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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

It's another year and another Nationwide Tour season in the offing.

Peter Tomasulo (WireImage)

That can mean only one thing as the calendar pushes toward 2008. It's time to peer into a murky crystal ball and attempt to do the impossible.

Predict how the season will shake out when all is said and done.

And this year, the Nationwide Tour gets more adventurous and prosperous than ever, what with two more stops in foreign countries (Canada and Mexico will be added to the schedule along with tournaments in Panama, New Zealand and Australia) and two record-breaking, seven-figure purses (the Nationwide Tour Players Cup and the Nationwide Tour Championship).

But the additional travel and financial incentive doesn't make it any easier to do a roll call of winners and losers. Raise your hand of you selected Wales' Richard Johnson to rise to the top of the 2007 money list as he became the first international player to do so in the 18 years of Nationwide Tour existence.

And it came after Johnson, who completely re-worked his swing in 2006, won two of the last five events, including the Nationwide Tour Championship to overtake long-time '07 money leader Roland Thatcher.

"I never gave (the money title) a thought to be honest," Johnson said after winning it.

So it was as big of a surprise to Johnson, who played in the final group four times in 2007 before finally breaking through, as it was a disappointment to Thatcher, who was No. 1 on the money ladder for almost four months. But that's how quickly things can change on a highly competitive tour that mixes young pros with veterans with PGA TOUR victories on their resumes.

It's sort of anything can happen circuit where, in 18 years, no player has ever defended a tournament title. So, who will be great in 2008?

Where will the dark horses coming running from?

And what events will make for must-see TV among the 16 televised on The GOLF Channel?

TOP STORYLINE

Can you say "seven figures?"

Back in November the Nationwide Tour hailed its 2008 Nationwide Tour Championship, slated for the TPC at Craig Ranch, as the first event to offer a purse of $1 million with a record first-place prize of $180,000.

A month later, the Nationwide Tour Players Cup, scheduled July 7-13 at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Va., doubled the players' pleasure by announcing it would match the $1 million purse. What's more, a new event, the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung, will be played for $800,099, which surpassed any purse in the previous 18 years.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Here's a fivesome that will enter the season with excellent credentials and the ability to score multiple victories.

Peter Tomasulo - Enters his third full season after finishing 47th and 48th on the money list. Has shown flashes of brilliance, but not enough consistency despite a victory in 2005. Sometimes it takes a few seasons for former collegiate stars like Tomasulo to sort out the professional paradigm. Tomasulo will get it in '08.

B.J. Staten - Was a birdie putt away from securing his PGA TOUR privileges in 2007. He narrowly missed on the 72nd hole of the Nationwide Tour Championship and finished 28th on the money list.

Brendon deJonge - The South African is a birdie machine when on his game. Played the PGA TOUR in 2007 and returns for a second tour of duty. The slight drop in class may be just what he needs to find his game on a consistent basis.

Jarrod Lyle - Substitute this affable Aussie name in the previous paragraph and you get the picture. Kris Blanks - Has kicked around the mini-tours and came close to making the Nationwide Tour Championship field of 60 as a Monday qualifier. He could soar with full membership in 2008.

CAN'T MISS KID

Few knew the name Daniel Summerhays before the Brigham Young University senior-to-be received an invite to the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational at Ohio State's Scarlet Course. Seventy-two holes later Summerhays, whose older brother Boyd has played on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour, became the first amateur to score a Nationwide Tour victory.

He failed to earn his PGA TOUR playing privileges in the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament, but his victory provided him with a wonderful safety net for his first full season as a professional.

CAN'T MISS KID, Part 2

Although Colt Knost begins 2008 as a conditional member, his credentials scream that he will be a contender throughout 2008. Knost won the United States Amateur and the USGA's Public Links Championship in 2007. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club also recognized him as the top amateur in the world in 2007 by presenting him the first McCormack Medal named in honor of the late IMG founder Mark McCormack.

RECORD SURE TO BE BROKEN

Troy Matteson earned $495,009 in 2005, an earnings record that still stands. It will not hold up in 2008 with the $1 million purses and the bump in total money offered to more than $19 million.

MUST-SEE TV

The Nationwide Tour Championship carries immense pressure because for many of the select field an elusive PGA TOUR card dangles in front of their eyes like the proverbial carrot on the stick. It is the tournament fraught with the most drama considering what is at stake.