It's crunch time -- and questions abound

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If it's September, it's crunch time on the Nationwide Tour.

Twenty-three tournaments down, six to go in the regular season. Pressure is building to make money and, on this tour unless a player wins three times in a calendar year, it's always about the accumulating the Benjamins.

Brendon de Jonge leads THE 25.

THE 25

Rank Player Earnings 1 Brendon De Jonge $362,256 2 Jarrod Lyle $358,166 3 Greg Chalmers $286,008 4 Bill Lunde $279,369 5 Rick Price $268,319

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So here's what we know headed into the 2008 stretch run.

• Thirteen players -- Nos. 1-13 among 'The 25' -- already have earned enough money to receive their diplomas and will graduate to the PGA TOUR in 2009.

• Eight of the 13 -- Bill Lunde (4), Rick Price (5), Colt Knost (6), Jeff Klauk (8), Casey Wittenberg (9), David Mathis (11), Scott Piercy (12) and Kris Blanks (13) -- will be rookies. That's a percentage of 61.5.

• No. 14, Peter Tomasulo, with earnings of $206,032, might be in and if not certainly is on the cusp of locking up a card. One five-figure payday should guarantee his first appearance in The Big Show after three-and-a-half seasons on the Nationwide Tour.

That's three undisputable facts. Otherwise, things get a little murky as the tour makes the turn for home.

Change is inevitable. And it could be volatile change, given the $180,000 first prize that will go to the Nationwide Tour Championship winner.

But the trick is to get there. To do that, a player must finish among the Top 60 on the money list when the regular season ends with the final round of the Miccosukee Championship on Oct. 26. An added bonus is, each of the 60 are guaranteed membership on the Nationwide Tour in '09.

So there are many questions without definitive answers.

Question: Who, for instance, will be among the final 12 among 'The 25'?

Fact: With six events left, it's like a Los Angeles freeway on the morning drive. That is, jammed up on the money's list's upper midsection. Consider this: The difference between Ricky Barnes at 20th with $162,209 and Bob May at 30th with $146,447 is just $16,455.

How big a difference is that? Solo eighth at this week's Utah Championship is worth $17,050.

Question: What will it take earnings-wise to get there?

Muddled fact: Just from the looks of all things financial, get to $215,000 and you should be safe. Anything over $225,000 is a lock.

But check out this week's player on 'The 25' bubble, Ryan Hietala. He has won $156,232. Obviously he has work to do and he certainly cannot feel safe, what with his $1,176 lead over No. 26 Matt Every.

Question: Who gets into the Nationwide Tour Championship?

Muddled fact: That's a question Fran Quinn would love to answer in the affirmative. He's bubble player No. 2 and would gladly change places with Hietala. Quinn is 60th with $90,862 and his lead over No. 61 David McKenzie is a next-to-nothing $546.

Last year Todd Fischer was the odd man out of the Tour Championship at 61st, finishing the season with $95,358. Using that figure as a barometer, $100,000 should be the magic number.

Here's the rub. Quinn is 60th, Dave Schultz is 80th. The financial distance between them is $19,092.

And guys who are buried below 100th on the money list should not give up. They should have a two-word mantra: Scott Piercy.

Three weeks ago Piercy, a rookie, was 123rd on the money list and preparing to write a check for entry into the 2009 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Now Piercy is headed to the PGA TOUR thanks to a three-event wow-factor streak where he finished one, tied for sixth, one to get it done. His meteoric rise on the money list went like this: 123rd to 35th to 31st to 12th. So miracles can happen.

Question: Who's No. 1 on the money list?

Fact: Brendon de Jonge from Zimbabwe. He just supplanted Jarrod Lyle, who held the lead for 17 weeks. And he has been one red-hot Rhodesian. He has a victory, three other top-fives and has not finished worse than a tie for 18th in that torrid stretch. Twenty-two of his 28 rounds have been in the 60s and he has banked $248,379.45 of his total earnings of $362,256.

De Jonge needs to keep on ringing the cash register because Lyle is $4,096 behind. The money leader earns an invaluable full membership on the PGA TOUR in '09 plus a spot in The Players Championship. That means he can play all of the regular events and plan a schedule without worrying about re-shuffles. That's huge.

And the thing is, any one of the top 13 can entertain thoughts of finishing No. 1 with some great golf.

So tee it high and let it fly. This probability of a fun finish is high.