Storylines: Strong field set for this week's event

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WELCOME TO AMERICAN SOIL -- After a strong start to the 2010 season with events in New Zealand, Australia, Panama and Colombia that included two ending in playoffs, the Nationwide Tour will host its first tournament on domestic turf this week.

The Tour visits Broussard, La. for the 19th playing of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open. All 19 have been held at Le Triomphe Country Club.

The Nationwide Tour will play 25 more tournaments (including this week's event) in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through the end of October when the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island in Charleston, S.C. brings the 21st season to a close.

All but one of the top 25 players on the money list will be in Louisiana. The lone exception is No. 7 Jamie Lovemark. The 2007 college player of the year (Haskins Award) out of the University of Southern California received an invitation to play in this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

JIM FURYK PREVAILS IN TAMPA, CAPTURES ALUMNI WIN NO. 269 -- One of the Nationwide Tour's most prominent alumni, Jim Furyk, won his 14th PGA TOUR title on Sunday, the Transitions Championship near Tampa, Fla. It was the 269th TOUR victory by an alum. Through 13 PGA TOUR events in 2010, former Nationwide Tour players have won nine times.

MYLAN CLASSIC ADDS PRESENTING SPONSOR, CONSOLE ENERGY -- On Friday, it was announced that CONSOL Energy will be the presenting sponsor of the Mylan Classic. The official name of the event is now the "Mylan Classic presented by CONSOL Energy." New to the Nationwide Tour schedule in 2010, the Classic will be played Sept. 2-5 at Southpointe Golf Club in the Pittsburgh, Pa., suburb of Canonsburg.

ONLY A MATTER OF TIME FOR BUBBA -- Bubba Watson has been very successful in both his PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour careers with one exception -- he has yet to enter the winner's circle. On Sunday, he came close in the PGA TOUR's Transitions Championship for the second time this year. He finished third. In January, Bill Haas nipped Watson and two others by a shot in the Bob Hope Classic.

The 31-year-old Bagdad, Fla. native earned his PGA TOUR card via the Nationwide Tour at the end of the 2005 season. In 63 Nationwide Tour appearances, Watson has three runners-up and a third. On the PGA TOUR, the University of Georgia graduate has four runners-up and two thirds. His combined career earnings are approaching $7 million. With such an abundant amount of talent developed by hitting whiffle balls around his Florida Panhandle house as a youth, securing that elusive first victory should only be a matter of time.

LE TRIOMPHE'S CRAIG PERKS TO WORK EVENTS FOR GOLF CHANNEL -- Le Triomphe Country Club teaching professional Craig Perks will add Golf Channel analyst to his resume later this year. The 2002 PLAYERS Championship winner will work several Nationwide Tour events as either the lead or tower analyst with his first assignment scheduled for July.

The 43-year-old New Zealand native is a 1990 graduate of the University of Louisiana -- Lafayette and has lived in Lafayette since his college days. Perks served as an assistant at Le Triomphe in the early 90s.

GOOD MEMORIES IN LAFAYETTE FOR PAUL STANKOWSKI -- Paul Stankowski made national golf headlines in late March-early April 1996 when he became the first (and still only) player to win back-to-back events on the Nationwide Tour and PGA TOUR. On the front end was his four-shot Nationwide Tour win at Le Triomphe. He then traveled east and won the PGA TOUR's BellSouth Classic outside Atlanta, getting into the field at the last minute off the alternate list.

The feat by the 40-year-old Californian, who now resides outside Dallas, was voted the No. 1 moment in Nationwide Tour history last October. It topped an original list of "20 Greatest Moments" that served as the centerpiece of the Tour's 20th-year celebration.

NEXT EVENT -- The Nationwide Tour's next tournament after Louisiana will be the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in the San Francisco Bay area April 15-18. Pro Football Hall of Fame electee Jerry Rice will be competing in the tournament proper as a sponsor's exemption.