CLARKSBURG, Ontario -- The Nationwide Tour heads north from Knoxville, Tenn., to Ontario, Canada, this week for the inaugural Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung, the 16th of 30 official events on the Nationwide Tour. In honor of tournament host Wayne Gretzky -- who wore No. 99 on his sweater during his National Hockey League career -- a unique $800,099 purse will be up for grabs this week. Sunday's winner will earn $144,017, the third-largest purse of the season.

Following the first two rounds, the 160-player field will be cut to the lowest 60 professionals. Also on Friday, the team competition will be cut to the lowest 10 teams (six professional/celebrity teams and four professional/amateur teams). The winning amateur participant will win a new Ford Flex.

The best of the Nationwide Tour will be on display this week in Canada. With the exception of Chitimacha Louisiana Open winner Gavin Coles, every Tour winner this season will be competing. Fifty-six of the top 60 on the money list are also entered.

David Hearn is part of a strong cast of Canadians who will be playing in their home country this week. The list includes Lee Curry (Ottawa, Ontario), Bryan DeCorso (Guelph, Ontario), Brad Fritsch (Edmonton, Alberta), Ian Leggatt (Cambridge, Ontario), David Morland IV (North Bay, Ontario) and Jim Rutledge (Victoria, British Columbia).

Bryan DeCorso's victory at the South Georgia Classic earlier this year made him the 11th Canadian to win in the 19-year history of the Nationwide Tour. His victory was the 17th overall by a Canadian -- second only to Australia among international winners on Tour.

The 2008 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic will be the ninth Nationwide Tour event hosted in Canada. Previous tournaments included the Alberta Calgary Classic (2003-05) and the Canadian PGA Championship (2001-05). Winners of those events who will be playing this week include Tom Carter (Canadian PGA Championship) and David Hearn and Peter Tomasulo (Calgary Alberta Classic).

The primary beneficiary of the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung will be the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, helping in its efforts to provide less-fortunate youth the opportunity to experience playing hockey.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky will serve as the tournament host for this week's event. "The Great One" is considered by most as the greatest hockey player of all time. He holds 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records and six all-star game marks. He led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup titles and individually won nine Most Valuable Player Awards and 10 league scoring titles. He is the only NHL player to total more than 200 points in a season -- a feat he accomplished four times. The National Hockey League has designated Gretzky's No. 99 retired, with no player on any team able to wear that number.

Playing on the Nationwide Tour isn't foreign territory for Gretzky. He is an annual participant at the BMW Charity Pro-Am, having recently teamed with Chris Nallen to win the team competition at the Greenville, S.C., event. He will partner with former Brantford neighbor and Nationwide Tour veteran David Hearn this week.

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