Nationwide Tour Storylines: Carballo on bubble for 'The 25' Tournament: Mark Christopher Charity Classic presented by The County of San Bernardino
Following the final idle week of the year, the five-event run-up to the end of 2007 begins this week at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic outside Los Angeles. Four events remain to lock up a top-60 spot in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek near San Diego where THE 25 will be settled once and for all. In addition to the Mark Christopher event, the Nationwide Tour travels to Midland, Texas, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Miami prior to the Nationwide Tour Championship (Nov. 1-4). Kenny G in field this week: Saxophonist Kenny Gorelick, better known as Kenny G., is in the Mark Christopher Charity Classic field as a sponsor's exemption. A scratch golfer and multiple club champion at his home club of Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, CA, he competed in the event in 2005 (missed cut). The '25' Update: For the second tournament in a row, Argentina's Miguel Carballo, winner of the Nationwide Tour's season-opening Movistar Panama Championship, occupies the bubble spot of No. 25. He holds a $7,009 lead over Brenden Pappas of South Africa. In front of Carballo at Nos. 23 and 24, respectively, are Georgia Bulldog Franklin Langham and Michael Letzig of Richmond, Mo. ![]() Jon Mills Mills, Barnes on strong runs: Canada's Jon Mills, who won the recent Albertsons Boise Open and was named September's Player of the Month, is on a very strong run of late, having made the cut in his last nine starts. In seven of the nine events, he has finished T17 or better. Mills' worst finish is T37. He and Ricky Barnes currently share the mark for consecutive cuts made. Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion, made his last 23 cuts in 2006, the second most in Tour history. The streak ended when he failed to qualify for the weekend in his first start of 2007 in Panama. TV Times: THE GOLF Channel will televise three of the final five events of the year....Mark Christopher Charity Classic (this week), Miccousukee Championship (Oct. 25-28) and Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek (Nov. 1-4). Campbell adds another: Chalk up yet another PGA TOUR victory by a Nationwide Tour alum......Chad Campbell's win in the Viking Classic in Mississippi on Sunday was the 214th since the Tour's inception in 1990 and 18th of 2007. Flanagan easily makes another cut: Australian Nick Flanagan is taking advantage of his three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR. He added a T17 finish in the Viking Classic last week to his T18 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship the previous week. The 2003 U.S. Amateur winner has earned $122,029 the last two weeks to get to No. 200 on the money list. Toms leads way for Americans in Montreal: David Toms, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 1995 and finished third on the money list that year before graduating to the PGA TOUR, was the top point earner of all 24 players in The Presidents Cup. With a record of 4-0-1, he earned 4.5 out of a possible 5 points for the winning U.S. team. Did you know? 23 of the top-28 finishers in this past weekend's Viking Classic were members of the Nationwide Tour at one time, including five of the top-six finishers. |