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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

GLENVIEW, Ill. -- The list is short but sweet, containing only five names -- Marco Dawson, Andre Stolz, Brendan Jones, Chris Couch and Jason Dufner. But it carries great significance for the members of the Nationwide Tour.

Paul Claxton: "The winner here is pretty much locked." (WireIMage)

It is a list of the past champions of the LaSalle Bank Open, which begins Thursday at The Glen Club in this northern suburb of Chicago.

Its importance revolves around the No. 1 goal of every Nationwide Tour player, accumulating enough in official earnings to finish in the Top 25 and earn playing privileges on the PGA TOUR the following season. And a victory here has provided a stairway to golf heaven for each of the winners.

There are three reasons -- purse, purse and purse.

The LaSalle Bank offers $750,000 -- the largest full-field purse and second only to the 60-player Nationwide Tour Championship and its $775,000 -- to be divvied up unequally by those who make the 36-hole cut. It is the winner's share of $135,000 that gets the juices flowing. If nothing else, it's more than enough to place a player inside the Top 60 and guarantee Nationwide status in 2008 as well as reserve a spot in the '07 Tour Championship should this be the only check he cashes.

"The winner here is pretty much locked (for his PGA TOUR card),'' said Paul Claxton, the winner of last week's inaugural Melwood Price George's County Open and the first player to surpass $1 million in career earnings on the Nationwide Tour. "It's always nice to play for as much money as we can every week.''

In all likelihood, Claxton, third on the money list with $197,588 thanks to his $108,000 payday last week, already is locked. But the idea is to keep moving forward because the higher a player finishes on the money list enhances his chances of gaining entry into more PGA TOUR events upon graduation.

"I guess you could say we're never satisfed until the season is over,'' he said.

Another thing, besides the purse, that pleases the field of 156 professionals, that includes 19 PGA TOUR champions and 16 players with full-time status on the TOUR in '07, is the venue.

"This golf course is exactly what this Tour needs,'' said South African veteran Brendan Pappas, who is in his third full season on the Nationwide Tour and has three seasons of experience in The Big Show. "It sets up like a PGA TOUR course.''

Tim O'Neal, currently in 64th on the money list with $31,501, agreed.

"It's a great golf tournament, mainly because of the purse, but that's not the only reason,'' he said. "We're treated very well here and the course (a Tom Fazio design) is great. There's a lot of rough. You have to be accurate off the tee and think your way around.''

The Glen Club changes to a par 72 this year. In 2006, 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 6th hole (ranked second toughest at 4.518), the par-4 14th hole (ranked third toughest at 4.509) and the par-4 16th hole (ranked sixth toughest at 4.432).

Dufner, the defending champion, won with a five-under-par total of 279. He went on to qualify for the United States Open on the Monday following his victory. He finished in a tie for 40th there and O'Neal said he credited Glen Club with helping him prepare.

"I remember him telling me the rough really wasn't any different there than it was here last year,'' O'Neal said.