Nationwide Tour Championship: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff LAKESIDE, Calif. -- Richard Johnson, a 35-year-old native of Cardiff, Wales, captured his second title of the season on Sunday with his win at the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek. Johnson finished the four-day event at a tournament-record 20-under 264, one stroke ahead of Michael Letzig.  Richard Johnson won the Nationwide Tour Championship Sunday and also finished the season atop the money list. (Horner/WireImage)
• The win by Johnson was the fourth of his career on the Nationwide Tour, to go along with wins at the 2007 Mark Christopher Charity Classic, 2000 Monterey Peninsula Classic and the 1999 Florida Classic. • Richard Johnson (25 starts) finished the season playing in the final group on Sunday a remarkable six times. He was victorious in two of those events, the Mark Christopher Charity Classic and the Nationwide Tour Championship. He tied for third at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs, tied for second at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, finished solo second at the Utah EnergySolutions Championship and tied for sixth in the Oregon Classic. • Johnson's 72-hole total of 20-under 264 is a new Nationwide Tour Championship record. The previous best winning score was 18-under 270 by Chris Couch at the 2003 Nationwide Tour Championship. • Roland Thatcher had sat atop the Nationwide Tour money list for 12 weeks heading into the season-ending event, dating back to his win at the Cox Classic. He lost that lead on Sunday, as Richard Johnson finished the season in the top spot with $445,421. Thatcher needed a finish of solo-fourth or better to have retained the title, but tied for 29th at 10-under 274. With the title, Johnson earns fully-exempt status on the 2008 PGA TOUR, as well as a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship. • The round of the day was turned in by Jeremy Anderson, David Hearn and Garth Mulroy with matching 6-under 65s. With the finish, Hearn moved to solo seventh, while Mulroy tied for eighth and Anderson tied for 12th. • Nationwide Insurance and the PGA TOUR are donated $100 for every birdie recorded this week for a total donation of $200 per birdie. The money will be directed to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund to help benefit the victims of last week's fires that raged through San Diego County and other parts of Southern California. A total of $206,000 was donated as a result. • Bogey-free rounds on Sunday were turned in by Jeremy Anderson (65), David Mathis (67) and Omar Uresti (67), bringing the total for the week to 22. • With two players (Skip Kendall and David McKenzie) falling out of the Top 25 this week, a total of 20 players have now been "bumped' out of a PGA TOUR card in the final event of the Nationwide Tour season. • Richard Johnson's victory marks the 12th time in 14 72-hole events at the Nationwide Tour Championship that the third-round leader has gone on to win. • In 2007, a total of 17 of 32 third-round leaders eventually stepped into the winner's circle. • Players who finished No. 26-40 on the final money list are exempt into Final Stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. They include Skip Kendall, David McKenzie, B.J. Staten, Jeremy Anderson, Scott Gardiner, Miguel Carballo, Franklin Langham, Brad Adamonis, Jeff Klauk, Garth Mulroy, Vance Veazey, John Kimbell, Chris Nallen, D.A. Points and Jay Williamson. • This week's cumulative average of 68.420 marks the lowest average in Nationwide Tour history. The previous all-time low was 68.980 at this year's 2007 Cox Classic. The toughest hole this week was the par-4 6th hole with an average of 4.183, while the par-5 first hole was the easiest spot at 4.357. |
