KEY POINTS:
New Zealand golfer Tim Wilkinson paid for a late slide in the opening round of the important season-ending Nationwide Tour event in California yesterday.
Wilkinson shot bogeys on three of the last four holes at Barona Creek to slump to 38th in the Nationwide Tour Championship on one-under 70.
It leaves him 10 shots behind runaway leader Michael Letzig of the United States.
A top finish could see him climb into a top 25 finish overall, which would earn a card on next year's United States PGA Tour.
