Lyle, Knost chasing PGA TOUR promotion this week

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Jarrod Lyle hasn't finished better than a tie for 28th since his win at the Knoxville Open Presented by Food City in late June.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Jarrod Lyle and Colt Knost hope to follow in the same footsteps as Jason Gore, Heath Slocum and Chris Smith this week by earning an immediate three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR at the Nationwide Tour's Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet.

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Colt Knost ranks seventh on the Nationwide Tour in scoring average (70.63) in 2008.

If Lyle or Knost were to win on Sunday, it would be the earliest a player has earned an in-season promotion in Nationwide Tour history. Slocum (August 5, 2001), Gore (August 7, 2005) and Smith (August 10, 1997) did so the earliest with all three wins coming at the Cox Classic.

As the Nationwide Tour reaches the two-thirds mark in the season (this is the 20th of 30 events), Jarrod Lyle leads the money list for the fifth straight week with $291,021. During those five weeks, several players have stepped up their game, creating a flurry of mid-season changes among the money leaders.

Rick Price, the Nationwide Tour Players Cup winner in West Virginia, has moved from No. 40 to No. 5. Bill Lunde, who captured last week's Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational in Columbus, OH with a chip-in on the final hole, leaped from No. 26 to No. 7. Californian Peter Tomasulo has posted three top-ten finishes in his last four events, improving 25 spots to 12th. Dustin Bray, the runner-up to Lunde on Sunday, catapulted from No. 150 to No. 45 in just one week.

Darron Stiles, Knost and Greg Chalmers round out the top four. The goal for all players on the Nationwide Tour is to finish the season as one of "The 25" leading money winners who receive PGA TOUR cards for 2009.

With its $700,000 purse and $126,000 first prize, only six other tournaments offer larger prize money than the Cox Classic. Omaha is no stranger to exciting finishes. In its first 12 playings dating back to 1996 there have been three playoffs and five tournaments decided by a single stroke.

Last year Roland Thatcher earned his second win of the year outlasting then 19-year-old rising Australian star Jason Day on the final hole, eventually finishing second on the money list and graduating to the PGA TOUR. At 7,145 yards, look for low scoring to be on display at Champions Run. A year ago it was the second easiest course on the Nationwide Tour schedule, playing to an average score of 68.98 and yielding the most birdies of any event all year (1,922).

The Cox Classic, which is known for its big crowds and fun environment, always draws a strong field. This year, 45 of the top-50 money winners are entered and 85 of the top 100.

All four rounds will air on GOLF CHANNEL beginning Thursday at noon ET.

Next week the Nationwide Tour heads to Wichita, Kan. for the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.