NATIONWIDE TOUR STORYLINES – Week of Oct. 17th WINN-DIXIE JACKSONVILLE OPEN presented by Planters Oct. 20-23 TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Purse: $600,000 First Prize: $108,000 2010 Champion: David Mathis 144 players 25th of 26 events (final full-field event) All four rounds televised on Golf Channel

JASON KOKRAK BECOMES FOURTH TWO-TIME WINNER – Jason Kokrak lapped the Miccosukee Championship field yesterday, winning by seven shots. In so doing, the Ohio native became the fourth player this year to win two events. He joins Mathew Goggin, J.J. Killeen and Ted Potter, Jr. A third win by any one of the four would provide fully-exempt status on the PGA TOUR next year and an invite to THE PLAYERS. The most multiple winners in any one year on the Nationwide Tour is seven in 1995.

SUPER STRONG FIELD HEADED TO TPC SAWGRASS – As would be expected for the final full-field event of the year, the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters field will be excellent. Every player among the top 60 on the money list is entered, with only five of the top 100 not committed. No other 2011 tournament can boast of having all current top-60 players in their field.

BUD CAULEY TO PLAY THIS WEEK – Jacksonville’s Bud Cauley will compete on the Nationwide Tour this week for what will be his first “home game” since turning professional in June. With PGA TOUR earnings of $735,150 in eight starts, the 21-year-old is poised to become the sixth player to go from college to the PGA TOUR without facing PGA TOUR (, , , , ). Cauley’s earning would rank 112th on the money list if he were currently a member. This week’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic is the final official PGA TOUR event of the year. Cauley will play out of the top-125 non-member category in 2012.

HARRIS ENGLISH / QUICKLY GAINING GROUND – With a playoff runner-up (WNB Golf Classic) and a third-place finish (Miccosukee Championship) in just four Nationwide Tour starts, former University of Georgia star Harris English has leaped from 240th on the money list on Sept. 25th to 61st. English’s goal when he accepted Tour membership after his September Walker Cup appearance was to make it to next week’s Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island so he would have a shot at earning his PGA TOUR card via “The 25”. He trails No. 60 Andrew Buckle of Australia by exactly $1,900. Every player who makes the top 60 and gets into next week’s field in Charleston, S.C. has a mathematical chance of snaring one of the coveted cards.

25 / 40 / 60 / 100 – The numbers 25, 40, 60 and 100 all have important meaning to Nationwide Tour players as the season comes to a head over the last two weeks:

25 – The 25 leading money winners will earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2012.

40 – Players who finish 26-40 on the final money list are exempt into the Finals of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.

60 – The top-60 money winners are guaranteed a spot in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island; they are also fully exempt on the Nationwide Tour next year in the event they do not secure their PGA TOUR card via the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.

100 – Players who finish 61-100 on the final money list are partially exempt on the Nationwide Tour next year in the event they do not secure their PGA TOUR card via the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.

CHART TOPPING COUNTRY STAR AND GOLF FAN JAKE OWEN HEADED TO TPC SAWGRASS – Jake Owen, whose single “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” reached No. 1 on the country music charts for two weeks in September, will perform in concert on Friday evening at TPC Sawgrass in conjunction with the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters. As a teenager, Owen was a talented golfer with TOUR aspirations. A wake boarding accident derailed those hopes but the former Florida State student continues to be a recreational player and fan of the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour. Owen’s favorite golfer is Davis Love III. In a recent interview with the Florida (Jacksonville) Times-Union, Owen said he spotted Love in a New York restaurant at a table with his wife, Robin, and Fred Couples. He elected, however, not to bother the group. “I didn’t want to be that guy” who comes up and asks for autographs and to shake hands. Owen also said he has played golf frequently with Darius Rucker, who performed on the same lawn at THE PLAYERS in May that Owen will on Friday.

TOM LEHMAN / IN PURSUIT OF A FIRST – Tom Lehman reflected on his early days on the Nationwide Tour during last week’s Insperity Championship in Houston: “I always believed that if you gave me 30 weeks, I could prove myself to be one of the top players….I had a big mental hurdle about getting through the TOUR school and that 30-week season (on the Nationwide Tour) gave me the perfect opportunity to prove that.” The 1991 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year is seeking to become the first TOUR player to win this award and the same honor on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.

FUNKS PLAY HOST ONCE AGAIN – Once again, Fred and Sharon Funk have invited the winner of the Junior PLAYERS Championship to stay with them during the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters. Gavin Hall of Pittsford, N.Y. will have that privilege next week. Last year, Michael Johnson of Birmingham, Ala. won the Junior PLAYERS and spent Winn-Dixie week with the Funks.

GLOWING REVIEW OF DYE’S VALLEY – William McGirt of Boiling Springs, S.C. is a rookie on the PGA TOUR this year who finished T11 in last year’s Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open presented by Planters. In a radio interview last week with a Jacksonville radio station, McGirt made the following comment about the host Dye’s Valley Course: “If it’s not the best golf course on the Nationwide Tour, it’s one of the top two or three. It’s the toughest we played. It’s a great golf course.”

RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE– Monday qualifier Bryce Garnett hit a Nationwide Tour record 69 of 72 greens at the recent Children’s Hospital Invitational in Chattanooga en route to his best-ever Tour finish, a runner-up to Miguel Carballo. The previous mark was Boo Weekley’s 68 of 72 at the same event in 2006.

QUICK ROUND – First off on Sunday as a single, Bubba Dickerson tore around Miccosukee Golf and Country Club in 1:48, firing a 4-under-par 67, which included seven birdies.

DID YOU KNOW? – Sunday’s winner Jason Kokrak leads the Nationwide Tour’s Driving Distance stat at 320.6 yards per drive. The Tour average is 295.5.

“GETAWAY” PROMOTION ENTERS 11th WEEK – Golf Channel’s “Nationwide Tour Hawaii Getaway” promotion enters its 11th week. One person will win a trip for two to the 2012 Sony Open in Hawaii where the Nationwide Tour class of 2011 will make its 2012 PGA TOUR debut. Fans may enter online by answering player trivia questions at www.golfchannel.com/the25trivia. Last week’s featured player was Josh Broadaway.

BIRTHDAY BOYS – Celebrating birthdays this week in Ponte Vedra Beach are Gavin Coles (19th / turns 43), J.J. Killeen (22nd / 30), Won Joon Lee (23rd / 26) and James Nitties (23rd / 29).

NEXT WEEK – The 2011 season comes to its usual pressure-packed conclusion at the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C. Only the top-60 money winners at the end of this week will be eligible. On Sunday (Oct. 30th), “The 25” PGA TOUR cards for 2012 will be awarded.

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