NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Fran Quinn goes five shots clear with a 62

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
Panama City, PANAMA -- Fran Quinn posted a course-record 8-under 62 Saturday and staked himself to a five-stroke lead after 54 holes at the Panama Claro Championship, the third event on the Nationwide Tour's 2010 schedule.
Quinn's three-day total of 16-under 194 also eclipsed the tournament record of 200.
Argentina's Julio Zapata, playing with Quinn, carded a 3-under 67 and is in second at 11-under, which would have gone into the record books had it not been for his playing partner. Fabian Gomez (66), South Carolina rookie Mark Anderson (67) and Brian Smock (67) share third place, six back of the leader.
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Leaderboard: Scores
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The 7,150-yard Panama Golf Club layout was the toughest on Tour last year and consistently ranks among the hardest each year, but it's been softened by three surprising days of rain and a lack of wind. The result has been a rewrite of the record book. There have been 9-hole records, 18-hole records and now 54-hole records. The 72-hole mark of 11-under par set by Tripp Isenhour in 2006 is all but certain to vanish in Sunday's finale.
"We haven't had the wind," said Quinn, who had missed three cuts in five previous starts here and broken par only one time in 14 total rounds. "You get the wind and the greens get a little firmer and a lot of shots get trickier. It's a great golf course, but it's also out there."
Saturday's scoring average of 69.484 is the lowest in tournament history, breaking the mark of 69.704 set on Friday -- the first two times a single-day scoring average has been below par since the tournament began in 2004.
Second-round leader Kevin Kisner carded an even-par 70 and is at 9-under 201 along with 2008 champion Scott Dunlap (69), who is in sixth place. Marco Dawson (69) is eighth, eight shots back.
The story of the day was the 45-year old Quinn, who canned seven birdies in his first 10 holes and raced to the lead. It appeared nobody could slow him down on his quest for his fourth career title. That's when Mother Nature stepped in and dumped one-tenth of an inch of rain in less than 10 minutes on the field, forcing officials to halt play for the first time in the event's seven-year history.
"We had to wait in the fairway and the momentum slowed down a little bit," said Quinn, who had played his second to the green at the par-4 11th when play was stopped. "We waited about 20 minutes. I think it affected everybody. I think it slowed me down but I continued to hit good shots, I just didn't make the putts."
He'd made everything prior to the arrival of the rain, which came around 3:10 p.m.
"I actually played really well last week but didn't get anything out of it," said Quinn, who tied for 23rd at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun on the PGA TOUR. "I knew I was playing good and that's why I didn't go home (to Massachusetts). We were getting snow and I felt good. I said I wanted to keep playing and I've carried it over to this week."
Quinn's momentum may have been stalled by the rains that have rarely been a part of the equation this time of year, but he rallied with a 15-foot birdie putt at the closing hole, his longest on the day, to break the course mark of 63 set by Isenhour four years ago and matched twice that same week.
"I came down here just to keep my momentum and keep playing well and be ready for my next ones," said Quinn. "I think I'm in four of the next five on TOUR. I was using this week to make sure I was ready when I get my opportunity and right now I have a great opportunity on Sunday. I'm enjoying it."
Third-Round Notes
• Both Quinn and Gomez posted 6-under 29s on the front side today, becoming the second and third players in tournament history to shoot sub-30 scores on the front. Kisner carded a 7-under 28 on the front in yesterday's second round.
• A heavy rainstorm moved through the area at mid-afternoon, forcing officials to half play for about 15 minutes. It was the first time in the tournament's seven-year history that play was halted due to weather.
• Quinn's five-stroke lead is the largest on Tour since Marc Leishman led by five at the 2008 WNB Golf Classic in Midland, Texas. Leishman went on to win by a whopping 11 strokes and tie Chris Smith's Tour mark for the largest victory margin. Smith set the record in winning the 1997 Omaha Classic.
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THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD TO COME

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
PANAMA CHAMPIONSHIP
Club de Golf de Panama.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
Players from United States unless stated
131 Kevin Kisner 67 64.
132 Scott Dunlap 65 67, Fran Quinn 66 66, Julio Zapata (Argentina) 66 66
133 Mark D Anderson 69 64, Brian Smock 66 67, Luke List 66 67, Scott Brown 65 68, Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 68 65, Marco Dawson 66 67.
134 Hunter Haas 68 66, Ken Duke 65 69, Gavin Coles (Australia) 68 66, Fabian Gomez (Argentina) 66 68.
135 David Hearn (Canada) 68 67, Gary Christian (England) 70 65, Daniel Summerhays 67 68, Chris Nallen 66 69, David Branshaw 65 70, Brandt Jobe 66 69.
MISSED THE CUT (139 or better to qualify)
142 Peter Gustafsson (Sweden) 65 77.

NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Six tie for lead at Panama Championship

Six players are tied atop the leaderboard at the Panama Championship after carding first-round 5-under 65s at the Golf Club of Panama.
Ken Duke, Scott Dunlap, David Branshaw, Miguel Angel Carballo, Peter Gustafsson and Scott Brown all hold a share of the lead after Round 1.
Close at the heels of the top six players are ten players tied for seventh after opening the tournament with 4-under 66s. Six more players are another shot back at 3-under 67 and in a tie for 17th.
Jim Herman, who won the Moonah Classic earlier this month, is T-54 after an even-par 70, and Robert Gates, who won the season-opening New Zealand Open, is T-123 at 4-over 74.
Five players in the field were unable to complete the first round because of darkness.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
Par 70
65 Scott Brown, Ken Duke, Scott Dunlap, David Brtasnshaw, Miguel Angel Carballo (Arg), Peter Gustafsson (Swe).
66 Brian Snock, D J Brigman, Chris Nallen.
Selected score:
70 Gary Christian (England).

Herman beats Kirk in Moonah Classic play-off

American Jim Herman has won the co-sanctioned Moonah Classic golf tournament, defeating compatriot Chris Kirk with a birdie on the first play-off hole.
The pair had finished tied at 11 under the card after 72 holes at the Moonah Links course at Fingal on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula in Australia.
Both Herman, who shot a course-record 62 in the first round, and Kirk produced rounds of 70 today.
American Robert Gates, last week's New Zealand Open winner, finished third at 10-under after a 66 while Victorian Jarrod Lyle shot 68 and tied fourth, a further shot back, with American Tag Ridings, 67.
The event was jointly sanctioned by the Australasian and Nationwide Tours.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
277 Jim Herman 62 70 75 70, Chris Kirk 70 72 65 70 (Herman won play-off at first hole).
278 Robert Gates 71 72 69 66
279 Jarrod Lyle 68 71 72 68, Tag Ridings 70 71 71 67
280 Manuel Villegas (Col) 71 72 70 67
281 Andrew Dodt 69 74 68 70
282 Jeff Brehaut 70 71 73 68, Martin Piller 71 71 72 68
283 Steve Allan 69 76 71 67, Michael Hendry (Nzl) 72 73 72 66, Steven Jones 68 67 77 71, Trevor Murphy 69 72 75 67, Jin Park (Kor) 69 75 72 67
284 Anthony Brown 70 71 71 72, David Hearn (Can) 68 76 74 66, Doug LaBelle II 69 69 74 72, Scott Laycock 69 72 71 72, Alistair Presnell 71 70 70 73, Scott Stallings 71 70 72 71
285 Joe Affrunti 70 72 70 73, Keegan Bradley 71 73 73 68, Andrew Buckle 69 68 75 73, James Hahn 69 72 74 70, Bradley Iles (Nzl) 68 74 72 71, Jon Mills (Can) 68 70 75 72, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 68 71 74 72, Craig Parry 73 70 72 70, Craig Scott 70 69 76 70, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 71 71 70 73, Aaron Watkins 71 74 74 66
286 Fabian Gomez (Arg) 69 68 75 74, Scott Gutschewski 69 71 71 75, Mark Hensby 70 74 73 69, Stephen Leaney 70 73 71 72, Matthew Millar 70 71 74 71, David Smail (Nzl) 69 75 73 69, Andre Stolz 66 72 74 74
287 Mitchell Brown 69 70 77 71, Skip Kendall 70 70 74 73
288 Kevin Kisner 72 73 75 68, Peter Tomasulo 71 73 76 68, Aaron Townsend 68 71 78 71
289 D.J. Brigman 71 73 77 68, Jim Carter 67 76 74 72, Peter Lonard 71 73 73 72, Andrew Martin 71 72 74 72, Leigh McKechnie 71 72 72 74, Stephen Poole 70 72 72 75, Hamish Robertson (Nzl) 71 72 73 73
290 Jess Daley 72 70 76 72, Ken Duke 70 75 72 73
291 Ryan Armour 68 72 82 69, Steven Bowditch 70 68 81 72, Jeff Gallagher 69 73 79 70, Paul Sheehan 67 74 77 73, Tim Wood 70 73 75 73
292 Stephen Dartnall 74 71 68 79, Chris Gaunt 71 73 78 70, Kelly Grunewald 69 76 78 69, Gary Simpson 68 76 77 71, Darron Stiles 68 74 79 71, Anthony Summers 72 72 74 74
293 Scott Brown 76 69 77 71, Chris Campbell 72 73 76 72, Stephen Collins 72 73 75 73, Luke Hickmott 71 71 75 76, Bob May 72 73 76 72, Peter Wilson 70 73 76 74
294 Adam Bland 72 73 82 67, Adam Crawford 70 75 75 74, Matthew Griffin 71 73 74 76
295 Martin Doyle 72 73 76 74
296 Bobby MacWhinnie 67 78 78 73
300 Ted Brown (Can) 70 75 79 76

