They call it the toughest week in all of golf, which is actually an understatement – It actually runs about a week and a half end to end.

After two preliminary stages, six final stage rounds and a total of 252 holes, 25 players earned their PGA Tour playing rights for 2010 on Monday at Bear’s Best golf course in Orlando, Fl.  As always there are some big losers and big winners before the final putt had dropped.

The big winner turned out to be former Boise St. University standout and current Nationwide Tour player Troy Merritt. Merritt, who has never played a PGA Tour event in his professional career, made a double bogey on his final hole of the tournament to finish at -22, good for a one shot victory over PGA Tour vet Jeff Maggert and the $50,000 first place check.

But even more important than the check is the opportunity Merritt and his fellow graduates have earned through the seemingly endless grind that is the Qualifying School.

“The trophy is to get to play with the big boys next year,” Merritt insisted after the win.

Among the 25 graduates were several young guns and a number of seasoned veterans, of whom the most well known was Maggert. A three-time winner on tour, Maggert has twice came close to winning the U.S Open in his career.  Maggert has amassed over $16 million in his career, despite only making $651, 348 last season. But thanks to his 2nd place finish at final stage he will be able to add to that total in 2010 as a full member.

While Maggert was probably the most well known player to earn (back) his tour card at final stage, the player that came in with the most amount of hype surrounding him also did not disappoint.

In only three tournaments at the tail end of the 2009 season former Oklahoma St. All-American Rickie Fowler made over $500,000 and went within a playoff win from entering a select group of players to have earned their PGA Tour cards without entering Q School. As it turned out, Fowler had an up and down week, flirting with a 59 and the tournament lead during the third round, then falling behind the qualifying number late in the fifth round before closing with a two under par 70 to finish T15 and earn his rookie card on the PGA Tour.

Several other promising young stars graduated to the Big Show on Monday.  Recent college grads Billy Horschel and Cameron Tringale both earned their cards while mini tour standouts Chris Wilson and Martin Flores also made the cut comfortably.

Well-known tour stalwarts Chris Riley, Joe Ogilvy, Jay Williamson, J.P Hayes, Omar Uresti earned back their playing privilages for 2010 while former major winners David Duval, Shaun Macheel and Todd Hamilton all missed out.

Sticking to the dramatic script there were a couple of charges made during the final round, the lowest of which came from Aussie David Lutterus who fired a clutch 64 to climb all the way to -15 and into a T8 to earn back the PGA Tour card that he held in 2008. While Lutterus’ effort was outstanding, the biggest move in the final round came from PGA and Nationwide Tour vet Shane Bertsch. Bertsch shot a final round 65 to shoot from 50th to 15th at -11.

“It’s not a real comfortable week,” Bertsch said following his final round. “But I just kept plugging.”

On the flip side there were some tragic mishaps that are more than typical of a final round at Q School. The most notable of these came from James Hahn, a player who less than a year ago was considering quitting the game. He came into the final round T50th, but five birdies and no blemishes later and Hahn was in position to grab one of the final PGA Tour cards. After a solid drive an indifferent second shot into the 18th hole from 165 yards left Hahn with a two-putt from 60 feet to move to the promised land. For the first time all day Hahn flinched, leaving his first putt ten feet short. He missed the par save and with it went his PGA Tour dream. To rub salt into the very recent wound he missed the comeback, finishing with a double bogey to eventually miss his card by two shots. For a player who was selling shoes last year between tournaments, a full Nationwide Tour card was his consolation. He was remarkably composed coming off the 18th hole.

“I’m not going to beat myself over the head about it,” Hahn said. “That’s golf.”

One player seen to be emotionally standing by the giant scoreboard at the end of day’s play was Brian Stuard. A year ago Stuard was hovering around the PGA Tour number on the final day of Q School before a couple of late bogeys meant he would miss his card by one shot. After a solid year on the Nationwide Tour, Stuard was again achingly close to earning a trip to the PGA Tour at the Nationwide Tour championship. When he missed an eight-foot putt on the 72 hole there he wound up in 26th place on the final money list, again missing his card by one shot. In 12 months of golf one shot had separated Stuard from playing on the PGA Tour-twice.

