Simpson, Todd share a dream

It's not a stretch to say that former Triangle high school stars Webb Simpson and Brendon Todd, both 23, are about to play the most important golf tournament(s) of their young professional careers.

Simpson, who starred at Broughton High School and Wake Forest University, and Todd, formerly a standout at Green Hope High School and Georgia, have qualified for the season-ending 72-hole Nationwide Tour championship tournament that begins Nov. 6 at the TPC Craig Ranch Course in McKinney, Texas.

If they come out of that tournament with a ranking among the top 25 Nationwide money earners for the 2008 season, they'll get an opportunity to play in the big leagues -- on the PGA Tour -- for the 2009 season.

Todd, currently 18th on the Nationwide list with about $240,000 in winnings and one tournament win, has an excellent shot. Simpson, No. 48 with $127,791 after having played in just seven events on the 2008 Nationwide schedule, needs to make a fairly significant leap.

The tournament, which will pay $139,500 to the winner, is limited to the top 60 players on the Nationwide list.

"It's going to be incredibly competitive, but I think I have to finish first or second to have a good chance," Simpson said Wednesday. "Every guy in the field is good enough to win it. There are probably not too many tournaments like that, and especially when you factor in the incentive everyone will have. Brendon, I think, is in great position, and I'll be pulling for him more than anyone."

If either, or both, fail to crack the top 25 after the event, then it's on to the vicious grind -- the final two tournaments in the PGA Tour Qualifying School process. Both were exempt from the first round, which was played at various locations last week. The second-round tourney will be staged at various locations during the week of Nov. 12-15. The third and final Q-School tournament will be Dec. 3-8 at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. The top 25 and ties after the final Q-School tournament will get PGA Tour cards for 2009. Roughly 20 players advance from each of the second round locales.

"Everyone says this is the toughest step," Simpson said. "You can play well, get very close and then still not make it. In a way, it's fun, but it's also a little unnerving."

The long-range pressure doesn't stop for long, either. First-year PGA Tour players must finish the season among the circuit's top 125 money winners in order to keep their cards for the following season. That's why several players each year bounce from Nationwide to PGA or the other way around.

For both players, the long-term outlook is positive. Simpson got exemptions to play in six events on the big tour in '08, made three cuts and picked up more than $38,000 in winnings. Todd, in his first full season on the Nationwide circuit, was consistently among the top players.

"We pull for each other," Simpson said. "There's not a lot of free time on the tour, which has sort of been my biggest adjustment. You're either playing or practicing just about all the time. But Brendon and I still find time to keep up our friendship, and we've been playing with each other for I don't know how long. We'll get to dinner at least once during each tournament, if we're both there. I think it's to the point that we both want to win. But if we can't, we're pulling for the other to come through. We want each other to get to the big tour, so it's fun to have someone else to root for other than yourself."