NATIONWIDE TOUR'S MOONAH CLASSIC

Kirk's 65 rockets him into share of lead with Herman

FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM WEBSITE
By Jeff Adams, US PGA TOUR Staff
FINGAL, Victoria, Australia -- American Chris Kirk was 10 shots back of leader Jim Herman entering today's third round of the Nationwide Tour's Moonah Classic. When the last putt dropped, he found himself tied for the lead.
Kirk and Herman enter Sunday's finale with 9-under-par scores of 207 after three trips around the Moonah Links course.
Four shots back at 5 under are Scott Gutschewski of Nebraska and three Aussies -- defending champion Alistair Presnell, last week's runner-up in New Zealand, Andrew Dodt, and popular Jarrod Lyle.
Playing 90 minutes ahead of Herman, Kirk posted the day's best score by three shots, a 7-under-par 65 to leap 26 spots up the leaderboard. Winds were prevalent once again on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, gusting up to 30 mph.
The 2007 Ben Hogan Award winner as college player of the year got off to a fast start with birdies on holes 2, 3, 4 and 6 with putts ranging from 3 feet to 20 feet. The University of Georgia graduate added three more on the back nine to complete a bogey-free round.
After a disappointing 32 putts on Friday, Kirk spent more than two hours on the putting green. "Practice has never paid off as much as yesterday's session did," he said of today's 26-putt performance. "As bad as the putting was yesterday, it was that good today."
Kirk is coming off the most disappointing year of his young golfing life. In 13 Nationwide Tour starts in 2009, he made only four cuts. Solid play at December's PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament secured his Nationwide Tour privileges for 2010.
"I don't know what went wrong last year. If I knew, I wouldn't have done it," he said matter-of- factly.
In 2008, he nearly won the Nationwide Tour's Knoxville Open in the town he was born in, losing to Lyle in a playoff. The rest of that season was not to his liking either, as he finished with 10 cuts made in 19 starts.
A resident of Sea Island, Georgia, Kirk is not intimidated by the winds he is facing this week. "The wind was affecting everything," he said. "At times it becomes a guessing game. I made a lot of good guesses today. I always tell myself that the key in wind is to not hit it hard."
When Kirk needs an eye to look at his swing, he turns to good friend, Mark Love, who also lives at Sea Island. Kirk has not had a formal instructor relationship since he left Atlanta for UGA several years ago. Love's brother, Davis Love III, is also a good friend to Kirk.
First-and second-round leader Herman found the going much tougher today. Near flawless through the first two rounds, he suffered his first bogey of the tournament on the first hole when his approach spun off the green. Two more front nine bogeys dropped him to 9 under, but the lead remained his at the turn. Herman righted the ship over the final nine, shooting 36 to complete a round of 75.
"It was very difficult today," Herman said. "I was trying to stay positive but I knew it was going to be a grind. My 75 was not that bad a round."
"I'm not accustomed to this position but you've got to thrive in these situations," he said. "It's been a year since I've been near the lead but I've played well over here (Australia and New Zealand) at this time of year."
Steven Jones of Australia, who began the day three shots back in second place, stumbled to a 77. He is among 11 players tied for seventh.
The 156-player Moonah Classic is co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia, with the field split evenly between the two tours.
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
207 Jim Herman 62 70 75, Chris Kirk 70 72 65
211 Andrew Dodt 69 74 68, Scott Gutschewski 69 71 71, Jarrod Lyle 68 71 72, Alistair Presnell 71 70 70
212 Joe Affrunti 70 72 70, Anthony Brown 70 71 71, Andrew Buckle 69 68 75, Robert Gates 71 72 69, Fabian Gomez 69 68 75 (Arg), Doug LaBelle II 69 69 74, Scott Laycock 69 72 71, Tag Ridings 70 71 71, Andre Stolz 66 72 74, Phil Tataurangi 71 71 70 (Nzl)
213 Stephen Dartnall 74 71 68, Jon Mills 68 70 75 (Can), Gareth Paddison 68 71 74 (Nzl), Scott Stallings 71 70 72, Manuel Villegas 71 72 70 (Col)
214 Jeff Brehaut 70 71 73, Bradley Iles 68 74 72 (Nzl), Skip Kendall 70 70 74, Stephen Leaney 70 73 71, Martin Piller 71 71 72, Stephen Poole 70 72 72
215 James Hahn 69 72 74, Leigh McKechnie 71 72 72, Matthew Millar 70 71 74, Craig Parry 73 70 72, Craig Scott 70 69 76
216 Steve Allan 69 76 71, Mitchell Brown 69 70 77, Trevor Murphy 69 72 75, Jin Park 69 75 72 (SKor), Hamish Robertson 71 72 73 (Nzl)
217 Keegan Bradley 71 73 73, Jim Carter 67 76 74, Ken Duke 70 75 72, Michael Hendry 72 73 72 (Nzl), Mark Hensby 70 74 73, Luke Hickmott 71 71 75, Peter Lonard 71 73 73, Andrew Martin 71 72 74, David Smail 69 75 73 (Nzl), Aaron Townsend 68 71 78
218 Jess Daley 72 70 76, Matthew Griffin 71 73 74, David Hearn 68 76 74 (Can), Paul Sheehan 67 74 77, Anthony Summers 72 72 74, Tim Wood 70 73 75
219 Aaron Watkins 71 74 74, Peter Wilson 70 73 76
220 Stephen Collins 72 73 75, Adam Crawford 70 75 75, Kevin Kisner 72 73 75, Peter Tomasulo 71 73 76
221 D.J. Brigman 71 73 77, Chris Campbell 72 73 76, Martin Doyle 72 73 76, Jeff Gallagher 69 73 79, Bob May 72 73 76, Gary Simpson 68 76 77, Darron Stiles 68 74 79
222 Ryan Armour 68 72 82, Scott Brown 76 69 77, Chris Gaunt 71 73 78
223 Kelly Grunewald 69 76 78, Bobby MacWhinnie 67 78 78
224 Ted Brown 70 75 79 (Can)
227 Adam Bland 72 73 82

Herman leads by three in Moonah Classic

FROM THE CBS SPORTS.com WEBSITE
FINGAL, Australia -- American Jim Herman has shot a 2-under-par 70 to take a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Moonah Classic today.
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• Moonah Classic leaderboard
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Herman, who shot a course-record 62 in the opening round at Moonah Links, had a bogey-free, two-round total of 12-under 132 on the course designed by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson.
Australian Steven Jones shot 70 and was in second place at 9-under.
He was followed by compatriot Andrew Buckle and Fabian Gomez of Argentina, both with 68s and tied for third, five strokes behind Herman in the tournament jointly sanctioned by the U.S. Nationwide and Australasian PGA tours.
American Douglas LaBelle (69), Australians Steven Bowditch (68) and Andre Stolz (72) and Canadian Jon Mills (70) were tied for fifth, six strokes off the lead.
Herman strong showing comes after missing the cut in his previous seven tournaments.
"That's the high point right now, staying bogey-free," Herman said. "There's plenty of birdie opportunities but to not give any back so far is pretty fulfilling for me.
"I just wanted to do the same things I did yesterday, just drive the ball well, stay out of the fairway bunkers and give myself opportunities."
Herman had an early start today after his late one Thursday, which he preferred. And the wind picked up during the afternoon, helping to protect his lead.
"I had a quick turnaround, which was nice," Herman said. "Keep the momentum going was a good thing for me. I didn't have to sit around."
Defending champion Ewan Porter of Australia shot a 79 and missed the cut.

Robert Gates needed his big lead to win NZ Open

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand -- Robert Gates became the 13th player to win his Nationwide Tour debut today when a closing two-over 74 was good enough to give him a one-stroke victory over Australia's Andrew Dodt in the tour's season-opening New Zealand Open.
Gates, the 6ft 6in former Texas A&M player who played the Canadian Tour last year, had a 14-under 274 total at The Hills. He opened with rounds of 65, 67 and 68 in the event also sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia.
Gates, three strokes ahead entering the round, had a double bogey on the par-3 16th to fall into a tie with Dodt at 14 under, but Dodt followed with a double bogey of his own on the par-5 17th. Dodt birdied the final hole for a 72.
"I didn't hit really many bad shots at all. I got some bad breaks and that's golf," said Gates, who earned $108,000. "I was fortunate the first three rounds to get a lot of great ones. Andrew played an absolutely wonderful back nine."
Former Southern California star Jamie Lovemark (68) was third at 12 under.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
274 Robert Gates 65 67 68 74
275 Andrew Dodt 65 68 70 72
276 Jamie Lovemark 70 69 69 68
277 Michael Curtain 69 68 68 72
278 Mark Hensby 71 70 66 71
279 Casey Wittenberg 72 69 70 68
280 Kevin Kisner 69 69 72 70, Martin Piller 71 66 72 71
281 Jim Carter 72 70 71 68, Scott Dunlap 70 70 72 69, James Hahn 75 66 71 69, Gavin Coles 72 70 70 69, Josh Geary 69 69 73 70, Andrew Buckle 67 72 72 70, Kevin Chappell 70 66 71 74
282 Won Joon Lee 68 74 70 70, Barrett Jarosch 69 69 71 73, Phil Tataurangi 69 68 71 74
283 Jeff Gallagher 69 69 74 71, Bradley Iles 71 67 72 73, Brendan Steele 72 70 68 73, Tag Ridings 69 70 69 75
284 Mark Anderson 74 68 70 72, Matt Jager 68 73 70 73, Scott Gardiner 70 67 73 74, Rob Oppenheim 72 68 70 74, D.J. Brigman 66 69 74 75
285 Paul Gow 70 71 71 73, Alistair Presnell 70 71 69 75, Kelly Grunewald 68 71 69 77, Matthew Griffin 67 70 70 78
286 Andrew Tschudin 71 71 74 70, Dave Schultz 67 71 75 73, Jon Mills 68 69 75 74, Keegan Bradley 69 71 72 74, Adam Bland 69 73 70 74
287 Ashley Hall 72 70 74 71, Kyle Stanley 70 69 75 73, Brian Smock 69 71 74 73, Ryan Haller 67 70 75 75, Justin Hicks 69 69 74 75, Stephen Dartnall 69 72 71 75, Jeff Brehaut 69 71 71 76, Michael Wright 67 71 72 77, Aaron Watkins 71 67 72 77, Darron Stiles 67 69 73 78
288 Jin Park 69 73 72 74, Jason Gore 70 72 70 76, Michael Sims 72 68 71 77, Jarrod Lyle 69 68 73 78, Peter O'Malley 70 69 71 78, David Smail 65 74 71 78, Andrew Martin 71 70 68 79
289 Ted Brown 71 70 75 73, Jay Delsing 70 70 74 75, Gareth Paddison 72 70 70 77, Chris Kirk 68 73 69 79
290 Jason Norris 73 69 75 73, Jess Daley 71 71 72 76, Ryan Armour 72 69 71 78
291 Terry Pilkadaris 70 70 78 73, Scott Stallings 72 69 76 74, Andrew Bonhomme 66 75 75 75, Nick Flanagan 67 75 72 77
294 Adam Crawford 68 74 80 72
297 Bryan DeCorso 71 71 75 80
Withdrew: 218 Joe Affrunti 69 73 76

US PGA's Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
Michael Hill NEW ZEALAND OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Hills Golf Club, Queenstown, New Zealand
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
200 Robert Gates 65 67 68
203 Andrew Dodt 65 68 70
205 Michael Curtain 69 68 68
207 Mark Hensby 71 70 66, Matthew Griffin 67 70 70, Kevin Chappell 70 66 71
208 Kelly Grunewald 68 71 69, Jamie Lovemark 70 69 69, Tag Ridings 69 70 69, Phil Tataurangi 69 68 71
209 Andrew Martin 71 70 68, Barrett Jarosch 69 69 71, Martin Piller 71 66 72, Darron Stiles 67 69 73, D.J. Brigman 66 69 74
210 Brendan Steele 72 70 68, Chris Kirk 68 73 69, Alistair Presnell 70 71 69, Rob Oppenheim 72 68 70, David Smail 65 74 71, Peter O'Malley 70 69 71, Aaron Watkins 71 67 72, Kevin Kisner 69 69 72, Michael Wright 67 71 72, Bradley Iles 71 67 72, Scott Gardiner 70 67 73, Jarrod Lyle 69 68 73
211 Matt Jager 68 73 70, Casey Wittenberg 72 69 70, Jeff Brehaut 69 71 71, Michael Sims 72 68 71, Andrew Buckle 67 72 72, Josh Geary 69 69 73
212 Mark Anderson 74 68 70, Won Joon Lee 68 74 70, Gavin Coles 72 70 70, Adam Bland 69 73 70, Gareth Paddison 72 70 70, Jason Gore 70 72 70, James Hahn 75 66 71, Stephen Dartnall 69 72 71, Ryan Armour 72 69 71, Paul Gow 70 71 71, Scott Dunlap 70 70 72, Keegan Bradley 69 71 72, Justin Hicks 69 69 74, Jeff Gallagher 69 69 74, Ryan Haller 67 70 75, Jon Mills 68 69 75
213 Jim Carter 72 70 71, Dave Schultz 67 71 75
214 Jin Park 69 73 72, Jess Daley 71 71 72, Nick Flanagan 67 75 72, Brian Smock 69 71 74, Jay Delsing 70 70 74, Kyle Stanley 70 69 75
216 Andrew Tschudin 71 71 74, Ashley Hall 72 70 74, Andrew Bonhomme 66 75 75, Ted Brown 71 70 75
217 Jason Norris 73 69 75, Bryan DeCorso 71 71 75, Scott Stallings 72 69 76
218 Joe Affrunti 69 73 76, Terry Pilkadaris 70 70 78
222 Adam Crawford 68 74 80

Open the Gates! Rookie Robert leads NZ Open

FROM STUFF.CO.NZ WEBSITE
By MARTIN DAVIDSON
American Robert Gates holds a one-stroke lead over Australian Andrew Dodt after shooting a five-under 67 in the second round of the New Zealand Open at The Hills, Queenstown on South Island.
The 24-year-old rookie remained atop the leaderboard after the second round of the $US600,000 Nationwide Tour event in idyllic conditions after following up his sterling opening effort of 65.
The tall Texan has delivered an emphatic statement at the midway point of his first appearance as a member of the second tier circuit in the United States.
Due to his greenness, Gates thinks it only natural that nerves will play a role over the weekend but it is an anxiety he welcomes.
"It is an opportunity to learn how to manage that. I'll learn to do the best I can each day."
At his side this week has been Lauren Johnson, his caddie and girlfriend who works as an instructor at Massengale Golf Academy outside of Houston.
She has played her part, too, offering a quiet word here or there whenever Gates has wanted help to read a putt on the 6610m, par-72 championship lay-out which was bathed in fierce sunshine throughout today although a cooling southerly breeze arrived in the middle of the afternoon to at least offer the galleries some respite.
Their partnership has worked a treat as Gates held his rivals at bay, with Australian Andrew Dodt tucked in one shot back on 133 after posting 68, although fellow-first round leader David Smail, of New Zealand, lost ground in a big way after turning in a 74, a swing of nine shots on his performance a day earlier.
American D J Brigman, 66, was alone in third on 135, one ahead of compatriots Kevin Chappell, 66, and Darron Stiles, winner of the 2008 New Zealand PGA Championship, who managed 69.
New Zealand's Phil Tataurangi moved in the right direction, a 68 thrusting him from 22nd equal to a tie for sixth on 137 with seven others - American Martin Piller, 66, the runnerup here last year, Canadian Jon Mills, 69, and Australians Ryan Haller, 70, Jarrod Lyle, 68, Michael Curtain, 68, Matthew Griffin, 67, and Scott Gardiner, 67.
Tataurangi undertook a minor advisory role in developing jeweller Michael Hill's private course, which opened in 2007, and could not envisage the course being more vulnerable to low scoring.
"This golf course can't play any easier," he said after pocketing five birdies before coughing up a stroke back at the final hole.
Bay of Plenty's Brad Iles and Josh Geary also aided their cause, posting 67 and 69, respectively, to sit 14th equal on six-under 138.
The second round cut was made at two-under 142, leaving Wellington left-hander Gareth Paddison to play the weekend as well after he squeaked in right on the number after shooting 70, while he will be joined by American Jason Gore.
Gore also finished on 142 when he birdied the last after mailing an approach from thick rough to within tap-in range at the tough 18th hole to end with 72.
Included among those to have the weekend off are experienced New Zealanders Grant Waite, Steve Alker and 2003 champion Mahal Pearce, while Australian notables Peter Lonard, Peter Senior and Craig Parry can all arrange early flights home.
Gates' progress here has been quite remarkable for a young man with just one season on the low-key Canadian Tour behind him.
He has been unable to mask the enjoyment factor, either, as things continued to fall his way after a round containing six birdies and one bogey.
"I am excited to have put myself into a position to have a great weekend," Gates said.
"I have been hitting a lot of great shots and sunk some good putts today.
"I had a couple of bad iron shots but still managed to get up and down. I'm really excited and learning as I go."
Gates' round began at the par-three 10th and he made the turn at three-under with birdies at the 12th, 13th and 18th, the last of them after he sent a six iron from 180m to within 10 feet of the flag.
More followed at the first and seventh, but he let one slip by when missing from 10 feet on the eighth before nailing his last of the day on the ninth from 28 feet.
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Robert Gates 65 67
133 Andrew Dodt 65 68
135 D.J. Brigman 66 69
136 Kevin Chappell 70 66, Darron Stiles 67 69
137 Michael Curtain 69 68, Scott Gardiner 70 67, Matthew Griffin 67 70, Ryan Haller 67 70, Jarrod Lyle 69 68, Jon Mills 68 69, Martin Piller 71 66, Phil Tataurangi 69 68
138 Jeff Gallagher 69 69, Josh Geary 69 69, Justin Hicks 69 69, Bradley Iles 71 67, Barrett Jarosch 69 69, Kevin Kisner 69 69, Dave Schultz 67 71, Aaron Watkins 71 67, Michael Wright 67 71
139 Andrew Buckle 67 72, Kelly Grunewald 68 71, Jamie Lovemark 70 69, Peter O'Malley 70 69, Tag Ridings 69 70, David Smail 65 74, Kyle Stanley 70 69
140 Keegan Bradley 69 71, Jeff Brehaut 69 71, Jay Delsing 70 70, Scott Dunlap 70 70, Rob Oppenheim 72 68, Terry Pilkadaris 70 70, Michael Sims 72 68, Brian Smock 69 71
141 Ryan Armour 72 69, Andrew Bonhomme 66 75, Ted Brown 71 70, Stephen Dartnall 69 72, Paul Gow 70 71, James Hahn 75 66, Mark Hensby 71 70, Matt Jager 68 73, Chris Kirk 68 73, Andrew Martin 71 70, Alistair Presnell 70 71, Scott Stallings 72 69, Casey Wittenberg 72 69
142 Joe Affrunti 69 73, Mark Anderson 74 68, Adam Bland 69 73, Jim Carter 72 70, Gavin Coles 72 70, Adam Crawford 68 74, Jess Daley 71 71, Bryan DeCorso 71 71, Nick Flanagan 67 75, Jason Gore 70 72, Ashley Hall 72 70, Won Joon Lee 68 74, Jason Norris 73 69, Gareth Paddison 72 70, Jin S. Park 69 73, Brendan Steele 72 70, Andrew Tschudin 71 71
MISSED THE CUT
143 Steve Allan 71 72, Scott Brown 72 71, Mitchell Brown 69 74, Tony Carolan 75 68, Bubba Dickerson 74 69, Ken Duke 72 71, Brad Kennedy 70 73, Scott Laycock 69 74, Richard Lee 72 71, Matthew Millar 70 73, Trevor Murphy 69 74, Craig Parry 72 71, Craig Scott 71 72, Daniel Summerhays 67 76
144 Adam Blyth 72 72, Miguel Carballo 76 68, Ty Harris 75 69, David Hearn 71 73, Jim Herman 74 70, Luke List 73 71, Bob May 74 70, Leigh McKechnie 71 73, David McKenzie 70 74, Mahal Pearce 71 73, Nathan Smith 71 73, Tim Wood 69 75
145 Kurt Barnes 75 70, Dan Buchner 74 71, David Diaz 74 71, Fabian Gomez 73 72, Bob Heintz 72 73, J.J. Killeen 72 73, Bronson LaCassie 68 77, Stephen Leaney 68 77, Peter Lonard 71 74, Mark Purser 72 73, Peter Spearman Bum 72 73, Anthony Summers 72 73, Grant Waite 70 75
146 Jamie Arnold 75 71, Gary Christian 72 74, Scott Gutschewski 74 72, Michael Long 75 71, Ewan Porter 73 73, Heath Reed 71 75, Clint Rice 69 77, Peter Senior 75 71, Gary Simpson 72 74, Andrew Svoboda 73 73, Julien Trudeau 74 72, Manuel Villegas 71 75
147 Steve Alker 70 77, Doug Batty 71 76, Matthew Borchert 75 72, Stuart Bouvier 72 75, Michael Brennan 72 75, Marcus Cain 73 74, Kim Felton 71 76, Tommy Gainey 73 74, Chris Gaunt 75 72, Michael Hendry 73 74, Bobby MacWhinnie 70 77, Paul Marantz 76 71, Brady Schnell 74 73
148 Henry Epstein 74 74, Craig Kanada 78 70, Skip Kendall 74 74, Doug LaBelle II 78 70, Patrick Sheehan 71 77, Paul Sheehan 69 79, Andrew Stewart 73 75, Aaron Townsend 76 72, Peter Wilson 74 74
149 Gary Hill 72 77, Andre Stolz 74 75
150 Scott Arnold 72 78, Anthony Brown 76 74, John Douma 74 76, Stephen Poole 76 74, Tom Prowse 80 70, Ed Stedman 72 78
152 Ryan Hietala 74 78, Terry Price 77 75, Brendon Todd 76 76
154 Paul Spargo 76 78
157 Brian Vranesh 75 82

