Scranton's Elmhurst C.C. plays host for first time

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Jarrod Lyle broke 70 in all four rounds of Xerox Classic.

MOSCOW, Pa. -- Australian Jarrod Lyle, who nearly played his way onto the PGA TOUR last week at the Xerox Classic in Rochester, N.Y., arrives in the Scranton, Pa. area this week for the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, having strengthened his position atop the Nationwide Tour money list.

Starting the final round four strokes back of leader Brendon de Jonge, Lyle burst out of the gates and into the lead with a four-under-par 31 on the front nine. A disappointing back nine of three-over-par 38 dropped Lyle into a second-place finish with de Yonge claiming the victory.

Nonetheless, the two-time 2008 winner increased his money lead to $42,110 over De Jonge, who moved ten spots up the list and into the No. 2 spot held the week before by Greg Chalmers.

De Jonge, 28, remains close friends with former Virginia Tech teammate and 2008 PGA TOUR winner (Shell Houston Open) Johnson Wagner. His win in Rochester was his first on the Nationwide Tour and the first by a native of Zimbabwe.

De Jonge's $108,000 paycheck all but assured that the 28-year old will join his friend Wagner on the PGA TOUR in 2009. Both currently reside in Charlotte, N.C.

The Northeast Pennsylvania Classic is the only PGA TOUR co-sanctioned event in Pennsylvania. The Nationwide Tour stops in the Keystone State for the ninth time this week, but will be playing Elmhurst Country Club for the first time. The Donald Ross-designed layout will be a challenging venue of 6,810 yards and play to a par of 70.

Fifteen of the year's 19 Nationwide Tour winners are in the field. Lyle is joined by the year's other two-time winner Colt Knost of Texas. If either player wins at Elmhurst, he will earn an immediate three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR.

The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup kick off on Thursday at The Barclays in Paramus, N.J., a suburb of New York City. This year, 89 of the 136 players who are expected to be at Ridgewood Country Club have Nationwide Tour roots.

The Nationwide Tour is idle next week before traveling west to Sandy, Utah for the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank.