The '08 graduates: Five players to watch on TOUR

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Common sense says they've all got plenty of game.

That much is a given for each and every one of "THE 25" who earned 2009 PGA TOUR playing privileges via stellar seasons on the Nationwide Tour in 2008. Players do not survive a 30-tournament grind to advance to The Big Show without shot-making skill and the ability to think straight while under the gun.

Yet a new set of challenges waits in the New Year, and the first litmus test begins Thursday in the Sony Open in Hawaii. The competition will be fiercer. The purses will be a distracting 10 times bigger. The fairways will be narrower. The rough will be thicker. The greens will be firmer and faster. The spotlight will be brighter. And the pressure to perform will be immense.

Recent history tells us some among "THE 25" will succeed and some will fail. An average of 7.2 players played their way into the PGA TOUR's top 125 and retained their jobs for another season since the Nationwide Tour began handing out 20 or more cards in 2003. The Class of '06, with 12 of 21 among the top 125, gave the golf world quantity. The Class of '03, with eight of 20, including seven inside the top 70, provided quality. The Class of '05, with just three of 20, had the fewest.

So those numbers beg a question.

Who among 2008's 25 will be good to go from the get-go, i.e., who has the right stuff to make an impact on the world's toughest golf tour?

It says here at least five will make their presence felt. They are:

Brendon de Jonge

His fourth full season on the Nationwide Tour was the charm for de Jonge, a native of Zimbabwe, and now he gets a second chance on the PGA TOUR (he fought his way through the Qualifying Tournament at the end of 2006) after being named Nationwide Tour Player of the Year in 2008. De Jonge took his return trip to the Nationwide Tour with the proper attitude, seeing it as an opportunity to work on the biggest hole in his game -- his short game. The time spent paid off as he became a statistical marvel in the area, finishing second in scrambling, second in putts per round and second in putts per greens in regulation. It all led to an added bonus: de Jonge scored the first significant victory of his professional career in the Xerox Classic at Irondequoit Country Club, one of the toughest tracks on Tour. "I learned how to win," he said in late November when asked about his most significant accomplishment in '08. "That's not something that's easy to do on any tour. I always thought I could, but until you do, it's just thinking."

Jarrod Lyle

He got out of the gate quickly on his second Nationwide Tour of duty (Jarrod advanced to the PGA TOUR via the '06 Nationwide Tour season), winning twice before mid-season. But he could manage only one more top 10 (a solo second in the Xerox Classic) in 14 more starts with a performance promotion carrot dangling in front of him. Lyle, an acute myeloid leukemia survivor, took his inconsistent second half in stride and feels he is ready for his second try on the PGA TOUR. "I've had the experience, and I know what to expect now," Lyle said. "My eyes were as wide as saucers my first season. I'll know the courses, where to stay and where to eat. I'm certain I'll feel more comfortable. And now I've won. I feel like I'm ready."

Greg Owen

Although the Englishman finished 10th on the money list, he possesses an impressive portfolio from 2008. The only thing lacking was a victory. He led the Tour's All-Around statistical category (a compendium of all pertinent stats) by 101 points and had seven top-five finishes. What's more, Owen has something to prove as he returns to The Big Show. He won more than $1 million in his first two seasons but never was the same after he three-putted from three feet on the 71st hole of the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational to gift-wrap a victory for Rod Pampling. Owen must exorcise that three-year-old demon. If he does -- and it says here he will -- he'll become a fixture in the top 70 on the money list.

Colt Knost

No one among "THE 25" will bring more "want to" to the next level than this fiery rookie from Dallas. Knost plays with his heart on his sleeve and uses emotion to fuel his game, which produced two victories in 2008 after he became only the second player in the history of the United States Golf Association to win the Public Links and Men's Amateur titles in the same year. Knost showed his mettle after he was stung by critics for turning professional, thereby spurning an invitation to the 2008 Masters. He won less than a month later, showing he knows how to close the deal when in contention. If there was one drawback to his 2008 season it was his lack of consistency. Nevertheless, all it takes is one good week on the PGA TOUR to cement your place up high in the pecking order.

Scott Piercy

Piercy was a 29-year-old rookie with conditional status going nowhere fast in 2008. He did not gain entry into an event until May and only had two top-25 finishes to show for his first nine starts. What people didn't know was he is a birdie machine just waiting to take it very deep. When Piercy caught fire, he remained white hot. He opened 64-62-65 to score a runaway victory in the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open, finished in a tie for sixth the following week and then won the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic with a final-round 64. Two weeks later, he notched a solo second. That kind of streaky play on the PGA TOUR makes for very large nest eggs. And lest people believe Piercy may be overwhelmed by his new surroundings in 2009, they better think again. Piercy once won a $2 million first prize playing in a Las Vegas event called the Ultimate Game. Trouble was, the Ultimate Game got him no closer to his ultimate goal. His burst on the Nationwide Tour did the trick, however. "People have always told me it is harder getting there than staying there," Piercy said of the PGA TOUR. About that we'll see.