Michael Sim wins Jack Nicklaus

Trophy as US Nationwide Tour

Player of the Year

Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim has been voted 2009 Player of the Year on the United States Nationwide Tour by his fellow competitors. The honour wins him the Jack Nicklaus Trophy.
"With the level of play we see week-in-and week-out on the Nationwide Tour, Michael's record-breaking performance this season was nothing short of spectacular," said US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem.
"We congratulate him on joining a distinguished list of Nationwide Tour alumni who are having an impact on the PGA Tour on a weekly basis. Michael certainly embodies the Nationwide Tour's mission of identifying and transitioning players who are ready to compete and win on the PGA Tour."
"It is a great honour to be named Nationwide Tour Player of the Year by my peers," said Sim.
"The level of play out there is incredible. I think the Nationwide Tour is the best place to test your game and see if you have what it takes. When you look at the success Nationwide Tour players have had on the PGA Tour, it really gives me a boost of confidence. I'm excited to get out there.
"My goal next year is to win a US PGA Tour event. I wish to thank my fellow players for voting for me and everybody associated with the Tour who helped me throughout the year. It certainly was a fun and rewarding year."
Sim, 25, who emigrated with his parents from Aberdeen to Perth, Western Australia when he was seven years old, enjoyed a record-smashing year in 2009.
He won three times by August to earn immediate promotion to the US PGA Tour and set.
a single-season Nationwide Tour earnings record of $644,142.
Sim was ranked No 53 on the Official World Golf Rankings on October 26 and is now No 60.
ends

Michael Sim: "The Greatest Player in U S Nationwide Tour History"

FROM THE US PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
There was only one story on the Nationwide Tour this year: Michael Sim.
The Australian phenom lit it up in 2009 with the most successful individual season in Tour history. Sim, born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised in Perth, Western Australia from the age of seven, began the season with a low profile. He was coming off a back injury and didn't even rate a full biography page in the Nationwide Tour's media guide. But before the season was over he was no longer a footnote -- he was being called by some the greatest player in Nationwide Tour history.
Sim won three times and earned the instant promotion to the US PGA Tour just as the PGA Tour Play-offs for the FedExCup began. But he returned to the Nationwide Tour to hold down No. 1 on the money list and earn a spot in the 2010 Players Championship.
Sim made the cut in 12 of his 14 Nationwide Tour starts and had nine top-10s, including wins at the Stonebrae Classic, the BMW Charity Pro-Am and the Christmas in October event. He lost in play-off at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic and finished second in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship.
Sim shattered the single-season Nationwide Tour record for earnings with $644,142, more than $150,000 more than the total posted by Troy Matteson in 2005.
Sim had two goals for the season: to improve his short game and to improve the state of his mental game. He accomplished both. Sim led the Nationwide Tour in scoring (68.81), scrambling and putting and was second in driving accuracy. And with the help of sports psychologist Angela Pampling, wife of US TOUR player Rod Pampling, Sim was able to establish a solid pre-shot routine and hold up under pressure.
Most of the time Sim was applying the pressure, not bending to it. Now Sim gets a second shot at the US PGA Tour, and he is ready to get started.
"You know, I feel like I can win on the regular Tour, and I feel like I can compete out here," Sim said. "I played two major championships this year, and I did reasonably well. And I'm definitely looking forward to next season."

After three Nationwide Tour wins in 2009, what can Michael Sim do on the US PGA Tour in 2010? Watch this space!

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.

NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Demsey goes three clear at Chattanooga Classic

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee. Todd Demsey took sole possession of the lead at 13 under par in the second round of the Chattanooga Classic on Friday. David McKenzie, Kyle Reifers, Chris Baryla and Josh Teater are three shots back at 10 under.
Play was suspended at approximately 6:45 p.m. local time due to dangerous weather conditions with 50 players still on the course.
Demsey's 5-under 67 on Friday followed a 64 in the opening round.
"I didn't play quite as well as yesterday, but I hung in there," he said. "I feel pretty good about most parts of my game right now. I made a few bad swings today, but wasn't far off and am pretty happy with how everything turned out."
Demsey, 37, was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University, where he was team-mates with Phil Mickelson. He is playing his ninth full season on the Nationwide Tour since his rookie year in 1995. He also played two seasons on the US PGA Tour, in 1997 and 2008.
Currently 88th on the money list, Demsey needs to get into the top 60 to advance to the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in two weeks. Only the Chattanooga Classic and next week's Miccosukee Championship remain to improve his ranking.
At the conclusion of the Nationwide Tour Championship, the 25 leading money winners earn US PGA Tour cards for 2010 and the top 60 maintain fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour.
Reifers, who started the day five shots off the lead, birdied his first six holes in a row and finished with a 7-under-par 65.
Play will resume at 8:30 a.m. local time Saturday. After the second round is completed, the field will be cut to the low 60 and ties and regrouped for the third round with players going off the first and 10th tees in threesomes.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Black Creek Club, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Par 144 (2x72)
*Second round suspended due to lightning; play will resume on Saturday at 8.30am local time. 48 players are still to finish their second round).
131 Todd Demsey 64 67
134 David McKenzie 64 70, Kyle Reifers 69 65, Chris Baryla 66 68, Josh Teater 67 67
135 Tyrone van Aswegen 65 70
136 Troy Kelly 69 67, Wil Collins 67 69, Esteban Toledo 67 69, Geoffrey Sisk 64 72, Jason Schultz 68 68, Hunter Haas 69 67
137 David Peoples 69 68, Jeff Brehaut 69 68, Guy Boros 66 71, Roberto Castro 66 71
138 Doug LaBelle II 69 69, Ian Leggatt 66 72, Martin Flores 68 70, Marco Dawson 69 69, Blake Adams 68 70, Scott Gardiner 67 71, Brendan Steele 72 66, Cameron Percy 72 66, Justin Bolli 71 67
139 Joe Daley 70 69, Brad Fritsch 70 69, Steven Bowditch 73 66, Vance Veazey 74 65, Bob May 71 68
140 Gavin Coles 71 69, Tom Scherrer 70 70, Jon Mills 74 66, Bubba Dickerson 67 73, Len Mattiace 69 71, Bret Guetz 70 70, Tommy Gainey 71 69
141 Drew Laning 73 68, Daniel Summerhays 74 67, Brenden Pappas 73 68, Jonas Blixt 72 69, Omar Uresti 68 73, Bob Burns 70 71, J.J. Killeen 71 70, Bradley Iles 72 69, John Kimbell 68 73, Brock Shaffer 72 69, Steve Friesen 74 67, Shane Bertsch 73 68, Skip Kendall 76 65, Clark Dennis 71 70, Matt Every 71 70
142 Paul Gow 72 70, Dan Woltman 71 71, Henrik Bjornstad 70 72, Justin Hicks 71 71, Jim Gallagher Jr. 71 71, Tjaart van der Walt 72 70
143 Ron Whittaker 72 71, Chris Nallen 71 72, Camilo Benedetti 71 72, Scott Stallings 70 73
144 Bobby Clampett 69 75, Seung-su Han 71 73, Fran Quinn 67 77
145 Jay Delsing 74 71, Ryan Armour 74 71, Kyle Thompson 70 75, Won Joon Lee 76 69, Stuart Deane 72 73, Paul Apyan 76 69, Jonathan Kaye 73 72, Paul Claxton 74 71
146 Steve Allan 73 73, Jim Herman 77 69, Jeff Gallagher 75 71, Steven Alker 73 73, Keoke Cotner 75 71
147 Josh Broadaway 74 73, Rob Garland 74 73, Michael Clark II 75 72
148 Grant Waite 76 72, Brennan Webb 73 75, Mark Harrell
149 Justin Smith 72 77
151 Alex Aragon 79 72, Loren Personett 80 71, David Morland IV 73 78
152 Ewan Porter 76 76, Andrew Buckle 78 74
156 Phil Tataurangi 78 78
157 Oliver West 76 81