Halfway through the final round at Bear Lakes it looked like Stuard was going to be the man on the outside yet again. But this time Stuard took destiny in his own hands. Standing one shot out from the number he stumped his second shot into the 17th hole and the ensuing tap-in birdie moved him to the Tour cut line. Ten minutes later Stuard stood in the middle of the 18th fairway with all the pressure in the world on him yet again.  All he did from there was rifle a 6 iron to four-feet, brush the birdie putt in and grab is card with both hands.

“I’ve been close a couple times, so it was nice to finally finish strong.” Stuard said following the final round.

Rarely have understatements sounded so sweet.

Phil Mickelson did it on the PGA Tour. So did Scott Verplank. In recent years Pablo Martin and Danny Lee have done it in Europe. I’m taking, of course, about winning a professional tournament while still an amateur, something Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler came oh so close to doing Sunday at the Nationwide Tour’s Children’s Hospital Invitational in Columbus, OH.

With a three-foot par putt on the second playoff hole, Nationwide Tour rookie Derek Lamley ruined Fowler’s hopes of emulating current Nationwide Tour player Daniel Summerhays’ 2007 performance in winning the Children’s Hospital Invitational as an amateur. The 29 year-old closed with a stellar 6-under 65 for an 11-under total to snatch victory from the collegiate in just his 10th Nationwide Tour start since making the finals of Q School last December.

Fowler led for much of Sunday’s final round until Lamley’s precision iron play kicked in, producing birdies on the 14, 15 and 16th holes, none coming from more further than five feet. Meanwhile, playing a couple of groups behind, Flower played steady, par golf before overshooting the 72nd green which led to his only bogey of the final round, and dropped him back into a tie with Lamley.

Both players made par on the first playoff hole, missing almost identical 18 foot birdie putts, thus sending the playoff on to the par 3 13th hole. Both players hit nervous tee shots into the second playoff hole, Fowler coming up short in the front bunker, while Lamley missed long and left of the green. From there Lamley played an extremely delicate chip shot that pitched just on the green and ran down to three feet past the hole. The Oklahoma State standout then hit his bunker shot 12 feet past the hole. His par attempt slid past the hole and Lamleybrushed in his nervous length putt to take his first Nationwide Tour title.

“A year ago I might not have even gotten that one on the green,”

Lamely said of his chip shot in the playoff.

“I might have gotten it on the green, but it definitely wouldn’t have been 3 feet.”

The $139,500 winner’s check gave the Florida native an incredible boost up the Nationwide Tour money list, catapulting him from 135th to 12th, well inside the season ending top 25 players earning their PGA Tour cards for 2010. While the result has positioned Lamley firmly in the fight to gain full exempt status on the PGA Tour, he is not letting the win get in the way of his year-end goal.  

“My goal is still the same,”

Lamely said following the win at the Scarlet Course.

“The goal still is to get on the big tour. It’s the same goal I’ve had forever. I just helped myself significantly today.”

For Walker Cup star Fowler, it was a disappointing way to end another impressive professional start. In 2008 at the U.S Open at Torrey Pines, Fowler shot 69 in the first round to hold tie for 7th. He would eventually go onto make the cut and finish 60th in that event. His burgeoning resume, which includes wins in the 2007 and 2008 Sunnehanna Amateur, the 2007 Players Amateur, as well as the Ben Hogan Award which goes to the nation’s top collegiate player in 2007/08 (Fowler was the first to do it as a freshman).

“I hit some really good putts there at the end and they just didn’t go in,”

Fowler said.

“I was giving myself good looks all day. I struggled a little bit coming in and thought I hit some good shots there on 18.”

A 2007 Walker Cup member, Fowler has announced he will participate in the 2009 cross-Atlantic battle and following that he will forgo his final two years of college to turn professional.

He told Newsok.com two weeks ago that he was “100 percent” certain he would be turning professional by the end of the summer, adding, “If it wasn’t for the Walker Cup, I’d probably be turning earlier.”

His next start will be at the U.S Amateur at Southern Hills in Tulsa where he will be the consensus favourite, while his first start as a professional is slated to be the Nationwide Tour’s Seboba Class which kicks off on October 1st.

