It did not have the newness of the Hotel Fitness Championship or the late drama of the Chiquita Classic, but the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship did serve to bring the paradox of increased clarity and heightened uncertainty to the Web.com Finals’ first edition.

South Korean phenom Seung-yul Noh, 22, captured the third leg of the Finals by five shots over Edward Loar, by six over John Peterson and by seven over Ben Martin, Chesson Hadley and Tyrone Van Aswegen.

After leading by five shots through 54 holes, Noh used a 2-under par 69 over Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course to maintain his margin over the remainder of the field and seize the top spot on the Finals money list. If Noh maintains that spot at the end of this weekend’s Web.com Tour Championship, he will be granted fully-exempt PGA Tour membership, which includes a spot in the 2014 Players Championship field.

With only one week left, the earnings amount needed for one of the last 25 PGA Tour cards is just under $24,000, with Steve Wheatcroft holding down that spot for now. He needs a solid finish at the Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. in order to avoid going back to the Web.com Tour again, as do a number of other players a few spots above and below him:

On the inside (for now):

Vaughn Taylor (No. 21, $29,175) — Taylor, 37, has two PGA Tour victories to his credit—the 2004 and 2005 editions of the Reno-Tahoe Open. He played in the 2006 Ryder cup for the United States and was heralded as an up-and-coming Tour standout at that time. But has struggled in recent years, finishing 152^nd on the 2013 PGA Tour money list with just under $400,000. His best finish was a tie for 10^th at the Wells Fargo Championship, but that performance has been offset by seven missed cuts in 16 events. Taylor lives in Augusta, Ga., and has played in the Masters three times. But he runs the risk of relegation if he does not have a solid week in northern Florida.

Spencer Levin (No. 22, $27,071.43) – The fiery 29-year old Levin first became known throughout the golf world as an amateur, when a hole-in-one during the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock propelled him to a T-13^th place finish and low amateur honors. His professional career has been somewhat hit-and-miss, and he sustained a thumb injury that limited him to only a handful of Web.com Tour events in 2013. Nevertheless, Levin can make it back to the PGA Tour in 2013-14 with a solid campaign around Pete Dye’s Valley Course.

On the outside (for now): 

Billy Hurley III (No. 35, $16,900) – Hurley, a former United States Navy Lieutenant, played his way into a PGA Tour card for the 2012 season, but he could not sustain it. He finished 41^st on the Web.com Tour regular season money list in 2013. A top-10 finish would go a long way toward giving Hurley another shot at PGA Tour prosperity in 2013-14.

Tim Petrovic (No. 62, $15,195) – Petrovic, a consummate golf journeyman, has one PGA Tour victory to his credit: the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Now 47, Petrovic needs a high finish in Florida to avoid being bounced from the PGA Tour for the first time since 2001.

The Web.com Tour Championship begins on Thursday. Just as players on either side of the proverbial bubble will be looking to give themselves the necessary space to collect their PGA Tour cards, others well back will be going for broke, knowing that a win or even a top-three finish will be good enough to vault them up the list and bag onto professional golf’s biggest stage.