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
CHATTANOOGA CLASSIC
FIRST ROUND SCORES
(Note: First round was suspended due to darkness. play will resume on Friday at 8am local time with nine players completing their first rounds).
Par 72
64 David McKenzie, Todd Demsey, Geoffrey Sisk
65 Tyrone van Aswegen
66 Brian Vranesh, Dustin Bray, Guy Boros, Ian Leggatt, Chris Baryla
67 Fran Quinn, Josh Teater, Wil Collins, Esteban Toledo, Bubba Dickerson, Scott Gardiner
68 Chris Anderson, Adam Bland, Scott Parel, Omar Uresti, Martin Flores, Jason Schultz, Blake Adams, John Kimbell
69 Hunter Haas, David Hearn, Chris Kirk, Michael Sims, Luke List, David Peoples, Troy Kelly, Bobby Clampett, Jeff Brehaut, Kyle Reifers, Doug LaBelle, Marco Dawson, Len Mattiace
70 Henrik Bjornstad, Patrick Sheehan, Tyler Aldridge, Dicky Pride, Bryan DeCorso, Jerod Turner, Ryan Cobb, Jim Rutledge, Tom Scherrer, Joe Daley, Kyle Thompson, Bob Burns, Brad Fritsch
71 Justin Hicks, Justin Bolli, Jim Gallagher Jr., Clark Dennis, Matt Every, Bob May, Tommy Gainey, David Branshaw, Jeff Hart, Michael Putnam, Matthew Borchert, Chad Ginn, Bob Sowards, Brian Smock, Johannes van der Walt, Gavin Coles, Seung-su Han, Chris Nallen, J.J. Killeen, Camilo Benedetti
72 Tjaart van der Walt, Mark Brooks, Scott Dunlap, Robert Damron, Troy Merritt, Jin Park, Steven Taylor, Adam Mitchell, Mark Harrell, Jonas Blixt, Ron Whittaker, Paul Gow, Stuart Deane, Brendan Steele, Bradley Iles
73 David Morland, Jonathan Kaye, Shane Bertsch, Alistair Presnell, Tee McCabe, Dave Schultz, Kevin Chappell, Sal Spallone, Drew Laning, Steve Allan, Brenden Pappas, Steven Alker, Brennan Webb, Steven Bowditch
74 Vance Veazey, Garth Mulroy, Steve Friesen, Paul Claxton, Ryan Hietala, Martin Piller, Craig Bowden, Mathias Gronberg, Jhonattan Vegas, Jay Delsing, Daniel Summerhays, Josh Broadaway, Jon Mills, Ryan Armour, Rob Garland
75 Michael Clark, B.J. Staten, Nick Flanagan, Jim McGovern, Matthew Richardson, Jeff Gallagher, Keoke Cotner
76 Skip Kendall, Brent Delahoussaye, Matt Hughes, Grant Waite, Ewan Porter, Won Joon Lee, Paul Apyan
77 Craig Kanada, Allen Fennell, Jim Herman
78 Phil Tataurangi, Andrew Buckle
79 Justin Walters, Alex Aragon
Withdrew: Garrett Osborn

NATIONWIDE TOUR REPORT

Two weeks to go from rags to riches

for self-taught Jerod Turner

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
By Joe Chemycz, PGA TOUR Staff
SAN JACINTO, California -- Hello, Hollywood, here's a script that writes itself. Okay, maybe it's not exactly Cinderella, but the Jerod Turner story is close. The 34-year old, self-taught Texan has been chasing his dream and scratching out a living on mini-tours for the past nine years. He'd earned less than $8,000 on the Nationwide Tour and was contemplating a next step that would take him away from golf. Suddenly, in the span of two weeks, he's inches away from playing on the US PGA Tour next year.
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Leaderboard: Scores
Complete coverage
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Turner turned his life completely upside down on Sunday, shooting a 2-under 69 to win the Nationwide Tour's $1million Soboba Classic by two strokes. More importantly, the victory was worth $180,000, equal to the largest in Tour history, and propelled the father of two from No. 150 on the money list to No. 17 with only three events left on the schedule.
The top-25 at the end of the year will earn their US PGA Tour cards for next season and it would take a perfect storm to knock Turner out of "THE 25."
"Right now, I still don't know what hit me," said Turner, who finished at 15-under 269. "This week blows everything out of the water."
Two weeks ago, Turner was thinking about whether he should take a job in construction or the oil and gas business during the winter to help pay the bills. Then his phone rang on Tuesday afternoon and he was told Kyle Reifers had withdrawn from last week's WNB Golf Classic. Turner was in -- the second-to-last to make it into the field.
"I think I owe him a thank you note," he said with a laugh.
Turner played well on a difficult golf course and tied for seventh in Midland, Texas, giving him an entry into this week's event.
"I was frustrated I wasn't getting the starts out here. I felt if I got the starts and got the right golf course I could contend. Win? Who knows. I missed 17 tournaments and never got in a field."
Turner tossed conventional wisdom aside this week, as he has done for much of his life, and hit driver where others feared to go, attacked pins that others wouldn't and rolled in par-saving putts that others struggled to make.
He was one shot off the lead after the first day, led by one after two days and was one down to start the final round.
"I thought I'd have to get to 20-under today to have a chance," said Turner, who started the day at minus-13. "As soon as we got on one and two and I saw how hard and tough the course was playing, I realized there weren't a lot of birdies out there."
Sunday's scoring average of 72.836 was more than three full strokes higher than Saturday's third round, which produced the two lowest scores of the week, a 9-under 62 and a 7-under 64.
"This was the hardest golf course I've ever played on," said Turner, who was making only his ninth start on the Nationwide Tour. "It was like a U.S. Open."
Just like an Open, it was a question of who would inch forward while others backed up.
Turner grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie at No. 2 and then took the lead for good with another birdie at the par-5, 5th.
"I knew that if I could get it in the fairway and get it on the green and make some pars I'd be okay," he said. "Heck, I think I gained ground."
Third-round co-leaders Derek Lamely (72) and Brian Stuard (74) stumbled but did their best to keep pace with Turner, who admitted his only golf lesson came at the age of 14 but "lasted about 30 minutes."
Tyrone van Aswegen, a Monday qualifier, vaulted up the board with a 2-under 69 that put him at 11-under, but was never in serious contention.
Turner ran off nine consecutive pars starting at No. 6 and was ahead by three when he three-putted the 209-yard, 15th, cutting his margin to two over Lamely, who would bogey No. 15 and birdie No. 16 to keep the margin at two.
Turner approached the 521-yard, par-5, 18th with the same all-out enthusiasm he displayed all week. After a good drive, he hit a hybrid to the green and was just over the back in two.
"I told my caddie this was going to be an up-and-down for a lifetime," said Turner. "I knew he (Lamely) would have to hole it from the fairway. I thought if I could get it up-and-down it would change everything. I've practised and practised and practised and hit thousands and thousands of golf balls and spent hours and hours to get to this point."
Just as the script would have it, Turner knocked it to within a foot or two.
"I don't know how far it was," he said trying to estimate the distance. "If it was any further I might have to think about it but whatever it was, I was still pretty confident."
The short birdie put him at 15-under and out of reach. Lamely, in the final group, had run out of holes.
By the time Turner had finished chatting with the media, his phone was buzzing -- 73 text messages and 51 calls.
"I didn't know I knew this many people," he laughed.
He may not know them, but very shortly, they're all going to know him.
SCOREBOARD TO FOLLOW

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
SOBOBA CLASSIC
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
134 Jerod Turner 68 66
135 Craig Bowden 67 68, Rickie Fowler 70 65, Brian Stuard 68 67, Tyrone Van Aswegen 68 67
136 Josh Broadaway 70 66, J.J. Killeen 69 67, Garth Mulroy 68 68
137 Kevin Chappell 69 68, Jeff Hart 70 67, Justin Hicks 71 66, Joel Kribel 69 68, Derek Lamely 68 69, Garrett Osborn 67 70, Steve Pate 69 68, Alistair Presnell 70 67, Brendan Steele 68 69, Garrett Willis 68 69
138 Cameron Percy 70 68, Tom Scherrer 68 70, Sal Spallone 69 69
139 Henrik Bjornstad 73 66, Chad Collins 71 68, Carlos Corona 70 69, Scott Gardiner 73 66, Jeff Gove 71 68, Tag Ridings 70 69
140 Tyler Aldridge 72 68, Craig Barlow 71 69, Dustin Bray 70 70, Andrew Buckle 73 67, Miguel Carballo 69 71, Scott Dunlap 69 71, Jason Enloe 70 70, Tommy Gainey 72 68, Jeff Gallagher 69 71, Jonathan Kaye 70 70, John Kimbell 70 70, Bob May 69 71, Troy Merritt 74 66, Nick Obie 70 70, Justin Smith 70 70, Roger Tambellini 71 69, Chris Tidland 72 68, Tjaart Van der Walt 69 71, Steve Wheatcroft 70 70, Dustin White 71 69
141 David Branshaw 74 67, Jay Delsing 68 73, Matt Every 71 70, Paul Gow 72 69, Troy Kelly 71 70, Skip Kendall 74 67, Won Joon Lee 73 68, J.L. Lewis 70 71, Tee McCabe 73 68, Brenden Pappas 69 72, Michael Putnam 67 74, Michael Sims 72 69, Vance Veazey 73 68, Jhonathan Vegas 73 68
MISSED THE CUT
142 Chris M. Anderson 71 71, Chris Baryla 72 70, Jonas Blixt 71 71, Jeff Brehaut 71 71, Gregory Casagranda 70 72, Gary Christian 71 71, Bubba Dickerson 68 74, Fabian Gomez 71 71, Hunter Haas 72 70, Kevin Johnson 69 73, Doug LaBelle II 75 67, Chris Nallen 74 68, Dennis Paulson 74 68, Martin Piller 73 69, Patrick Sheehan 71 71, Geoffrey Sisk 73 69, Brian Smock 70 72, Omar Uresti 73 69
143 Oskar Bergman 69 74, Adam Bland 73 70, Mark Brooks 73 70, David Hearn 74 69, Bradley Iles 70 73, Len Mattiace 70 73, Alex Prugh 76 67, B.J. Staten 73 70, Scott Sterling 73 70, Esteban Toledo 70 73
144 Ryan Armour 74 70, Dan Buchner 76 68, Keoke Cotner 71 73, Marco Dawson 75 69, Todd Demsey 73 71, Justin Peters 72 72, Daniel Summerhays 71 73, Josh Teater 73 71
145 Rich Barcelo 77 68, Camilo Benedetti 73 72, Guy Boros 76 69, Michael Clark II 73 72, Robert Damron 74 71, Fran Quinn 75 70
146 Blake Adams 75 71, Steve Allan 73 73, Steve Friesen 72 74, Jon Mills 74 72, Dustin Risdon 72 74, Jason Schultz 73 73, Kyle Thompson 76 70
147 Justin Bolli 75 72, Brent Delahoussaye 75 72, Jon Fiedler 77 70, Drew Laning 74 73, David McKenzie 77 70, Ewan Porter 74 73, Matthew Richardson 75 72, Dave Schultz 68 79, Paul Stankowski 73 74
148 Ryan C. Carter 76 72, Jerry Crowell 74 74, Vincent Johnson 73 75, Jim Rutledge 72 76, Ron Whittaker 77 71
149 Paul Claxton 76 73, Joe Daley 73 76, Ryan Hietala 77 72, Jin Park 71 78, Phil Tataurangi 76 73
150 Tom Byrum 76 74, Stephen Dartnall 75 75, Bryan DeCorso 79 71, Tom Gillis 72 78, Kyle Reifers 73 77, Kyle Thurston 74 76
151 Gavin Coles 81 70, Chad Ginn 78 73, Blake Trimble 74 77

