PGA Tour Latinoamerica will provide road to Nationwide Tour

• By Ryan Ballengee
• May 9, 2012 2:46 PM ET

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A clear path to the Nationwide Tour may soon be forged from all corners of the Americas. 

PGA Tour Latinoamerica will embark on its maiden season in September, playing 11 events in seven countries over four months. In addition to a $1.43 million total purse, the tour will offer Nationwide Tour status to its top earners.

As many as five players from the Latin American tour will have status on the Nationwide Tour in 2013.

"Up to five guys will have some kind of Nationwide Tour status (in 2013)," said Nationwide Tour president Bill Calfee on Monday. "The leading money winner will likely be fully exempt, with the next four having some kind of conditional status."

With the PGA Tour providing financial involvement for the operations of the Canadian Tour last December, the PGA Tour is considering the possibility of a similar feeder system as PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

"We're in the process of evaluating and determining what our relationship might be with the Canadian Tour in the future," said Jeff Monday, senior vice president of the Nationwide Tour in an email on Wednesday. "The possibility of a designated number of cards coming through the Nationwide Tour will be a part of that evaluation process."