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Nationwide Tour Storylines – Week of June 23rd
FORD WAYNE GRETZKY OPEN presented by Samsung
June 23-29
The Georgian Bay Club, Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada &
Raven Golf Club, Thornbury, Ontario, Canada
Purse: $800,099 First Prize: $144,017
16th of 30 events (first-year event)
Golf Channel will air all four rounds
EDMONTON OILERS’ REUNION….AND LOTS MORE – Wayne Gretzky has made many friends in the sports and entertainment fields throughout his storied career and many of them will be joining him at this week’s first Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung. Among the celebrities participating in the 160-professional and 160-celebrity/amateur field are several members of Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers’ Stanley Cup champion teams of the 1980s – Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr and Marty McSorley. Also in the field are John Elway, Trent Edwards, Brent Hull, Doug Gilmour, Alan Thicke, Javier Colon, Gretzky’s wife, Janet Gretzky, and a host of others. Fuhr, a strong player in his own right, will be competing in the field as a professional via a sponsor exemption.
FORD/GRETZKY FIELD A STRONG ONE – The lure of “The Great One” hosting the event and a big purse ($800,099) insures the inaugural Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung field is going to be a very strong one. On Monday the field consisted of 56 of the top-60 money winners (Nationwide Tour members), including the top 16. Only No. 17-D.J. Brigman, 21-Brendon De Jonge, 27-Gavin Coles and 33-Tom Johnson were not entered.
PROUD CANADIANS -- You can bet the Nationwide Tour members who were born in Canada have had this tournament highlighted on their calendar ever since it was announced last November. Among the Canadian-born players in the field are Chris Baryla/Vernon, B.C., Bryan DeCorso/Guelph, Ont., Brad Fritsch/Edmonton, Alberta, David Hearn/Brantford, Ont., Ian Leggatt/Cambridge, Ont., David Morland IV/North Bay, Ont. and Jim Rutledge/Victoria, B.C.
DAVID HEARN / PARTNERING WITH A NEIGHBOR – David Hearn, whose boyhood home was five blocks down the street from Wayne Gretzky’s in Brantford, Ont., will be the envy of the other 159 professionals in the field. He will partner with “The Great One” in the pro-am portion of the event. At No. 82 on the money list, a little Gretzky inspiration might be just what Hearn needs to jumpstart his 2008 season.
JARROD LYLE / FIRST MULTIPLE WINNER OF 2008 – Australian Jarrod Lyle became the first player to win twice on the Nationwide Tour this year with his Sunday victory in the Knoxville Open presented by Food City, the 15th of 30 events. The 26-year-old leukemia survivor captured the Mexico Open presented by Corona in February. Lyle’s parents traveled to the United States two weeks ago to watch their son compete in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and were in Knoxville as well to cheer him on to victory. Lyle would like nothing better than to follow in the footsteps of countryman Nick Flanagan, who earned a three-win promotion to the PGA TOUR last August. At the very least, Lyle is assured of returning to the PGA TOUR where he competed last year after finishing 18th on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.
ONLY FOUR HAVE EARNED MORE – Jarrod Lyle sits comfortably atop the Nationwide Tour money list with $281,939. Only four players have earned more money through the first 15 events of a Tour season – 2003/Joe Ogilvie ($315,177), 2004/Brendan Jones ($290,558) and 2005/Chris Couch ($307,598) and Troy Matteson ($291,783).
CHRIS KIRK / TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIS OPPORTUNITIES – Knoxville native Chris Kirk came back to city where he was born and nearly captured his first professional victory. The three-time All-American out of the University of Georgia continues to take advantage of his limited opportunities on the Nationwide Tour. His playoff loss to Jarrod Lyle earned him $54,000 and pushed him to 42nd on the money list in only seven starts. A conditionally-exempt rookie, Kirk hopes to improve on his status this week in Canada and when the next reorder takes place after the Nationwide Tour Players Cup in West Virginia on July 13th. Kirk currently resides in St. Simons Island, GA.
GREG OWEN / VERY STRONG IN THE STAT BOOK – While he’s the only player among the top-12 money winners who does not have a victory this year, England’s Greg Owen has been a powerhouse in the stats department. Currently seventh on the money list with two runners-up and a T3, he leads the All-Around Ranking with 95 points, well ahead of Matt Weibring (232) and Brendon Todd (233). Owen is also No. 1 in Total Driving and Birdie Average, second in Scoring Average (70.10) and Driving Distance (306.9), sixth in Putting Average and T7 in Sand Save Percentage. The 36-year-old is seeking to return to the PGA TOUR where he earned more than $3 million in 2005 through 2007. His best finish was second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in 2006.
BOB MAY / AT IT AGAIN – When Bob May makes a hole-in-one, he doesn’t mess around! In early May at the South Georgia Classic in Valdosta, the 2000 PGA Championship runner-up aced the 251-yard 15th hole at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, with a 3-iron no less. May was at it again last week in Knoxville. The Californian knocked it in the hole on the 219-yard 16th hole at Fox Den Country Club with a 4-iron.
THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY – On June 28, 1998 Sergio Garcia sets a Tour mark for the best finish by an amateur (T3) at the Greensboro (NC) Open. Garcia, 18 at the time, cards rounds of 72-67-65-68 at Sedgefield Country Club, six shots back of champion Joe Ogilvie. It was his best finish in three career Nationwide Tour starts, all of which came that same year.
NEXT WEEK – The Nationwide Tour is idle as the U.S. celebrates its Independence Day holiday. Play resumes the following week (July 7-13) at the Tour’s first $1 million event, the Nationwide Tour Players Cup in West Virginia.
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