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
SOBOBA CLASSIC
Country Club at Soboba Springs, San Jacinto, Palm Springs, California
FIRST ROUND
Par 71
67 Craig Bowden, Garrett Osborn, Michael Putnam
68 Jay Delsing, Bubba Dickerson, Derek Lamely, Garth Mulroy, Tom Scherrer, Dave Schultz, Brendan Steele, Brian Stuard, Jerod Turner, Tyrone Van Aswegen, Garrett Willis
69 Oskar Bergman, Miguel Carballo, Kevin Chappell, Scott Dunlap, Jeff Gallagher, Kevin Johnson, J.J. Killeen, Joel Kribel, Bob May, Brenden Pappas, Steve Pate, Sal Spallone, Tjaart Van der Walt
70 Dustin Bray, Josh Broadaway, Gregory Casagranda, Carlos Corona, Jason Enloe, Rickie Fowler, Jeff Hart, Bradley Iles, Jonathan Kaye, John Kimbell, J.L. Lewis, Len Mattiace, Nick Obie, Cameron Percy, Alistair Presnell, Tag Ridings, Justin Smith, Brian Smock, Esteban Toledo, Steve Wheatcroft
71 Chris M. Anderson, Craig Barlow, Jonas Blixt, Jeff Brehaut, Gary Christian, Chad Collins, Keoke Cotner, Matt Every, Fabian Gomez, Jeff Gove, Justin Hicks, Troy Kelly, Jin Park, Patrick Sheehan, Daniel Summerhays, Roger Tambellini, Dustin White
72 Tyler Aldridge, Chris Baryla, Steve Friesen, Tommy Gainey, Tom Gillis, Paul Gow, Hunter Haas, Justin Peters, Dustin Risdon, Jim Rutledge, Michael Sims, Chris Tidland
73 Steve Allan, Camilo Benedetti, Henrik Bjornstad, Adam Bland, Mark Brooks, Andrew Buckle, Michael Clark II, Joe Daley, Todd Demsey, Scott Gardiner, Vincent Johnson, Won Joon Lee, Tee McCabe, Martin Piller, Kyle Reifers, Jason Schultz, Geoffrey Sisk, Paul Stankowski, B.J. Staten, Scott Sterling, Josh Teater, Omar Uresti, Vance Veazey, Jhonathan Vegas
74 Ryan Armour, David Branshaw, Jerry Crowell, Robert Damron, David Hearn, Skip Kendall, Drew Laning, Troy Merritt, Jon Mills, Chris Nallen, Dennis Paulson, Ewan Porter, Kyle Thurston, Blake Trimble
75 Blake Adams, Justin Bolli, D.J. Brigman, Stephen Dartnall, Marco Dawson, Brent Delahoussaye, Doug LaBelle II, Todd Murphy, Fran Quinn, Matthew Richardson
76 Guy Boros, Dan Buchner, Tom Byrum, Ryan C. Carter, Paul Claxton, Alex Prugh, John Riegger, Phil Tataurangi, Kyle Thompson
77 Rich Barcelo, Jon Fiedler, Jim Herman, Ryan Hietala, David McKenzie, Ron Whittaker
78 Chad Ginn
79 Bryan DeCorso
81 Gavin Coles, Grant Waite

United States Champions' Tour
CONSTELLATION ENERGY SENIOR PLAYERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
Baltimore CC East Course in Timonium, Maryland.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 70
65 Lonnie Nielsen
66 Tom Watson, Jay Haas
67 Sandy Lyle (Sco)
68 Dan Forsman, Mike Reid, Eduardo Romero (Arg), Bob Tway
69 Andy Bean, Fulton Allem (Rsa), Joey Sindelar, Mark James (Eng), Robert L Thompson, Bruce Fleisher, John Cook, Mark Wiebe, Fuzzy Zoeller, Scott Simpson, Nick Price (Zim), Tim Simpson
70 Keith Fergus, Mike Goodes, Jay Don Blake, Morris Hatalsky, Mark O'Meara, Loren Roberts, Olin Browne, David Eger, Larry Mize
71 Gil Morgan, Gene Jones, Craig Stadler, Joe Ozaki (Jpn), Bob Gilder, Fred Funk, David Frost (Rsa), Phil Blackmar, Tom Purtzer, Robin Freeman, John Harris, John Morse
72 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Tom Jenkins, Ronnie Black, Blaine McCallister, Don Pooley, Bruce Vaughan, Jim Thorpe, Des Smyth (Irl), Chip Beck, Larry Nelson, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Bobby Wadkins
73 Mike McCullough, Mark W Johnson, R.W. Eaks, Brad Bryant, Walter Hall
74 Kirk Hanefeld, Bruce Lietzke, Gary Hallberg, D A Weibring, Jeff Sluman, Tom Kite, Chris Starkjohann, Hal Sutton
75 Russ Cochran, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Thomas
76 Denis Watson (Zim), Bruce Summerhays, Tom McKnight
77 James Mason, Jerry Pate
79 Mike Hulbert, Donnie Hammond
81 Wayne Grady (Aus)

Garrett Willis wins at Midland, Texas and books

promotion to US PGA Tour at end of year

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
Garrett Willis held steady on Sunday and slowly put away the field at the Nationwide Tour's WNB Golf Classic. The 35-year-old fired a final-round 68 at Midland Country Club, Texas to finish at 20-under-par 268, one shot better than Chad Collins, who had blistered the course earlier with a 10-under-par 62.
The win is the second on the Nationwide Tour for Willis and the first since he captured the 2005 Envirocare Utah Classic. More importantly, he picks up a check for $94,500 that assures him of a return trip to the USA PGA Tour next year. Willis jumps 13 places to No. 6 on the money list and raises his season total to $261,506, more than enough to assure him of a place among the Nationwide Tour's 25 top money-winners at the end of the year who will graduate to the Tour.
"It's an almost surreal feeling," Willis said. "I was kind of expecting this grand explosion of emotion and I suppose that will come at some point. This is our job and what we set out to do each year."
Willis owned a two-stroke lead to begin the final round, but by the time he teed off, Collins was already 9 under through 13 holes and was leading by two. When Collins two-putted for par to close out his 62, Willis was making birdie at No. 4 to regain a share of the lead at minus-19.
"I knew, being in the lead, I was going to be in the driver's seat all day. I didn't think the biggest challenge would come from the final groups," said Willis. "I thought somebody would come from way behind us. Typically, guys go low early. There isn't any pressure and they can just fire away. Somebody always posts something low."
Willis bogeyed No. 5 and was trailing by one. He saved par with a 10-foot putt at the par-3 8th hole and then tapped in a short birdie at No. 9 to pull even with nine to go.
"I do watch the leaderboards but I didn't see too many early on," he said. "I saw the one at number nine and knew Chad was in the house at 19. I felt like if I just stayed patient I'd make a couple of birdies. I knew that if I could shoot 1 under on the back I'd be fine."
So, while Willis headed for the back nine and Collins waited to learn his fate, the rest of the field was treading water.
Darron Stiles put on a late rush with a 6-under 30 on the back nine for a a 66 and a 17-under total.
Jin Park closed out a bogey-free 66 to tie Stiles for third, his career-best finish on Tour. Park's previous career-best was a tie for eighth at the 2006 Scholarship America Showdown. He moved up 38 places on the money list from No. 118 to No. 80.
Esteban Toledo also posted a 66 and headed the group at 16 under. He was eventually joined by Keoke Cotner, who was runner-up here a year ago.
Willis' nearest challengers to start the day, J.J. Killeen and Brendan Steele were both struggling and never put any pressure on the leader. They both posted 1-under 71s and tied for seventh.
Willis moved in front with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. A "rope-hook 5-wood" off the tee at No. 17 put him in trouble at No. 17. His second shot caught a low-hanging branch and he wound up making bogey, reducing his lead to one.
"I really didn't think my nerves were too bad today," he said. "Usually I can get pretty jumpy but I just tried to stay calm, walk slow and talk slow. I was pretty calm out there, especially for me."
Willis was barely off the front of the green at the par-4 18th and needed two putts to close out the win.
"There was no way that first putt was going past the hole," he said of his 35-footer. "When I walked up there I knew I wanted to leave it a little short and right, right up the hill."
Mission accomplished. He left himself three feet of green to win.
"I never thought about winning the golf tournament until the last hole," he said. "It wasn't a gimme but I felt no pressure over it."
John Kimbell made a run up the leaderboard at midday. Kimbell strung together eight birdies in nine holes, including six in a row, starting at No. 4 to get to 15 under par. He birdied No. 16 but stumbled to a closing bogey when he missed the green to the right at the final hole. He settled for an 8-under 64 and a tie for seventh.
Tom Gillis also tied for seventh this week, his sixth consecutive top-10 finish and his seventh of the year. Gillis led the field with 26 birdies this week. He remains No. 4 on the money list.
Jerrod Turner also tied for seventh. Turner started the week as an alternate and didn't make into the field until Tuesday afternoon. He was No. 199 on the money list and knew the only way he'd qualify for next week's Soboba Classic was to finish in the top 25. Turner shot rounds of 67-67-69-70 and earned $14,212. His finish did qualify for next week.
Keoke Cotner tied for fifth this week, his best finish of the year. Cotner was runner-up in this event to Marc Leishmann last year.
Kris Cox, 2005 champion, had a roller-coaster week. Cox posted opening rounds of 67-67 to reach 10 under par and make his first cut in 13 starts this year. He was tied for fifth after the first 36 holes. The weekend turned sour, though, as he shot scores of 76-78 to finish at even-par 288 and tied for 70th.
Chad Collins locked up his US PGA Tour card for 2010 with his third runner-up finish of the year. Collins earned $56,700 and moved from No. 15 to No. 9 on the money list with $255,514.
Second-round leader Fran Quinn fired weekend scores of 74-70 and dropped into a tie for 19th place. Quinn, winner of last week's Albertsons Boise Open remains No. 18 on the money list.
The Nationwide Tour moves to San Jacinto, California this week for the inaugural Soboba Classic, which features the third $1 million purse in the tour'shistory. The tournament will be played Oct. 1-4 at Soboba Springs and will be 26th stop on the Nationwide Tour's 29-event schedule this year.
LEADING MONEY-WINNERS ON NATIONWIDE TOUR 2009
1 Michael Sim $527,079.
2 Blake Adams $369,499.
3 Chris Tidland $336,572.
4 Tom Gillis $335,429.
5 Roger Tambellini $296,570.