Pro golfers twitter their way into fans’ hearts. Professional golfers are going back to the people thanks to technology. In the old days of pro golf, the big-name players were mostly happy to rub shoulders with ordinary folks off the course. Modern golf doesn’t allow for such intimacy, with the increased money involved, television coverage, sponsor obligations, security and the higher profile golfers enjoy these days compared with the past. However, social networking websites such as Twitter.com are allowing the pros to once again connect with fans in a cyber kind of way.

LPGA Pro Nicole Hage tweets at Twitter.com/NicoleHage, to view more photos please visit her Facebook page here.

Twitter is the latest sensation in social networking. The site allows users to post “tweets” or short messages to their subscribers, providing updates, news and other interesting and often personal tidbits. It’s like a blog with fewer words.

Among the well-known golfers who provide tweet service are Stewart Cink (@StewartCink), John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly) and Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby) while female golfing tweeters include Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis), Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel), Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella) and NicoleHage (@NicoleHage).

Other golfers tweeting with their fans are US PGA Tour winner Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin), Japanese-American sensation Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa) and women’s Futures Tour players Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing), Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts), Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers), Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons), Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick) and Briana Vega (@BrianaVega), the latest winner of golf reality show Big Break.

Cink is one of the most active twitter-ers and is keeping his fans up-to-date with his progress when competing in tournaments and during time off from the Tour.

Hage, Gulbis, Pressel, Daly and the others also faithfully provide updates on a regular basis to keep fans happy.

There is much to catch up on from pro golfers, so log on to Twitter.com, where you can also read the latest about me Andy Brown (@AndyBrownGolf) and HomeofGolf.TV.

In Alphabetical Order: (please let me know of anymore pros that join Twitter so as I can update this page- thanks)

Sofie Andersson (@SofieAndersson)

Swede Sofie Andersson is one of the many promising professionals to come from Sweden and who is now competing on the Duramed Futures Tour in the US. The 26-year-old joined the Tour in 2007 and won a tournament in her rookie year at the Aurora Health Care Champions in Wisconsin. She has also had six other top 10 finishes, including second at the 2009 Michelob ULTRA Duramed Futures Players Championship. She resides in California.

Stuart Appleby (@StuartAppleby)

Australian Appleby turned pro in 1992 and has since been a consistently successful golfer since. He started off on the Australasian PGA Tour before winning twice on the secondary Tour in the US in 1995, where he finished fifth on the money list and qualified for the US PGA Tour. Appleby has won eight times on golf’s premier tour and he reached the top 10 in the world in 2004. His best performance in a major was at the 2002 British Open, where he lost in a four-way play-off to Ernie Els.

Kyeong Bae (@KyeongBae)

South Korean Bae Kyeong has been on and off the elite LPGA Tour since 2002, and a permanent fixture since 2006. Although she has never won on the main tour, she did find success during her year on the Future Tour is 2005 when she won two tournaments. She has also won the Shinsegye Cup KLPGA Championship on her native Korea LPGA Tour. Her best finish on the LPGA Tour was second place at the 2006 Sybase Classic.

Stacy Biebar (@GolfProGirls)

Bio coming soon.

Paul Casey (@Paul_Casey)

Bio coming soon.

Susan Choi (@GolfProGirls)

Susan played Varsity golf at Wellesley College for all four years. This experience triggered a passion, and made her realize that this is what she want to do for the rest of my life. Susan started competing in local and national events her Junior year at Wellesley and had some pretty good success, but most importantly she says, “I loved it!” Susan has been featured on Big Break Ka’anapali and she is a proud founder of GolfProGirls.com.

Irene Cho (@TheIreneCho)

Irene Cho is a product of the University of Southern California and has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 2007, one year after turning professional. She had a distinguished amateur career, earning AJGA All-America honours in 2002 and 13 top-10 finishes on the American Junior Golf Association tour. In 2006, she was Honda Player of the Year and Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Stewart Cink (@StewartCink)

Cink, who turns 36 in May, is one of the most respected players on the PGA Tour. With 12 professional victories to his name, including five titles on the PGA Tour, Cink has established himself as one of the world’s leading golfers, having broken into the top 10 of the world rankings intermittently in his career. One of the highlights of his career was reaching the final of the 2008 Match Play Championship in Arizona, losing to world number one Tiger Woods.

