Simpson: 'There's a lot to play for this week'

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Webb Simpson, who only turned pro this summer, has fought his way to 48th on the money list and has one goal in mind this week: Making "THE 25."

PLANO, Texas -- It has been done before, and it will be done again. But if you ask Webb Simpson as he makes preparations for this week's finale on the 2008 Nationwide Tour, he'll tell you he'd like to be the next player to do it, i.e., barge into "THE 25" and earn PGA TOUR playing privileges in 2009 despite starting the year with no status.

In Simpson's case, it would be quite a feat. A virtuoso performance at the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch, which begins Thursday, would cap an amazing season for the highly decorated amateur and '08 graduate of Wake Forest University. Actually, make that a half season because Simpson didn't turn professional until summer arrived, and he reached this point by fighting his way into exempt status through the dog-eat-dog world of Monday qualifiers.

So Simpson isn't fooling when he says, "There's a lot to play for this week.''

That's a lovely double entendre, maybe even a triple or quadruple one. Each player in the elite field of 60 will be vying for a hefty share of the $1 million purse from which the champion will extract $180,000, matching the largest payout in the Nationwide Tour's 19-year history. While the cash can be used during the upcoming holiday season as a welcome parting gift following the grind of 2008, it's the accumulation of money over the year that counts most on the circuit.

The top 25 on the money list are headed to the PGA TOUR after the final putt falls Sunday. Players who finish between Nos. 26-40 receive a free pass into next month's finals of the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament. Players between Nos. 41-60 are guaranteed exempt status on the Nationwide Tour next year.

But now hear this. All of the above possibilities are on the table for every man in the field, even Joe Daley, who checks in at No. 60 on the money list with $110,497. A victory this week punches his ticket for the PGA TOUR.

Simpson enters the 72-hole chase eyeing two prizes. He is 48th on the money list with earnings of $127,791, the bulk of it rung up with a pair of second-place finishes in just seven events. Should he play his way to a solo second in Texas, he'll be on his way to the place he has dreamed about playing since his dad Sam first put a golf club in his hands at the age of eight at Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C.

"Only a few players (who started the season without status on the Nationwide Tour) have done it, so that's the goal,'' said Simpson, 23. "But if I don't get there, the secondary goal is to get inside the top 40.''

Simpson must finish inside the top six to do that. But if he doesn't make it, there will be opportunities beginning at the second stage of the Qualifying Tournament. And he already has that Nationwide Tour safety net should that not work out.

"I'm thrilled to death to have secured that card in such a short time,'' Simpson said. "And I've learned so much playing out here. Anytime you do well, it reaffirms that I can play out here with these guys.''

Thanks to his glittering amateur and collegiate record, Simpson also had the opportunity to play with the big boys. He received an exemption into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard thanks to his victory in the 2007 Southern Amateur. He did not disappoint, matching par over 72 holes to finish in a tie for 30th, not too shabby for a wide-eyed amateur testing the professional waters for the first time. Five more sponsor's exemptions followed once Simpson turned pro. He made two more cuts, earning more than $38,000 while gaining invaluable experience

"I learned the players are not out there (on the PGA TOUR) by chance,'' he said. "I had the opportunity to play with a lot of veterans. I watched how they managed their games, how they kept their composure. It was all very helpful.''

So, too, were his seven events on the Nationwide Tour, which Simpson believes is about as close to the PGA TOUR as golf gets.

"There are a few top guys (on the PGA TOUR) who are clearly better than everyone else,'' he said. "But I think it's harder to make cuts on the Nationwide Tour because it only takes 60 (as opposed to 70 on the PGA TOUR), and the cut numbers are usually so low.''

Suffice to say, Simpson has no trouble going low. Twelve of his 22 rounds have been sub-70. His worst efforts are a pair of 73s. His scoring average of 68.73 would be leading the Tour by almost a stroke if he had played enough rounds to qualify.

Those kinds of numbers enabled Simpson to prosper in five of the eight Monday qualifiers he participated in this year, giving him a stout success rate of 60 percent. He chose to take those shots because he had no other options once his sponsor's exemptions on the PGA TOUR dried up.

"It's tough to fly in on Saturday, play a practice round on Sunday on a course you've never seen and then try to go low on Monday,'' he said. "You have so much on your mind. It's a grind.''

And what did Simpson do the three times he failed?

"I went home and worked on my game,'' he said.

Simpson credits his success to the way he tackles his new job. He said he is willing to work as hard -- if not harder than -- his peers, and he takes a rudimentary approach when on the course.

"I have a pretty simple mindset about the game,'' he said. "I never seem to play good when I think too much. I believe if you work on all the right things, the good tournament will come.''

If Simpson has one this week, there may be lots of others who will begin keeping it simple.