This Week in Golf - November 28th through December 3rd
PGA TOUR
PGA TOUR QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, Orange County National (Crooked Cat and Panther Lake), Winter Garden, Florida -The PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling events in golf, played out over six days beginning on Wednesday.
 George McNeill won by five shots at 23-under 409, last year. |
The low 25 finishers and ties from the large field at Orange County National will receive what everyone is there for: PGA Tour cards for 2008. The next 50 or so players will earn fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour.
Just getting to the final stage of PGA Tour Q-school earns you something, as the remaining players will all be eligible for nonexempt 2008 Nationwide Tour membership.
Last year, George McNeill fired five consecutive rounds in the 60s and won by five shots at 23-under 409. It was the largest margin of victory at PGA Tour Q-school in nine years.
McNeill posted a 13th-place finish in his first start in Hawaii. Nine months later, he won the Frys.com Open, a Fall Series event, which helped him finish 61st on the money list.
The Golf Channel will broadcast the final three days of action.
LPGA TOUR
LPGA TOUR QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, LPGA International (Legends and Champions Courses), Daytona Beach, Florida - Similar to the PGA Tour, the final stage of the LPGA Tour’s Qualifying Tournament will take place over five days beginning on Wednesday.
But it’s tougher to make the LPGA Tour. There are fewer automatic berths to be earned through the season-long money list, and fewer spots available for exempt status through Q-school.
Last year, Hye Jung Choi and teenager In-Kyung Kim shared medalist honors to lead the group of 15 players who earned fully-exempt status this season. Forty other players received conditional status.
This year, the low 17 players and ties will receive their LPGA Tour cards for next season. Non-exempt status will be granted to the next 35 players and ties.
EUROPEAN TOUR
NEW ZEALAND OPEN, The Hills Golf Club, Queenstown, New Zealand - The New Zealand Open celebrates its 100th anniversary this week at a new course, the Hills Golf Club on the South Pacific country’s South Island.
This is the fourth tournament already on the European Tour’s 2008 schedule, and the fourth straight outside continental Europe.
The first three tournaments have seen well-known winners: Phil Mickelson at the HSBC Champions, Miguel Angel Jimenez at the UBS Hong Kong Open and Aaron Baddeley at the MasterCard Masters.
The New Zealand Open follows last week’s MasterCard Masters in Australia as another event that is co-sanctioned by the European and Australasian Tours.
Last year, Nathan Green shot a 65 in the final round to beat New Zealand star Michael Campbell and five other players by two shots. It was Green’s first win on the European Tour.
The Golf Channel will broadcast tape-delayed action of all four rounds.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
DEL WEBB FATHER-SON CHALLENGE, ChampionsGate Golf Club, ChampionsGate, Florida - Last year, two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer and his son, Stefan, claimed their second straight win at the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge.
Like the year before, it all came down to the final hole. That’s where Stefan rolled in a six-foot birdie putt to beat Bob and Kevin Tway and Vijay and Qass Singh by a shot.
Stefan became the youngest winner in the event’s history when he teamed with his father to win in 2006, when he was just 15. He remains the only teenage champion in tournament history.
The Langers were the first father-son duo to successfully defend their win at the two-day tournament since Raymond and Robert Floyd in 2001.
NBC will five hours worth of coverage of two days.
NEDBANK CHALLENGE
NEDBANK CHALLENGE, Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa - The Nedbank Challenge is one of the more interesting off-season events.
Three-time winner Ernie Els will headline a star-studded field that also includes two-time U.S. Open champion and fellow South African Retief Goosen.
Eight of the top-20 and 11 of the top 25 players in the world are scheduled to compete for the $1.2 million first-place prize. Two-time defending champion Jim Furyk will not be on hand to defend his title due to a recent injury.
Furyk was one of three players who were scheduled to compete but forced to withdraw. The others were Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.
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