championship was held at The Houstonian G&CC and last year's tournament was staged at Barona Creek GC near San Diego. TPC Craig Ranch will play to a par 71 and stretch to 7,438 yards.

The tournament field: This year's field features the top-60 leading money winners on the 2008 Nationwide Tour. The field of 60 has been reduced to 59 with the withdrawl of Tee McCabe, No. 57 on the money list. McCabe has been bothered by an injury to his left wrist and will not participate. McCabe still has until Friday at 5 p.m. ET to commit to the event.

de Jonge

Brendon de Jonge is No. 1: Brendon de Jonge, winner of the Xerox Classic enters the tournament No. 1 on the season money list with $415,835. His total represents the fourth-highest single-season amount in Tour history, topping Roland Thatcher's 2007 earnings of $415,124 by $711. Troy Matteson holds the single-season money record with $495,009 in 2005 and de Jonge would need to finish first ($180,000), solo second ($108,000) or a two-way tie for second ($88,000) in order to top Matteson's total.

Plenty at stake this week: In addition to the $1 million purse and the $180,000 first-place check up for grabs at the Tour Championship, there are a couple of other things at stake for the players. THE 25 leading money winners at the end of the season will earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2009. Those players ranked No. 26-40 will also earn an exemption into the final stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament (Q-school), which takes place at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., Dec. 3-8. All of the top 60 money winners are also fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour for the 2009 season.

Daley

$1 million purse keeps everyone mathematically alive: This week's purse of $1 million will mark only the second time in Nationwide Tour history that such a purse has been offered. The Nationwide Tour Players Cup (July 7-13) was the first event to offer such a total. The first-place check of $180,000 will guarantee the tournament winner a spot among THE 25 leading money winners, and a trip to the PGA TOUR next year. Joe Daley comes into the event No. 60 on the money list with $110,497, and a win would boost Daley into the top 20.

What No. 1 on the money list means: There are a couple of perks that will go to the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner next year. The player will earn full-exempt status for the 2009 PGA TOUR -- the equivalent of finishing among this year's top 125 PGA TOUR money winners. In addition, the No. 1 player on the money list will receive an exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship next May.

Not many changes to the money list: Despite all of the possibilities of potential changes to the money list at the Tour Championship over the years, no more than two players have ever been bumped out of the graduating class in any single year. Last year, Skip Kendall (No. 22) and David McKenzie (No. 23) were replaced in the class by Michael Letzig (runner-up/No. 26 to No. 12) and Tom Scherrer (T3/No. 27 to No. 20).

Tidland

Lots of potential movement among THE 25: With the 60-man field competing for $1 million this coming week, the potential remains for some volatility in the final money list standings for the 2008 season. Chris Tidland, winner of the Albertsons Boise Open currently holds the No. 25 spot on the money list with $199,130. A second-place finish is worth $108,000 and could also vault that player into the top-25 from as far down as No. 60. Third place is worth $68,000, which could be enough to push someone up from as low as No. 42 (Chris Anderson, $148,600). Fourth place is worth $40,000 and that could help someone as low as No. 36 (Scott Dunlap, $166,856).

Who's Hot: Several players come into the week on a high note. Arjun Atwal, playoff winner of the Chattanooga Classic, hasn't missed a cut since the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic in August. Atwal is No. 17 on the money list. Matt Bettencourt has three top-5 finishes in his last five starts, including a win at the Oregon Classic and a playoff loss to D.A. Points at the recent Miccosukee Championship. Bettencourt is No. 12 on the money list. Hunter Haas, No. 26 on the money list, has three top-10 finishes and five top-25 finishes in his last five starts. Spencer Levin comes into the Tour Championship at No. 21 on the money list with five top-10s in his last nine starts.

Levin

Spencer Levin's steady climb in 2008: Spencer Levin's rookie season didn't start out well. The (now) 24-year old Californian missed the cut in seven of his first nine starts and after 11 events on the 2008 schedule was No. 131 on the money list. Starting with a T32 at the Melwood Prince George's County Open, Levin (luh-VEEN), has slowly been working his way up the list. His first top-10 was a tie for fifth the next week at the Bank of America Open. He added a T7 at the Knoxville Open and a T2 at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, which pushed him to No. 34 on the money list. Four consecutive top-10s, starting at the Utah Championship pushed him to a season-high No. 17. In his last two starts, the former University of New Mexico All-America has finished T18 and T41 and comes into the week at No. 21 on the money list with an excellent chance to reach the PGA TOUR in 2009.

