Plenty at stake at Nationwide Tour Championship

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Chris Tidland comes into this week on the Nationwide Tour bubble at No. 25 on the money list.

McKINNEY, Texas -- After the grind of 29 tournaments over the course of 42 weeks, one might expect that four more rounds of golf might come and go without drastic changes in the Nationwide Tour pecking order.

That would be, in a word, presumptuous. One glance at the seven-figure purse for this week's Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch and the traffic jam among the 59 participants on the all-important money list suggests otherwise.

There is a strong possibility there will be some huge changes in fortune -- some good, others not -- by the time the 2008 season ends Sunday afternoon. Brendon de Jonge selected the perfect phrase to describe what could happen here with a $1 million purse and an $180,000 first prize on the line.

"There could be a lot of volatility,'' said de Jonge, the burly South African who stands on the top rung of the money ladder with $415,835 -- nearly $40,000 in front of No. 2 Jarrod Lyle.

And where might all this volatility take place? How about at the top, in the middle and near the end of the money list?

So what the last 72 holes of 2008 are all about is changing places.

Those near the top of the money list have their eyes on de Jonge, hoping to supplant him at the top to garner the spiffy perks -- a full exemption on the PGA TOUR next year and a guaranteed spot in the THE Players Championship -- that go with being the season's financial leader.

"It's nice to be in a position to control my own destiny,'' said de Jonge, who scored his first significant professional victory at the Xerox Classic, while racking up five additional top 10s with just one missed cut in his last 14 events. "I'd much rather be fighting for the money title than for a spot in the top 25.''

Lyle obviously is in the best position to make a run, but for those scoring at home, 17 players have a mathematical chance of overtaking de Jonge should he limp home last in the field.

"To Brendon's credit, he's played great golf in the second half of the year,'' said Lyle, who held the money lead for 16 weeks. "It has been hard to keep up with him. But you never know what might happen. The main thing for me is to go out and let it happen.

"But if it doesn't that's the way it goes. My main goal was to get back to the TOUR. Win, lose or draw I'm going back.''

Players in the middle of "THE 25" pack who have earned enough to punch their tickets to the TOUR want a good showing so they're upwardly mobile on the money list. That would improve their status at the beginning of 2009.

Those between Nos. 21 and 25 on the money list, meanwhile, are sweating it out. No one wants to cough up a season's worth of work in the final event. Chris Tidland, with $199,130, is a guy sitting precariously on the bubble at No. 25.

"It could be better, but there are 35 guys here this week who wish they were in my position,'' Tidland said Tuesday. "The idea is to just go out and have a good tournament and I can move up a lot. If I have a poor tournament chances are I'm going to get lapped.''

Those between Nos. 26-40 are on the outside and longingly looking in. They're also keeping one eye on the players behind them who hope to move up into that 15-player spot that guarantees an exemption into the final stage of q-school.

Hunter Haas, at 26th, is among them. Based on his play in his last five events -- three top 10s and two top 25s -- he's poised to make a move. He trails Tidland by just $469 and will be playing what amounts to a home game on the 7,438-yard, par-71 TPC Craig Ranch course designed by Tom Weiskopf with an assist from D.A. Weibring.

The players from 41-60 have one primary goal: Win. But a top-10 finish could boost the majority inside the top 40, where they will gain a q-school exemption.

Finally, as an aside for those who have a hard time putting their arms around the concept that every Nationwide Tour dollar is important, consider Joe Daley.

At No. 60 on the money list Daley was the last player to get in the field this week. Henrik Bjornstad didn't get in. Bjornstad finished 61st on the money list, $109 behind Daley. That's basically the difference of one stroke over the course of 29 regular-season events. Had Bjornstad made one more putt or one less bogey, well, you get the picture.