FORD WAYNE GRETZKY CLASSIC

NATIONWIDE TOUR STORYLINES – Week of July 6th

NATIONWIDE TOUR SEASON REACHES MIDWAY POINT – The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic is the 15 th of 29 Nationwide Tour events this season, marking the halfway point. At the same juncture in the season last year (15 events remaining), 16 of the players who were among the 25 leading money winners would go on to earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2009, including everyone in the top 10. Only one of the next nine players hung on to earn a card, with five of the next six (Nos. 20-25) successful in their quest. Nine players outside “The 25” played their way in. Scott Piercy, at No. 124 came from the farthest back. Matt Bettencourt sat at No. 92, only to catch fire in the stretch drive of the season and take leading money winner honors. The moral of the story – never consider your self out of it, at least not at this point in the season.

GRETZKY EVENT A HIT ON NATIONWIDE TOUR – In its first playing last year, the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic became an immediate hit with Nationwide Tour players. The 72-hole event features 160 professionals paired with amateurs and celebrities in two-person teams. The pros have a 36-hole cut to the low 60 scores and ties. The amateur competition is reduced to the low 10 teams after two rounds (six pro-celebrity teams and four pro-amateur teams). The two venues are located on the shores of scenic Georgian Bay, 90 miles northwest of Toronto. Among the celebrities committed to compete are Gretzky, his wife, Janet, Basketball Hall of Fame member (and subject of “The Haney Project”) Charles Barkley, former NHL standouts Brett Hull and Darren Pang and R&B sensation Javier Colon. CANADIAN

CHRIS BARYLA ON THE MEND – 26-year-old Chris Baryla of Vernon, British Columbia has been playing the best golf of late among the Canadian members on the Nationwide Tour. Limited to only four starts in 2009 due to a minor medical exemption related to neck and back problems, Baryla has finished T4, T12, T55 and T5 in the Tour’s last four events to quickly move up to 41 st on the money list. The former WAC Player of the Year out of the University of Texas – El Paso made only one cut (T57) in his seven 2008 starts. He is joined in the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic field by fellow Canadians Dustin Risdon (Alberta), Jon Mills (Ontario), Jim Rutledge (British Columbia), Bryan DeCorso (Ontario), Brennan Webb (Ontario), David Morland IV (Ontario), David Hearn (Ontario), Ian Leggatt (Ontario) and Brad Fritsch (Alberta). In addition, the top-five money winners from the Canadian Tour have received invitations.

2008 GRADUATE BRYCE MOLDER ON A RUN – After a very slow start to the season, 2008Nationwide Tour graduate Bryce Molder has found the kind of form that helped him earn first-team

All-American honors four years in a row at Georgia Tech (1997-2001). Beginning with the HP Bryon Nelson Classic, Molder has collected $904,877 with finishes of T23, T2 (St. Jude Classic), T19 (Travelers Championship) and 4 th (AT&T National). He has jumped from the low 200s to 64th in FedExCup points and 53 rd on the money list. All but four of his last 16 rounds have been in the 60s. In his seven previous ’09 starts, Molder missed five cuts. The Arkansas native played his way into his first British Open next week based on category 17 of the Open’s “Exempt Players” criteria (earnings in THE PLAYERS Championship and the five PGA TOUR events between the Memorial and last week’s AT&T National).

GOOD LINE, RYAN HIETALA – While in Omaha last week to participate in the Cox Classic media day, 2008 champion Ryan Hietala got off a good line. With the first half of the Nationwide Tour’s season dominated by two-time winners Michael Sim and Kevin Johnson, the Bellingham, Wash. native quipped, “It’s not ‘The 25’ any more. It’s ‘The 23’. Those two guys pretty well have their cards locked up.”

KARMA WAS ON CHAMPION JUSTIN HICKS’ SIDE – Karma was on the side of last year’s Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic champion, Justin Hicks. After registering for the tournament and checking into his locker, he couldn’t help but notice his locker number was 99, the same number worn and made famous to sports fans everywhere by the tournament’s host. Hicks would go on to capture his lone Nationwide Tour title in a playoff over Casey Wittenberg. The Michigan native comes to Canada currently 80 th on the money list in need of the some of that karma he had a year ago.

A NICE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN GOLF AND HOCKEY – The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic will benefit the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, which was founded in 2002 to provide less fortunate youth the opportunity to experience the great sport of hockey. Specifically, the Foundation donates hockey equipment and ice time, as well as provides the opportunity for young people to attend professional hockey games. The Foundation believes hockey instills many positive life skills and contributes to the physical, emotional and social growth of young people.

KEVIN JOHNSON NAMED PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Not surprisingly, Kevin Johnson was named the most recent Nationwide Tour Player of the Month. With playoff wins in Raleigh, N.C. and Knoxville, Tenn., the Massachusetts native and former Clemson All-American put himself in position to earn an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR, joining Michael Sim in the enviable spot. Johnson began his run 24 th on the money list. He is currently second behind Sim.

CLOSING IN ON 250 th WIN – The next PGA TOUR win by a Nationwide Tour alumnus will be a milestone of sorts, No. 250. Tiger Woods stood in the way of things this weekend when he captured his own AT&T National, which stubbornly remains the only event on the current PGA TOUR schedule not yet won a former Nationwide Tour player. Lucas Glover got win No. 249 at the U.S. Open two weeks ago.

NEXT WEEK – Nationwide Tour players will enjoy their last week off before beginning a 14-straight tournament sprint to the end of the season which will determine “The 25” players who will earn their PGA TOUR cards for 2010. The Cox Classic presented by Lexus of Omaha (July 23-26) begins the run.

20 YEARS / THIS WEEK IN NATIONWIDE TOUR HISTORY –

July 8, 2007: Jason Day becomes the youngest player to win on the Nationwide Tour when he takes the Legend Financial Group Classic in suburban Cleveland. The 19-year-old (19 years, 7 months, 26 days) makes a six-foot birdie putt on the final hole to defeat fellow Aussie Scott Gardiner by one shot.

July 12, 2002: PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem announces that Nationwide, one of the country’s largest insurance and financial services organizations, will become the Tour’s new umbrella sponsor beginning in 2003. The Tour and Nationwide ink a five-year agreement that is later extended for five more years, through 2012.