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Henrico County Open
April 23-29
The Dominion Club, Glen Allen, VA (Richmond area)
Purse: $450,000
First Prize: $81,000
This is the eighth of 32 events.

PREVIEW

Paul Claxton lost a playoff in last year's Henrico County Open at The Dominion Club. If he hopes to move up a spot this year, he'll have to beat a stellar field which includes six of the seven Nationwide Tour winners so far this season.  • Complete story,  click here

SCOTLAND'S MARTIN LAIRD IS SEVENTH DIFFERENT WINNER OF 2007 -- Martin Laird, 24, took a big leap toward earning one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards for 2008 that will be awarded at season's end on the Nationwide Tour when he won the Athens Regional Foundation Classic on Sunday. He began the week 56th on the money list and today finds himself seventh. He became the seventh different Nationwide Tour winner in seven events. A native of Glasgow, Scotland who graduated in 2004 from Colorado State University, he is keenly focused on making it to the PGA TOUR. "My coach (Steve Dahlby) and I have always talked about securing my PGA TOUR card by finishing in the top 25," he said. "But I give my coach a lot of credit for always telling me I can win three of these events in a year and I just need to believe it."

THE WINS KEEP COMING ON THE PGA TOUR -- Nick Watney's win in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was the third straight on the PGA TOUR by a former Nationwide Tour player. The 2004 Nationwide Tour graduate followed the lead of 2003 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year Zach Johnson (Masters) and 2006 Tour grad Boo Weekley (Verizon Heritage). Watney, an alumnus of Fresno State, is the seventh player with Nationwide Tour roots to win on the PGA TOUR this year, bringing the total number of wins to 203. He turns 26 on Wednesday.

'06 PLAYER OF THE YEAR KEN DUKE A NEAR MISS IN NEW ORLEANS -- After a slow start to his 2007 season, last year's Nationwide Tour Player of the Year is rounding into form. Two weeks ago, he enjoyed his then-best finish of the year at the Verizon Heritage (T-10). And last week in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans he vied for the lead throughout the weekend, finishing second to Nick Watney. In two weeks, Duke, who was born in the same hometown of Hope, AR as former President Bill Clinton, will play in his first PLAYERS Championship, a result of earning the first exemption given to the previous year's Nationwide Tour leading money winner.

ATHENS RUNNERS-UP BOLLI AND ANDERSON MAKE BIG MOVES INTO TOP 25 -- Other than Athens winner Martin Laird, the biggest movers into The 25 were runners-up Justin Bolli of Duluth, GA and Jeremy Anderson of Las Vegas, NV, who both earned $44,000. Bolli moved from No. 52 to 15 and Anderson from No. 67 to 17.

BRIAN QUACKENBUSH PERSERVERS -- University of Virginia graduate Brian Quackenbush turned pro in 2002, then became a web site developer and regained his amateur status. Last year he decided to give professional golf one more try. He successfully Monday-qualified for last week's Athens (GA) Regional Foundation Classic via a playoff. He parlayed that round into a top-25 finish (T-14), which secured him a spot in this week's Henrico County Open. Currently residing in Aiken, SC, Quackenbush's wife is a world-class equestrian.

DID YOU KNOW? Nearing the halfway point of the 2007 season (17 of 36 Regular Season events have been played), 16 of last year's 22 Nationwide Tour graduates are inside the top 144 and would be eligible for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, if played this week. Boo Weekley has the highest rank among the group at No. 9.