Knoxville Open preview: Reconvening in Tennessee

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Last week eight Nationwide Tour players competed in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and have now made the cross-country trip from California to Tennessee to play in the field when the Knoxville Open presented by Food City gets underway on Thursday.

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Justin Hicks co-led after the first round of the U.S. Open.

The Knoxville Open is the 15th of 30 events on the Nationwide Tour this year.

Rejoining the Nationwide Tour for the $500,000 event at Fox Den Country Club in the hills of eastern Tennessee are five players who made the cut at Torrey Pines -- Justin Hicks/T74, Chris Kirk/T78, Ian Leggatt/T74, Jarrod Lyle/T48 and D.A. Points/T69 -- along with three who didn't -- D.J. Brigman, Scott Piercy and Peter Tomasulo. Hicks was a co-leader after the first round.

With the Nationwide Tour reaching the halfway point after being idle last week, these eight and the 148 other players in the field will refocus on matters at hand on their Tour, namely the pursuit of one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards that are at stake for 2009. Twelve of the past 18 champions of the Knoxville Open have earned their first Nationwide Tour win in the event, a statistic which should provide encouragement to many players in the field. One other stat in their favor is there have been no repeat winners in the first 14 tournaments of 2008.

Currently only one of the year's tournament winners is outside the top 25 on the money list. Australian Gavin Coles, who has played just three events on the Nationwide Tour this year and won in Louisiana, occupies the 26th spot. Robert Damron is three spots inside THE 25 at No. 22. Both Coles and Damron have played five events on the PGA TOUR and five on the Nationwide Tour this year. Damron is in Knoxville this week, while Coles will be in Hartford, Conn., at the PGA TOUR event.

Brigman is the man on the bubble at No. 25 as the week begins.

In the 10 years Fox Den Country Club has hosted the Knoxville Open it has ranged from the eighth most difficult to the eighth easiest course on Tour. Regardless of whether or not Fox Den shows its teeth this week, history suggests the tournament is in for a close finish. In 18 playings, the championship has been determined by two strokes or less 14 times, with five going to a playoff.

Last year was one of the exceptions as Arizona State University product Chez Reavie walked away with a three-shot victory over Kyle McCarthy. Reavie went on to finish 18th on the money list and earn his PGA TOUR card. He is currently 117th on the FedExCup point list.

Knoxville will be a "home game" for area residents Keith Nolan and Garrett Willis. Nolan, a native of Ireland who attended East Tennessee State, has two top-25 finishes this year and is 71st on the money list. Willis, another East Tennessee State product, has spent most of this year playing on the PGA TOUR. He will be playing in his fourth tournament of the year on the Nationwide Tour. Willis is currently 140th on the Nationwide Tour money list and 220th on the PGA TOUR money list.

Two-time Knoxville Open winner Hunter Haas who competed in last week's U.S. Open (missed the cut) withdrew from the tournament.

Live scoring will be available at www.pgatour.com beginning this Thursday at 8:00 a.m. ET.

Next week the Nationwide Tour is in Ontario, Canada for the inaugural Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.