News: Scramble for the bubble, who'll be in top?

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IT'S DOWN TO THE WIRE FOR TOP 60 IN MIAMI
The Miccosukee Championship is the Nationwide Tour's final full-field event of 2008. The top 60 on the money list when it's over on Sunday will be guaranteed a spot in the Nov. 6-9 season-ending $1 million Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch. For those who make it to Dallas, 25 PGA TOUR cards for 2009 will be on the line based on the Nov. 9 final money list. Those who do not earn a PGA TOUR card (Nos. 26-60) will be assured of fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour next year. Hearts will be pounding harder in Miami this week as every shot has potential bearing on a player's fate. David Hearn of Canada dropped two spots down the money list last week to No. 60 so he enters the week as the poster boy for what's at stake. He is $3,151 ahead of Gary Christian of England, who is only $153 ahead of No. 62 Chad Ginn of Alexandria, La.

Barnes

BARNES GLADLY HANDS BUBBLE BOY STATUS TO BRANSHAW
After two tournaments as the Nationwide Tour's bubble boy at No. 25 on the money list, Ricky Barnes has handed it over to David Branshaw. A tie for sixth in last week's Chattanooga Classic moved Barnes four spots up the money list to No. 21. There is now a $10,720 cushion between the former University of Arizona All-American and Branshaw, a playoff runner-up at the Cox Classic in early August. Cox Classic winner, Ryan Hietala, missed the cut last week and fell three spots to No. 26. The difference between Branshaw and Hietala is a mere $644.

THE WINS KEEP COMING: TURNESA BAGS NO. 235
Marc Turnesa's win on Sunday was the 235th PGA TOUR title by a former Nationwide Tour player. It was the third TOUR win in the last four weeks by a Nationwide Tour grad. A year ago this week, Turnesa captured the Miccosukee Championship, which sealed his PGA TOUR card for this year. Turnesa joined fellow 2007 Nationwide Tour graduate Chez Reavie in the PGA TOUR winner's circle this year.

ARJUN ATWAL NOW A 2008 WINNER ON TWO TOURS
Winning on two different tours in the same year is quite an accomplishment. In March, Arjun Atwal won the European Tour's Maybank Malaysian Open. On Sunday, the native of Asansol, India, collected his first Nationwide Tour title -- the Chattanooga Classic. The last player to win on both tours was Kevin Stadler in 2006 when he won Nationwide Tour events in Rochester, N.Y., and Boise, Idaho, and the Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia, an event co-sanctioned by the European, Australasian and Asian Tours.

DeJonge

DE JONGE STRETCHES MONEY TITLE LEAD OVER JARROD LYLE
With five tournaments ago, Brendon de Jonge led Jarrod Lyle by just $735 in the all-important competition to win the Nationwide Tour money title. On the strength of a tie for eighth and a solo fifth the last two weeks in Midland and Chattanooga, the Zimbabwe native -- who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2003 -- now enjoys a $39,303 advantage over Lyle. With $413,148 in 26 starts, de Jonge is chasing Troy Matteson's single-season earnings record of $495,009 set in 2005. Lyle's form has slipped since he was runner-up to de Jonge at the Xerox Classic in mid-August. The Aussie's best finish since has been a tie for 14th in six outings. The leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour will be fully exempt on the PGA TOUR in 2009 and receive an invitation to THE PLAYERS Championship.

LONG DRIVE UPDATE
With Bubba Watson idle again last week, Won Joon Lee edged a little further ahead in his quest to become the PGA TOUR's longest driver in 2008. Lee, known as "Boom Boom", increased his yards per drive average on the Nationwide Tour from 315.6 to 317.0 at last week's Chattanooga Classic. Watson's PGA TOUR leading "Driving Distance" stat remained at 315.4. Lee, who turns 23 on Thursday, continued his strong play of late, finishing tied for sixth in Chattanooga. He has four top-seven finishes in his last eight starts and has climbed from 144th on the money list in May to 47th.

RECORD NUMBER OF ACES WITHIN REACH
Brad Fritsch's hole-in-one while playing as a single and the first player on the course on Sunday in Chattanooga was the 27th recorded on the Nationwide Tour this year. It was the third one of the tournament. Last year, there were a record 30 aces in 32 events.

Simpson

A NAME TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Since graduating from Wake Forest University this spring, Webb Simpson has played in six Nationwide Tour events, making four cuts and finishing second twice, including a playoff loss on Sunday in the Chattanooga Classic. The 23-year-old Raleigh, N.C., native and former All-American has risen to 45th on the money list, assuring himself of a fully-exempt spot on the Nationwide Tour in 2009 should he elect to use it. Given the form he's been displaying, Simpson is in the running to earn a PGA TOUR card via "THE 25". He is entered in this week's Miccosukee Championship. Simpson has also competed in six PGA TOUR events this year, making three cuts and having a best finish of a tie for 31st at the Arnold Plamer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

NEXT EVENT
After a week break, the 2008 Nationwide Tour season comes to a conclusion at the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, just outside Dallas (Nov. 6-9). With 25 PGA TOUR cards at stake, it is one of the most pressure-packed weeks on the golf calendar. One shot could mean the difference between a player earning his PGA TOUR card or not, and it seems to happen every year.

THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY
Oct. 21, 1990: Mike Springer made it a bookend year by winning the last event of the inaugural Nationwide Tour season, the El Paso Open. Springer had opened the year with a victory in February in the very first Tour event -- the Bakersfield Open -- before adding a second title, the Reno Open in September. He finished the year fourth on the money list and earned one of the five available PGA TOUR cards for 1991.