Michael Sim, runner-up in final Nationwide Tour event of the season.

Aberdonian Michael Sim sets one-season money

record ($644,142) for US Nationwide Tour

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
Charleston, South Carolina. Former University of Florida All-American Matt Every posted a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday to outlast the Nationwide Tour's most dominating player of 2009, Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim, and win the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at the Daniel Island Club.
THE 2009 NATIONWIDE TOUR GRADUATES
TO THE 2010 US PGA TOUR

1. Michael Sim $644,142
2. Chad Collins $415,114
3. Blake Adams $399,749
4. Derek Lamely $374,998
5. Tom Gillis $364,529
6. Chris Tidland $354,510
7. Josh Teater $326,438
8. Cameron Percy $320,715
9. Roger Tambellini $307,482
10. Matt Every $300,936
11. Justin Bolli $284,537
12. Garrett Willis $269,856
13. Kevin Johnson $266,915
14. Garth Mulroy $263,126
15. Jerod Turner $237,993
16. Alex Prugh $233,325
17. Jeff Gove $221,231
18. Henrik Bjornstad $218,652
19. Chris Baryla $217,680
20. Steve Wheatcroft $213,165
21. Rich Barcelo $199,975
22. Craig Bowden $198,208
23. Vance Veazey $193,243
24. Mathias Gronberg $191,743
25. Fran Quinn $191,467

With 25 US PGA Tour cards on the line, Matt Every began the final week as No. 49 on the money list and was a long shot to earn his PGA Tour playing privileges for 2010.

But on Sunday, he was headed to the PGA Tour for the first time after collecting a check for $180,000 from the $1 million purse.

The 25-year-old finished No. 10 on the final money list.
"I've always felt I'm talented enough to win," said the champion. "I couldn't have waited any longer to do it though, I'll tell you that. I'm going to enjoy it."
"I'm relieved," Every said. "The practice I put in this year hasn't been paying off and I dreaded the thought of having to go back to Q-School."
Every entered the final round one shot in front of Michael Sim who had already secured promotion to the "Big League" for a second time by winning three times on the Nationwide Tour this season.

A native of Daytona Beach, Florida, Every posted a 3-under 33 on the front nine with the aid of an eagle and a birdie to increase his lead to two at the turn. Birdies at Nos. 11 and 15 padded the lead to three.
Pars on the final three holes secured a three-shot win, his first in 56 starts since joining the Nationwide Tour last year. Over the final two days, Every had 10 birdies and an eagle, with his lone blemish a double-bogey in Saturday's third round.
"I'm looking forward to playing on the PGA Tour next year. It's hard to watch your college buddies play on Tour and in the Presidents Cup," said Every. "You start to think, 'are these guys really that much better than me,' and I know the answer to that question. Deep down I do."
Sim concluded the most dominating year in the 20-year history of the Nationwide Tour. In addition to three wins this year, Sunday's runner-up finish was his second of the season. He had eight top-5 finishes in 2009. His Tour earnings of $644,142 smashed the previous single-season best of $495,009 set by Troy Matteson in 2005.
Sim, who emigrated to Perth, Western Australia with his parents from Aberdeen, Scotland in the early 1990s when he was seven, turned 25 on Friday. By topping this year's money list, Sim earns an invitation in next May's Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
"I played great today, Matt just played better," Sim said after a 3-under 69. "He didn't hit any loose shots out there to give me many opportunities."
"I'm excited about my year out here," Sim continued. "Having three wins and two second-place finishes says a lot about where my game is. I really feel like I am ready for the PGA Tour and that I can compete at a high enough level to win out there. That's my goal for next year and hopefully bring my World Golf Ranking high enough to get me into the Masters."
The drama to determine which players would remain inside the top 25 and which would fall out continued to the very end of the day, as is almost always the case in the Tour Championship. When all was said and done, Fran Quinn was the last player to earn his card, finishing No. 25 on the money list.
The Massachusetts native began the week No. 20 on the list and was cruising along until he got sick on Friday. Quinn battled through a urinary tract infection and spent Saturday night in the hospital. His weekend scores of 75-74 were just good enough to send him back to the PGA Tour for the first time since 1992.
Steve Wheatcroft of Jacksonville, Florida, joined Every in crashing the party this week. Wheatcroft posted a 1-over 73 Sunday at the Ralston Creek course but managed his best finish of the year, a tie for third. The Indiana University grad began the week No. 31 on the money list and collected enough today to jump up to No. 18.
Two players who started the week on the right side of the bubble wound up getting bounced out. Brian Stuardof Jackson, Michigan, and Alistair Presnell of Melbourne, Australia, began the week as Nos 23 and 25, respectively and wound up falling to No. 26 and No. 28.
Blake Adams finished the season No. 3 on the money list with $399,749 to set a Nationwide Tour record for the most money won in a single season without a victory. Adams eclipsed the mark of $324,627 set by Darron Stiles in 2008.

Jeff Gove finished No. 17 on the money list, and becomes the first player in Nationwide Tour history to graduate four times (1999, 2001, 2005, 2009).
As part of a new partnership with the Nationwide Tour, Tiffany & Co. was on site Sunday to hand engrave the winner's name on the Nationwide Tour Championship trophy. Each player who finished in the top 25 received a personalized hand-engraved money clip with his 2010 PGA Tour member card enclosed. Michael Sim received a Tiffany crystal award in recognition of his "Battlefield Promotion" to the PGA Tour which he achieved in August.