Futures to be decided at Nationwide Championship
BY Bruce Young | Nationwide Tour | 2005 Nationwide Tour Championship | Preview | 26 Oct 2005
The Nationwide Tour Championship once again graces the fairways of the Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Capitol Hill in Prattville Alabama, with much yet to be decided in the race for PGA Tour status.
With a total purse of US$650,000, a first prize of $112,000 and just 60 players teeing it up every player has a mathematical chance to walk away with a tour card on Sunday.
60 players are entered in the event. With Jason Gore having already graduated to the PGA Tour earlier in the year via the Battlefield Promotion, the field has been extended to the top 61 players, all vying for one of the 20 further spots that are available in addition to that already earned by Gore.
Not only is it a case of finishing inside the top 21, which many are already assured of doing, but importantly they must take advantage of this week to finish as high as possible on the money list in order to gain early season starts next year. That will help them in their quest to benefit from the re-rank after the first few events of 2006.
While Jason Gore was the star of the Nationwide Tour on his return from his heroics at the US Open at Pinehurst, the man who has been the most consistent all season has been the 26-year-old Troy Mattesen, who is in just his second season on the Nationwide Tour and in just his third year as a professional. He has missed only three cuts in 23 starts and has been inside the top ten on twelve occasions in that time including his two victories. Mattesen travelled to this part of the world early in the year and after an average week at the Jacobs Creek Open in Adelaide, he had a good week in Christchurch where he finished fifth in the ING New Zealand PGA Championship.
The last few weeks have been out of the ordinary compared to his earlier form in 2005 but he has a chance this week to set a record for earnings on the Nationwide Tour should he finish 14th or better. Given the way he has played in his last three events that may be easier said than done but whatever happens he has the number one spot and therefore exemption from re ranking for all of next season locked away.
Australia is about to provide another five players to the USPGA Tour in 2006 when Steven Bowditch (5th) David McKenzie (9th) Mathew Goggin (10th) Greg Chalmers (11th) and Nathan Green (16th) all look to advance their cause with good finishes here. Kim Felton the Tour’s best putter in season 2005 is also looking to find a way to finish inside the top four at this event that he will likely to need to advance. Felton was well on track to do so prior to a form slump in the latter part of the season and will need a big turnaround here on a golf course that measures over 7600 yards. That might not be too easy for the man who is ranked 130th in driving distance.
The only other Australasian who has a chance is left handed New Zealander Tim Wilkinson, who needs to win to have a chance. A run of good form in the last few weeks of the season has seen him get within striking distance but he needs to win otherwise he will be headed for USPGA Tour school once again.
This is clearly a big week in the golfing careers of many and the drama that unfolds on Sunday as the numbers are calculated, is as good a golfing theatre as there is.
