MITCHELLVILLE, Md. -- Last year, Paul Claxton birdied the 17th hole en route to a bogey-free, final-round 67 at the Melwood Prince George's County Open to take a one-shot victory at the inaugural event. Claxton began the last round in a three-way tie for first with Patrick Sheehan and Jaco Van Zyl.

The Georgia resident finished at 18 under and collected the $108,000 first-place check. In the process, he became the first player in Tour history to surpass $1 million in career earnings.

The Nationwide Tour returns to the Washington, D.C., area this week for the event with Maryland native Fred Funk serving as the event's honorary chair. Last week, five players moved into "The 25" following their performances at the BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Eight of the top 11 players from last year's tournament went on to earn their 2008 PGA TOUR cards, led by champion Paul Claxton, who wound up No. 10 on the final money list. Other top finishers who moved on were James Driscoll (No. 24), Jon Mills (No. 4), Nick Flanagan (No. 3), Matthew Jones (No. 7), Kyle Thompson (No. 14), Brenden Pappas (No. 22) and Omar Uresti (No. 15).

Last week at the PGA TOUR's AT&T Classic, Driscoll and Uresti had their top 2008 TOUR performances. Driscoll tied for fifth at TPC Sugarloaf, while Uresti tied for 20th.

This week's tournament features an extremely strong field, with 23 of the 25 players on the money list scheduled to compete. Leading money winner Darron Stiles is taking the week off after five consecutive starts. Texan Colt Knost, winner of the Fort Smith Classic two weeks ago and No. 8 on the money list, received a sponsor's exemption and will tee off at the PGA TOUR's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, near his home.

The tournament will be played at The Country Club at Woodmore in Mitchellville, Md., east of Washington, D.C. and south of Baltimore. The course opened in 1981, an Arnold Palmer design. The course record of 7-under 65 was set by Jaco Van Zyl in the second round last year and matched by Esteban Toledo and Danny Ellis.

The Country Club at Woodmore plays to a par of 72 and stretches 7,059 yards. The cumulative scoring average last year was 71.395, which ranked it No. 23 among the 34 courses used on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.

With Darron Stiles taking the week off, players have a chance to overtake Stiles' No. 1 position on the money list. Stiles has earned $207,132, $15,193 more than Jarrod Lyle, who sits in second place. Greg Chalmers is in third, $29,778 behind Stiles. David Mathis, the winner of last week's BMW Charity Pro-Am, moved from 44th to fourth on the money list. Of the top 10 players on the money list, only Greg Owen (No. 7, with $148,312) and Roger Tambellini (No. 10, with $118,288) have not won in 2008.

Maryland native Fred Funk, an eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR will serve as honorary chair this week. Funk won the 2008 Champions Tour season-opener, the MasterCard Championship, on Jan. 20. In 2007, Funk joined Craig Stadler as one of only two players to win in the same season on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour.

Now in his 18th year on Tour, Funk has established himself as the PGA TOUR's most accurate driver, winning the accuracy title seven times while earning more than $21 million in prize money. His 11-stroke win in the 2007 Turtle Bay Championship is the largest margin of victory in the history of the Champions Tour.

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