Greg Owen on pace for Nationwide Tour record: Almost unnoticed this season is the exceptionally steady play of England's Greg Owen. The 36-year old transplanted Floridian has played in only 16 events, but has seven top-5 finishes on his resume along with three other top-25s. Owen is currently ranked No. 1 in the Tour's All-Around category, a statistic which is computed by totaling a player's rank in: Scoring Leaders, Putting Leaders, Eagle Leaders, Birdie Leaders, Sand Saves, Greens in Regulation, Driving Distance and Driving Accuracy. Owen's All-Around total is 94, well below the all-time record of 111 set by Zach Johnson in 2003.

Tomasulo

Peter Tomasulo's rare triple: Peter Tomasulo is only the second player in Nationwide Tour history to register two aces and a double-eagle during the same season. Tomasulo had a hole-in-one during the second round of the Melwood Prince George's County Open and then added a second ace during the opening round of the Utah Championship. He then added the Tour's only double-eagle in 2008 a few weeks later in the second round of the Chattanooga Classic. The only other player to accomplish the feat was David Hearn, who did it last year.

Birdies = Money: It seems no small coincidence that this year's leading money winner, Brendon de Jonge, also leads the Nationwide Tour in Total Birdies. The former Virginia Tech standout has 399 birdies for the season and is also ranked No. 1 in Par-4 Scoring Average (3.95).

More on Tee McCabe: Tee McCabe has been plagued by an injury for the past couple of months. The injury is just above his left wrist and will keep him out of both the Nationwide Tour Championship and the upcoming PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. "It's a big relief that I have a place to play next year," McCabe said this week. "I was hurting for a while but I needed to keep playing because I wasn't sure I'd make it into the top-60. I know I can't keep playing with the pain I have now. I've been to see several doctors and have some appointments with the radiologist. I know that I have to rest it for at least a month or more. You just never know how long it will take to heal properly."

Pro-Am schedule: Unlike most weeks on Tour, there will be a Pro-Am scheduled for both Tuesday and Wednesday of tournament week. Players will play in one or the other, depending on their preferences. Tee times will run from 7:30 to 9:40 a.m. each day with play off both the first and tenth tees.

Practice times: Players will be free to play practice rounds on the tournament course at any time on Monday and must wait until the final groups have made the turn during Tuesday and Wednesday Pro-Am (approximately 1 p.m.)

Starting/Finish Times: Pairings (twosomes) for Thursday-Sunday will run from approximately 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT with an expected finish time of 4:30 p.m. for the first three days and 4:15 p.m. for Sunday. Pairings for the first round will be based on the existing money rankings, with the top players teeing off last. Players will be re-paired for the second, third and fourth rounds based on their tournament standing.

GOLF CHANNEL coverage: The GOLF CHANNEL will provide four-day coverage of the Nationwide Tour Championship. Television times will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. ET each day.

TPC Craig Ranch: The TPC Craig Ranch course was designed by 15-time PGA TOUR winner Tom Weiskopf with PGA TOUR player consultant D.A. Weibring. The course, routed along Rowlett Creek, opened for play on September 16, 2004. The course stretches to 7,438 yards and plays to a par-71.

A year ago: Richard Johnson earned his second title of the season, finishing with a tournament-record 20-under par 264 to win the Nationwide Tour Championship by one stroke over Michael Letzig, who set another tournament record with his 11-under-par 60 in the opening round at Barona Creek. Letzig increased his lead to four strokes after 36 holes but a third-day 73 saw him drop two back of Johnson, who posted scores of 66-64-67 to lead by one after 54 holes.

Richard Johnson's 2008 PGA TOUR season: Richard Johnson has struggled during his rookie season on the PGA TOUR, making only nine cuts in 27 starts (prior to the Ginn Sur Mer Classic). Johnson has made the cut in four of his last five starts but remains No. 195 on the money list. His best finish is a T27 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship four weeks ago.