Field full of PGA Tour players for the Utah Championship

With the Nationwide Tour's season winding down, many players are jockeying for all-important positions on the money list.

That's why not many of them are skipping this week's tournament, the Utah Championship at Willow Creek Country Club.

The $550,000, 72-hole tournament gets under way today at Willow Creek and continues through Sunday afternoon when the winner goes home with a $99,000 check.

"We've got an unbelievable field with 26 players from the PGA Tour," said tournament director Mike Smith.

Smith says the tourney has its biggest crossover of PGA Tour players due to the limited player field at the BMW Championship this week. "A lot of players are saying, 'We like Salt Lake so let's go there,' " he said.

Among those players are defending champion Brendon Todd, who has played the big tour all year, as well as several players with PGA Tour wins to their credit, including Jason Gore, Len Mattiace, Jay Williamson, David Gossett, Grant Waite, Willie Wood, Tom Byrum, Jim McGovern and Garrett Willis, who also won the Utah tournament in 2005. Also competing this week is Mark Brooks, the winner of the 1996 PGA Tour and runner-up at the 2001 U.S. Open.

Two benchmarks on the money list for Nationwide Tour players are the top 25 and top 60. The top 25 golfers will earn spots on next year's PGA Tour, while the top 60 get to play in the season-ending $1 million Nationwide Tour Championship, which goes a long way toward determining the top 25.

Only seven players between No. 16 and No. 92 on the money list are not playing this week.

Among the top players, No. 1 Michael Sim is not playing because he already earned a "battlefield promotion" to the PGA Tour with three Nationwide victories. No. 2 Chris Tidland, who was the Nationwide Tour player of the month for August, is in Utah along with No. 4 Blake Adams and No. 5 Roger Tambellini.

Perhaps the hottest golfer on the Tour is Boise resident Troy Merritt, who won the Mexico Open last week. The 23-year-old former Boise State golfer was an All-American in college, and his $117,000 paycheck last week vaulted him from 146 to No. 27 on the money list, just $327 away from the coveted Top 25.

Several Utahns are playing this week, including former State Am champ and BYU standout Daniel Summerhays. Also playing are Clay Ogden, Steve Schneiter, Chris Gresh, Dave DeSantis and Mark Owen.