Nationwide Tour Notes -- Week of July 16, 2007
 
Jul. 17, 2007

Jonathan Byrd's victory last week at the John Deere Classic was the 207th by a former Nationwide Tour player on the PGA TOUR.

The BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs donated a Nationwide Tour record $2,021,325 to charity from this year's event.

Ben Bates became first player in Nationwide Tour history to make 200 cuts when he played last weekend at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.

There must be something in the water in Ohio. Two weeks ago at the Legend Financial Group Classic in Cleveland, 19-year-old Jason Day became the youngest winner in Tour history. Last week at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational in Columbus, Daniel Summerhays became the first amateur to win on the Tour.

The Tour stops in Springfield, Mo., this week for the 18th annual Price Cutter Charity Championship. The tournament is known for close finishes. Only once has the winner won by more than two strokes. There have been six playoffs and seven times the winner has finished one stroke ahead.

Michael Letzig, ranked No. 21 on the money list, was born in nearby Richmond, Mo. Although he is a rookie on the Nationwide Tour, Letzig will be playing for the fifth time at the Price Cutter Charity Championship. The former University of New Mexico golfer's best finish came in 2004 when he shot a final-round 62 to finish fifth. Letzig also has the tournament's only double eagle.

Roland Thatcher will look to continue one of the most consistent seasons on Tour this year. The 30-year-old former Auburn All-American has finished in the top 25 in each of his last five starts and in all but one tournament since the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship in early April. Two of the three times Thatcher has played in this event, he's finished inside the top 15, including a runner-up finish in 2003.

Tommy Tolles, the 1993 champ, has made the cut every year he has played in Springfield. This week, Tolles is going for his seventh consecutive cut dating back to 1991, while Esteban Toledo is attempting to make it to the weekend for the eighth consecutive time.

Returning to Highland Springs Country Club this week are 2005 champ Roger Tambellini and 2002 winner Patrick Sheehan. The pair was part of an interesting grouping earlier this year at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs when they spent the first three days playing in the same group as actor Kevin Costner. Other past champions in the field include Tommy Tolles (1993), Ryan Howison (1999), Tom Carter (2003) and Brad Ott (2004). Sheehan is the only player in tournament history to go wire to wire for his victory.

Since 1994, the tournament has been decided by either one stroke or a playoff 10 times. In the tournament's 16-year history, Rick Dalpos' four-stroke victory in 1991 was the only time a player has won by more than two strokes.

Tommy Tolles and Doug LaBelle II are the only players to record both a win and a runner-up in this event. Tolles tied for second in 1992, losing in a playoff to Lennie Clements. He then came back the following year and won. In 2003, LaBelle tied for second, a stroke behind Tom Carter. He won last year's event by two strokes over Nick Flanagan.

Scott Gardiner comes into this week's event on a hot streak, recording top-five finishes in three of his last four tournaments. Gardiner, a native of Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia, tied for fifth at the Knoxville Open, was fourth at the Peek'n Peak Classic, was runner-up at the Legend Financial Group Classic and tied for 16th last week at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. In those four events, Gardiner has earned $114,087, 86 percent of the $132,386 he's made this season. Gardiner is 17th on the money list.