NEWS

Nationwide Tour Weekly E-Notes
 
May. 29, 2007
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Nick Flanagan needs one more win to head to the PGA TOUR. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

  • The Tour heads for Chicago this week and the LaSalle Bank Open. With a $750,000 purse ($135,000 to the winner), this is one of the most important tournaments on the schedule. In fact, all five previous winners have gone on to graduate to the PGA TOUR the year of their victory.

  • He didn't quite equal Jason Gore, but Nick Flanagan gave a strong effort in attempting to win his third consecutive event last week. The young Aussie finished in a T5 at the Melwood Prince George's County Open after winning his previous two starts.

  • Paul Claxton not only won last week's Melwood Prince George's County Open for his second career win, but he also became the first player in Tour history to collect $1 million in career earnings. The win for Claxton was his first since the 2001 Louisiana Open and he has career earnings of $1,101,673.

  • The Nationwide Tour attracts players from all over the world. This week's LaSalle Bank Open will have players from 18 countries entered. International players have won four of the first 11 tournaments this season.

    • LASALLE BANK OPEN
    How previous winners ranked at season's end
    Year Winner Final Money Ranking
    2002 Marco Dawson 8th
    2003 Andre Stolz 13th
    2004 Brendan Jones 6th
    2005 Chris Couch 3rd
    2006 Jason Dufner 8th

  • Since its beginning in 2002, the LaSalle Bank Open has evolved into a very popular Nationwide Tour tournament that features one of the best player fields of the year. At $750,000, the purse is the Tour's highest for a full-field event and the second highest overall (Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek, $775,000). With a $135,000 first-place prize, much is at stake as the 156 professionals gather at The Glen Club for the fifth straight year.

  • A win or top finish this week could have a significant impact for the Nationwide Tour players as they focus on earning a spot in the coveted THE 25. In fact, the winner of the LaSalle Bank Open has never finished lower than 13th on the final money list.

  • In 2008, the LaSalle Bank Open will be the only PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in the greater Chicago area as the BMW Championship begins its rotation.

  • The spotlight remains on Nick Flanagan as he seeks to become the Tour's eighth player to earn the three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR. He challenged last week in Maryland, finishing T5. A strong field will be in Chicago with the top 22 leading money winners, including all 11 winners to date, and 47 of the top 50 (two of the three are PGA Tour of Australasia members) scheduled to play. Nearly 70 Nationwide Tour winners will tee it up, including five-time winner Chris Smith and four-time winners Kevin Stadler and Kevin Johnson.

  • The LaSalle Bank Open returns to the 7,263-yard The Glen Club for the fifth consecutive season, however this year it will play as a par 72. Last year, the par-71 course played to an average of 73.857, making it the second-toughest course on Tour. Three holes ranked among the 10 toughest on Tour in 2006, including the par-4 sixth hole (ranked second toughest at 4.518), the par-4 14th (ranked third toughest at 4.509) and the par-4 16th (ranked sixth toughest at 4.432).

  • The LaSalle Bank Open has already seen two of its four winners follow their victories at the Glen Club with wins the following season on the PGA TOUR. Andre Stolz, the 2003 winner, went on to win the 2004 Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, while 2005 winner Chris Couch claimed the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Jason Dufner has yet to win on TOUR, but he has posted season-best tie-for-13th finishes at the Sony Open in Hawaii and The Honda Classic.

  • Dillon Dougherty, a former Northwestern University standout, headlines a group of six players who will receive sponsor's exemptions into this week's LaSalle Bank Open. The 24-year-old Dougherty is best known for making it to the finals of the 2005 U.S. Amateur, losing 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final to Edoardo Molinari. Others receiving exemptions are Kevin Hall, Netherlands native Rolf Muntz, University of Illinois men's golf coach Mike Small and three-time PGA TOUR winner Gary Hallberg.