Willis set for first US Nationwide Tour victory

FROM THE GOLFWEEK.COM WEBSITE
Garrett Willis put himself in position for his first Nationwide Tour victory of the year, shooting a bogey-free 5-under 67 Saturday at the WNB Golf Classic at Midland (Texas) Country Club.
Willis stands at 5-under 200, two shots better than J.J. Killeen (66) and Brendan Steele (68).
“I wanted to come out here and make no bogeys,” said Willis. “I knew the guys coming out here early were going to go pretty low and I felt if I could make some birdies I could hang out around the lead.”
Willis, currently 19th on the Nationwide Tour money list, lost a playo-off in his first Nationwide event of the year, the Panama Digicel Championship. He also finished third at the South Georgia Classic in late April.
Willis, winner of the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide’s 2005 Envirocare Utah Classic, missed only his second Nationwide cut of the year last week at the Albertsons Boise Open.
In six PGA Tour events this year, Willis has made the cut three times including a T-11 at the Valero Texas Open.
• Click here for scores

Frann Quinn, heading back to US PGA Tour,

leads Nationwide event at Midland, Texas

FROM THE PGA.COM WEBSITE
MIDLAND, Texas -- Fran Quinn might not surf at home but the 44-year-old New England native is certainly riding a wave of good play that just might land him back on the US PGA Tour next year. Quinn ended a nine-year winless drought a week ago in Idaho and has put himself in position to possibly win again, this time in Texas.
Quinn added a 5-under 67 Friday to his opening 64 at Midland Country Club, good for a 13-under 131 total and sole possession of the 36-hole lead at the WNB Golf Classic, the 25th of 29 stops on the 2009 US Nationwide Tour schedule.
Quinn leads by one from 2008 Nationwide Tour grad Arjun Atwal (64) and is two ahead of Garrett Willis (69) and Jason Schultz (64). Seven players are knotted at 10 under and three back, including 2005 winner Kris Cox, who was 0-for-12 in cuts made this year before returning to the scene of his only Tour title.
"It's fun," said Quinn, who moved up to No. 18 on the money list with his winner's cheque. "This is what we play for. You just keep trying to play as well as you can and keep a smile on your face."
Quinn's has been all smiles since capturing the Albertsons Boise Open with a clutch birdie putt on the final hole of regulation last Sunday, his first victory since the 2000 Florida Classic.
"I started out and the birdies just kept coming," he said of his second round. "I just kept hitting it close. I hit a lot of quality shots."
He's had a lot of those lately. That wasn't always the case. Quinn made the cut in only six of his first 17 starts this year and found himself No. 98 on the money list thanks to a scoring average of 71.35. Then, in Wichita, things turned for the better.
"If you go back to my last 25 rounds or so, this is probably the best scoring stretch of golf, my most consistent he said. "I've had a lot of good play. Some of it wasn't rewarded but now I'm getting rewarded for it."
The numbers back him up. Starting in early August, Quinn has made the cut in six of his last seven starts, including this one. He sports a scoring average of 68.87 for those events and has earned about 83 percent of his current money total of $179,291. Another good week, or another win here and he'll be a lock to finish in the 25 top money winners who will graduate to the US PGA Tour when the season ends.
Quinn hit more fairways Friday than Thursday (10 vs. 8) but fewer greens in regulation (14 vs. 17).
"I played really well yesterday and I have a lot of confidence going right now," said the leader. "I'm putting excellent. These greens are perfect."
Atwal made the day's biggest move with an 8-under 64 that featured ten birdies, six of which came from over 15 feet, including one from about 40 feet.
"The putter started to behave itself," he said after needing only 25 putts on the day. "I started making a lot of putts and the ones I didn't make were right on line. These greens are rolling absolutely perfect. I figured I needed to get into double digits (under par) if I was going to get into contention."
Not that anyone figured he would. Atwal has been battling a torn rotator cuff for the 2009 season and is just now feeling good about a swing that helped him win last year's Chattanooga Classic and finish No. 17 on the Nationwide Tour money list.
Atwal played four events on the west coast before an MRI revealed a 50 percent tear in his right shoulder. He spent the next five months on the shelf, anxious to return.
"I've never had so much time off and I was getting kind of edgy at home and my wife was wondering when I was going to start back," he said. "I went back to Milwaukee and I was just miserable. I had lost a lot of my length and wasn't hitting my clubs the same yardage. It was not a good combination."
Atwal played six times and missed all six cuts, admitting he'd returned too soon. The net result to this point -- three cuts in 10 starts and a spot at No. 210 on the FedExCup points list.
Since his last start at the Wyndham Championship, he's been rehabbing his shoulder and has turned to a new swing coach who is helping him take pressure off his ailing right shoulder.
"I missed the cut last week in Boise (where Quinn won) but I wasn't doing it right," said Atwal. "I got on the phone with my coach and we sorted it out. There's a lot less pressure on my shoulder now."
And the results have Atwal paired with Quinn for Saturday's third round.
I didn't expect this at all," said Atwal, who is using this week to prep for next week's Tour stop at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. "Seriously, I haven't made a cut since Pebble Beach, not that I've played that much but it was basically to get some confidence going."
He will need to look no further than his playing partner on Saturday for pointers.
Veteran Joe Durant returned to the Nationwide Tour for the first time since 1996, when he was a member of the Tour graduating class. Durant was looking to get his game in shape as the Fall Series approaches. Unfortunately, the four-time PGA Tour winner posted rounds of 71-70 and missed the cut by one stroke. Durant birdied four of his first five holes Friday and was at 5-under but quickly gave five shots back to par in his next six holes. He closed with birdies at Nos. 14, 15 and 18, but it wasn't enough to make the weekend.
"I needed to play in a golf tournament and saw where my game was," he said. "It's kind of where it is on the regular Tour. I just can't seem to get over the hump. I've got to keep working." Durant won back in 1996 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic and noted that the Nationwide Tour has come a long way since he last teed it up.
"We've always known that these guys play great out here and you can tell by the scoring. The guys that come off this Tour and move onto the PGA Tour and win majors, they don't just hang around," he said.
"I think the guys that come off this Tour know what they've got to do on the regular Tour to play well. The things that they have to do out here to get them to the regulaor Tour will carry you on the regular Tour now. There was always that question of whether the two correlated. It's obviously proven that it does. It's just gotten so much better out here now."
Second-round notes: The temperature when play began Friday was 49 degrees. The afternoon high reached 84 degrees ... A total of 73 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 4-under 140. The 4-under cut is the lowest since the tournament moved to Midland CC in 2002. The lowest cut in the tournament's 18-year history was 6 under at The Club at Mission Dorado in 2001 ... Jason Schultz birdied seven holes during a nine-hole stretch starting at No. 13 today. Schultz went from 3-under to 10-under en route to an 8-under 64 ... Billy Mayfair, a veteran of 643 career starts on the US PGA Tour, is making his Nationwide Tour debut this week. Mayfair will be around for the weekend.
Scots note: Former Walker Cup player Steven Young from Inverallochy, who is on the pro staff at Midland Country Club, Texas, missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 74 for 146.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Midland Country Club, Midland, Texas
Par 144 (2x72)
131 Fran Quinn 64 67
132 Arjun Atwal 68 64
133 Jason Schultz 69 64, Garrett Willis 64 69
134 Kris Cox 67 67, Rhein Gibson 64 70, Fabian Gomez 66 68, David Hearn 66 68, Paul Stankowski 66 68, Brendan Steele 66 68, Jerod Turner 67 67
135 Oskar Bergman 69 66, Guy Boros 67 68, David Morland IV 70 65, Darron Stiles 69 66, Brian Stuard 69 66, Esteban Toledo 68 67
136 Adam Bland 67 69, Matthew Borchert 70 66, Marco Dawson 66 70, Tom Gillis 68 68, J.J. Killeen 70 66, Bob May 66 70, Garth Mulroy 70 66, Brenden Pappas 72 64, Cameron Percy 69 67
137 Steven Bowditch, Chad Collins 69 68, Robert Damron 68 69, Will Dodson 70 67, Scott Gardiner 70 67
138 Keoke Cotner 69 69, Brad Fritsch 73 65, Bret Guetz 70 68, Hunter Haas 70 68, Skip Kendall 69 69, Billy Mayfair 68 70, Jin Park 69 69
139 Ryan Armour 69 70, Jeff Burns 69 70, Gary Christian 72 67, Bubba Dickerson 68 71, Justin Hicks 68 71, Derek Lamely 69 70, Won Joon Lee 68 71, Craig Lile 68 71, Scott Parel 70 69, Michael Putnam 72 67, Dustin Risdon 70 69, Daniel Summerhays 70 69, Chris Tidland 68 71, Willie Wood 69 70
140 Tyler Aldridge 69 71, Mark Brooks 71 69, Jason Caron 70 70, Ryan Cobb 68 72, Joe Daley 70 70, Jason Enloe 71 69, Tommy Gainey 69 71, John Kimbell 68 72, J.L. Lewis 69 71, Len Mattiace 70 70, Connie Pierce 70 70, Martin Piller 69 71, Alex Prugh 68 72, Adam Rubinson 69 71, Dave Schultz 68 72, Patrick Sheehan 69 71, Geoffrey Sisk 70 70, Bob Sowards 75 65, Omar Uresti 69 71, Ron Whittaker 72 68
MISSED THE CUT:
141 Alex Aragon 72 69, Craig Barlow 71 70, Craig Bowden 71 70, Paul Claxton 70 71, Bryan DeCorso 67 74, Todd Demsey 71 70, Andrew Dresser 70 71, Joe Durant 71 70, Vince Jewell 70 71, Mike Lavery 69 72, Jesse Mueller 72 69, Ryan Nelson 71 70, Michael Sims 69 72, Sal Spallone 71 70, Kyle Thompson 72 69, Tjaart Van der Walt 70 71 , Dustin White 68 73
142 Miguel Carballo 70 72, Tom Carter 70 72, Jim Carter 75 67, Jim Herman 71 71, Craig Kanada 70 72, Alistair Presnell 69 73, Tom Scherrer 74 68
143 Blake Adams 68 75, Stuart Deane 71 72, Scott Dunlap 71 72, Chad Ginn 74 69, Troy Kelly 72 71, Doug LaBelle II 72 71, Lucas Lee 73 70, Brian Vranesh 70 73, Brennan Webb 73 70
144 Bobby Clampett 72 72, Matt Every 73 71, Kevin Johnson 71 73, Jim McGovern 71 73, Chris Nallen 69 75, Garrett Osborn 72 72, John Riegger 73 71, Steve Wheatcroft 73 71
145 Larry Bryan 71 74, Casie Cathrea 71 74, Martin Flores 72 73, Ryan Hietala 75 70, Ian Leggatt 72 73, Randy Lowry 70 75, Phil Tataurangi 68 77
146 Jeffrey Barton 75 71, Andrew Buckle 73 73, Michael Clark II 71 75, Bradley Iles 74 72, David McKenzie 74 72, David D. Schultz 72 74, Grant Waite 73 73, Steven Young 72 74
147 Steve Alker 75 72, Rich Barcelo 74 73, Dustin Bray 71 76, Brent Delahoussaye 72 75, Seung Han 73 74, Matt Hansen 77 70, Andrew Johnson 73 74, Chris Kirk 73 74, Drew Laning 74 73
148 John Adams 75 73, Ben Bates 72 76, Tom Byrum 74 74, Joey Lamielle 76 72, Vance Veazey 70 78
149 Brian Dwyer 72 77, Jeff Gove 77 72, Joseph Sykora 73 76
150 Paul Gow 75 75
151 Josh Broadaway 72 79, Trevor Dodds 77 74, Leroux Ferreira 74 77
Withdrew: Mathias Gronberg 72, Tom Johnson 73, B.J. Staten 73, Andrew Magee 76, Bob Burns 81

