Week 27 Approach Shots: Chattanooga Classic

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For the third time in four years, a playoff decided the Chattanooga Classic when Arjun Atwal outlasted Webb Simpson in 2008 on the first extra hole. Close finishes are a hallmark of this event. In the previous six tournaments, those not resulting in a playoff were decided by one stroke.

This week's Chattanooga Classic is the second-to-last full-field event before the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C., open to 2009's top-60 money-winners. Next week, players outside the top 60 will have a final chance to move up at the Miccosukee Championship in Miami.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 27th of 29 Nationwide Tour events WHEN: Oct. 8-11 WHERE: Chattanooga, Tenn. COURSE: Black Creek Club WHAT'S AT STAKE: $500,000 purse ($90,000 for winner) KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard | Tournament page | "THE 25"

TURNER'S RISE: Soboba Classic winner Jerod Turner had only played in six Nationwide Tour events before glory came his way on Sunday. The 34-year-old one-time general contractor was born in Oak Harbour, Wash., and now lives in Hurst, Texas. His position on the conditionally-exempt list provided limited access much of the year. He did not get his first Nationwide Tour start until August in Wichita where he finished tied for 17th. The self-taught Turner proceeded to miss the cut in the next four events, but when Kyle Reifers withdrew from the WNB Golf Classic at the last minute, Turner took full advantage with a tie for seventh. It was on to Southern California where he quickly determined the course was to his liking. Four days later, he was $180,000 richer and, more importantly, on the cusp of earning a PGA TOUR card for 2010. Turner's one-week jump of 133 spots from 150th on the money list to 17th this late in the season is likely the biggest ever.

SUNDAY BLUES: With the wind blowing, the Club at Soboba Springs played three shots harder during the final round than it did on Saturday. The conditions took their toll on a couple of players who are in tenuous positions relative to "THE 25" and the top-60. Aussie Alistair Presnell shot ten strokes higher on Sunday (77) than he did on Saturday. He dropped two places on the money list to 22nd. Rickie Fowler of nearby Murrieta, Calif., also posted a final-round 77 in front of his hometown fans and wound up one shot outside of a top-25 finish that would have secured him a spot in Chattanooga this week and aided his pursuit of status for 2010. Rookie and recent Mexico Open winner Troy Merritt stumbled on Sunday as well with a 78 to fall four spots to 32nd. Steve Wheatcroft of Jacksonville, Fla., matched Presnell's ten-shot Saturday/Sunday swing (66-76) when he was in a golden position to climb closer to "The 25". He finished the week where he began it, 33rd. In the top-60 watch, Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas, a semifinalist in the 2007 U.S. Amateur, ballooned to 78 on Sunday. He improved two spots to 64th but left a lot on the table in his quest to lock up a top-60 spot and, at the very least, fully-exempt Nationwide Tour status for 2010.

CUP CONNECTIONS: The Nationwide Tour will be represented by nine of its alumni this week at The Presidents Cup. Six players will compete for U.S. Captain Fred Couples -- Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson, Sean O'Hair and Steve Stricker. International Captain Greg Norman has Tim Clark, Ernie Els and Camilo Villegas on his squad. Dating to the first Presidents Cup, which was played in 1994, four years after the launch of the Nationwide Tour, 37 different players have played for the U.S. Fourteen of them are Nationwide Tour alumni.

CHAPPELL CLIMBS: 2008 NCAA individual champion Kevin Chappell out of UCLA Monday qualified again last week for the fifth time this year. Since cashing his first check at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic on Aug. 30th, the Fresno, Calif., native has climbed from 150th on the money list to 76th. His tie for 14th on Sunday earned him another Nationwide Tour start this week in Chattanooga. Chappell had no Nationwide Tour status to start the year. He now has four top-15 finishes in eight starts.

GILLIS MISSES FIRST CUT: Tom Gillis was 12 for 12 in cuts made in 2009 entering the Soboba Classic. His streak came to end when the Michigan native shot 72-78. It was the first time he posted back-to-back over-par rounds this year. In 48 rounds prior to the Soboba event, 43 were par or better. The missed cut also brings to a close Gillis' streak of six consecutive top-10s. He is fifth on the money list. Also, No. 2 Blake Adams missed the cut for the second week in a row. He'd made 11 in a row entering the WNB Golf Classic in Midland. With No. 1 Michael Sim now on the PGA TOUR, Adams has three events to catch Sim for the money title.

ROOKIE WATCH: A number of first-year Nationwide Tour members are in contention for a 2010 PGA TOUR card. Leading the "rookie" charge are tournament winners Derek Lamely at No. 3 on the money list and Josh Teater at No. 13, both of whom have secured their cards. Sunday's winner, Jerod Turner, is in excellent shape having leaped 133 spots to 17th. Australian Alistair Presnell (22nd) is the other rookie inside "The 25." Next in line and needing to make up ground are Texas A&M grad Martin Piller (29th), Boise State's Troy Merritt (32nd), Swede and Florida State grad Jonas Blixt (35th), another Aussie in Adam Bland (36th) and Canadian Dustin Risdon (38th). Presnell and Merritt are also 2009 winners. The average age of the seven players is 27.

SIM UPDATE: Michael Sim recorded a tie for 55th in the PGA TOUR's Turning Stone Resort Championship last week. It was his first TOUR start since he won his third Nationwide Tour event of '09 in August and earned a promotion to the PGA TOUR. Sim got off to a rough start when he made a quadruple-bogey seven on the sixth hole of his first round, leading to a 75 in the cold, raw upstate New York weather. He rebounded to make the cut, shooting 66 on Friday. Sim finished with 72-70 on the weekend for a 283 total. He is currently the 66th ranked player in the world.

Weather forecast for the Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Partly cloudy Temp: 78 high/52 low Rain Temp: 83 high/67 low Rain Temp: 70 high/61 low Thunderstorms Temp: 67 high/54 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Chattanooga Classic presented by Black Creek snippets

Hometown favorite: Chattanooga's Adam Mitchell, 22, will be in the spotlight this week. He was a dominant prep golfer in Chattanooga and had a successful career at the University of Georgia, won the Porter Cup and was a member of the victorious U.S. team in the Walker Cup at Merion Golf Club. Course favorite: Johnson Wagner has the most rounds in the 60s at Black Creek, with 14 of the 16 he played here in four appearances from 2003 to 2006. His best finish was a tie for second in 2004. Course record: Arjun Atwal's 12-under 60 in the second round at the Chattanooga Classic was the low round on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. The 60 is also the Black Creek Club 18-hole record.