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
WNB CLASSIC
Midland Country Club, Midland, Texas
FIRST ROUND (Par: 72)
64 Rhein Gibson, Fran Quinn, Garrett Willis
66 Marco Dawson, Fabian Gomez, David Hearn, Bob May, Paul Stankowski, Brendan Steele
67 Adam Bland, Guy Boros, Kris Cox, Bryan DeCorso, Jerod Turner
68 Blake Adams, Arjun Atwal, Ryan Cobb, Robert Damron, Bubba Dickerson, Tom Gillis, Justin Hicks, John Kimbell, Won Joon Lee, Craig Lile, Billy Mayfair, Alex Prugh, Dave Schultz, Phil Tataurangi, Chris Tidland, Esteban Toledo, Dustin White
69 Tyler Aldridge, Ryan Armour, Oskar Bergman, Jeff Burns, Chad Collins, Keoke Cotner, Tommy Gainey, Skip Kendall, Derek Lamely, Mike Lavery, J.L. Lewis, Chris Nallen, Jin Park, Cameron Percy, Martin Piller, Alistair Presnell, Adam Rubinson, Jason Schultz, Patrick Sheehan, Michael Sims, Darron Stiles, Brian Stuard, Omar Uresti, Willie Wood
70 Matthew Borchert, Miguel Carballo, Jason Caron, Tom Carter, Paul Claxton, Joe Daley, Will Dodson, Andrew Dresser, Scott Gardiner, Bret Guetz, Hunter Haas, Vince Jewell, Craig Kanada, J.J. Killeen, Randy Lowry, Len Mattiace, David Morland IV, Garth Mulroy, Scott Parel, Connie Pierce, Dustin Risdon, Geoffrey Sisk, Daniel Summerhays, Tjaart Van der Walt, Vance Veazey, Brian Vranesh
71 Craig Barlow, Craig Bowden, Dustin Bray, Mark Brooks, Larry Bryan, Casie Cathrea, Michael Clark II, Stuart Deane, Todd Demsey, Scott Dunlap, Joe Durant, Jason Enloe, Jim Herman, Kevin Johnson, Jim McGovern, Ryan Nelson, Sal Spallone
72 Alex Aragon, Ben Bates, Josh Broadaway, Gary Christian, Bobby Clampett, Brent Delahoussaye, Brian Dwyer, Martin Flores, Mathias Gronberg, Troy Kelly, Doug LaBelle II, Ian Leggatt, Jesse Mueller, Garrett Osborn, Brenden Pappas, Michael Putnam, David D. Schultz, Kyle Thompson, Ron Whittaker, Steven Young
73 Andrew Buckle, Matt Every, Brad Fritsch, Seung Han, Andrew Johnson, Tom Johnson, Chris Kirk, Lucas Lee, John Riegger, B.J. Staten, Joseph Sykora, Grant Waite, Brennan Webb, Steve Wheatcroft
74 Rich Barcelo, Tom Byrum, Leroux Ferreira, Chad Ginn, Bradley Iles, Drew Laning, David McKenzie, Tom Scherrer
75 John Adams, Steve Alker, Jeffrey Barton, D.J. Brigman, Jim Carter, Paul Gow, Ryan Hietala, Bob Sowards
76 Joey Lamielle, Andrew Magee
77 Trevor Dodds, Jeff Gove, Matt Hansen
81 Bob Burns

US Nationwide Tour Scoreboard
ALBERTSONS BOISE OPEN
Presented by Kraft
Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
270 Fran Quinn 68 65 68 69
271 Blake Adams 63 65 71 72
273 Ewan Porter 68 71 69 65, B.J. Staten 68 67 70 68
274 Bradley Iles 68 67 69 70, Troy Kelly 68 69 68 69, Skip Kendall 66 69 70 69, Roger Tambellini 70 68 64 72
275 Craig Bowden 70 65 68 72, Andrew Buckle 69 68 66 72, Tom Gillis 73 66 65 71, Brian Smock 71 66 67 71
276 Ricky Barnes 69 67 70 70, Jonas Blixt 69 64 68 75, Jeff Gove 69 70 67 70
277 Oskar Bergman 68 71 68 70, Fabian Gomez 67 68 72 70, Jonathan Kaye 64 71 70 72, Lucas Lee 70 69 64 74, Won Joon Lee 68 68 68 73, James Oh 69 68 69 71, Leif Olson 69 63 73 72, Patrick Sheehan 65 71 70 71, Esteban Toledo 67 70 69 71, Tjaart Van der Walt 68 67 69 73, Steve Wheatcroft 68 67 70 72
278 Michael Clark II 69 68 67 74, Bob May 69 68 69 72, Cameron Percy 70 68 71 69, Dustin Risdon 68 71 66 73, Daniel Summerhays 67 66 74 71
279 Justin Bolli 66 68 72 73, Gavin Coles 70 67 69 73, Robert Damron 69 69 67 74, Scott Gutschewski 68 67 74 70, Garth Mulroy 69 68 72 70, Martin Piller 66 72 68 73
280 Camilo Benedetti 70 68 67 75, Jeff Gallagher 70 67 70 73, J.J. Killeen 65 72 69 74, Michael Putnam 70 69 70 71
281 Kevin Chappell 68 71 75 67, Tommy Gainey 68 71 70 72, Jason Gore 69 69 71 72, Ron Whittaker 69 69 64 79
282 George McNeill 69 69 70 74, John Riegger 68 68 73 73, Darron Stiles 68 71 66 77
283 Chris Baryla 67 68 69 79, Matthew Borchert 72 67 70 74, Chad Collins 70 67 72 74, Troy Merritt 69 70 67 77
284 Dave Schultz 70 69 72 73
286 Paul Claxton 70 69 72 75, Josh Teater 67 65 76 78
287 Scott Dunlap 72 65 73 77, Kyle Reifers 69 69 73 76
288 James Love 69 69 74 76, Brian Stuard 70 68 73 77
289 Matt Every 69 70 74 76
291 Jeff Brehaut 70 68 78 75