Carling Coffing (@CarlingCoffing)

The 23-year-old Coffing is one of the rising stars of the women’s game, having turned professional in 2008. The Ohio State graduate with a degree in communications had a stellar college career, at state and national level and is currently competing in the women’s Futures Tour. She is hoping to one day break into the LPGA Tour.

Paula Creamer (@ThePaulaCreamer)

American Paula Creamer has been one of the biggest stars of the LPGA Tour ever since she burst on to the professional scene in 2005. She has earned more than US$1 million each year since turning pro and won eight tournaments along the way. When she won the Sybase Classic in 2005 at 18 years, nine months and 17 days, she became the youngest winner at the time of a multi-round tournament on the LPGA.

John Daly (@PGA_JohnDaly)

Daly is one player whose charisma and persona could rival that of Tiger Woods in terms of fan popularity. The 43-year-old two-time major champion is currently on a comeback in the professional game after years in the wilderness, trying to rediscover the form that helped him to the 1991 US PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Chamipionship title. His booming drives make him one of the biggest drawcards on the tour, even when he is not playing well.

Chris DiMarco (@ChrisDiMarco)

Chris DiMarco is a veteran on the US PGA Tour, having joined the pro ranks in 1990. In recent years he has shown the ability to challenge the top players in any situation and has been rewarded with three titles – the 2000 SEI Pennsylvania Classic, 2001 Buick Challenge and 2002 Phoenix Open. DiMarco was runner-up at the 2006 British Open, the same year he won the Abu Dhabi Championship in UAE on the European Tour.

Heather Daly-Donofrio (@LPGARocks)

Daly-Donofrio is an 11-year veteran of professional golf, having first joined the LPGA Tour in 1998. She has two tour titles to her name, winning the 2001 First Union Betsy King Classic and the Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions. She achieved two top-10 finishes in 2005 but has since only played sparingly on the main tour.

Meredith Duncan (@Meredith_Duncan)

Meredith Duncan turned in professional in 2002 after a successful amateur career during which she won the US Women’s Amateur Championship in 2001. The following year, she was part of the US Curtis Cup team. After turning pro, she played on the Kosaido Ladies Asian Circuit and, in 2003, tied for fifth at the LPGA Final Qualifying event to earn her Tour card.

Allison Fouch (@AllisonFouch)

Fouch turned professional in 2006 and enjoyed her best year in the LPGA Tour in 2008, when she made the cut in 17 of 25 tournaments she played. Her best finish was at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she finished tied for second and also had a career-low score of 64 in the final round. The previous year, she won twice on the Futures Tour and had eight other top-10 finishes for second overall in the money list and an exemption for the 2008 LPGA Tour.

Meaghan Francella (@MFrancella)

Having turned pro in 2004, Francella’s major triumph to date has been in winning the 2007 MasterCard Classic where she saw off Annika Sörenstam in a four hole playoff. In 2006 Meaghan won the Lakeland Duramed Futues Classic, helping her secure a 5th place on the Futures Tour money list and full exemption for the 2007 LPGA season. She finished 29th and 88th on the LPGA money list for 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Tadd Fujikawa (@Tadd_Fujikawa)

Fujikawa hit the headlines in 2006 when, aged 15, he became the youngest golfer to qualify for the US Open. The next year, he became the second youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event, Hawaii’s Sony Open, at 16 years and four days. He left the amateur ranks in 2007 and won his first tournament as a pro in April 2008 at the Mid-Pacific Open in Hawaii.

Julieta Granada (@JulieGranada)

Paraguay’s Granada has been a pro since 2005, winning the YMCA Futures Classic on the Futures Tour in 2005 before joining the LGPA Tour in 2006. In that year, she won the final tournament of the season, the ADT Championship, enabling her to collect the first-ever $1-million prize in women’s golf. A graduate of the David Leadbetter school in Florida, the 22-year-old has had a fine amateur career and is one of the stars of the future.

Natalie Gulbis (@Natalie_Gulbis)

One of the most glamorous and popular golfers on the LGPA Tour, Gulbis, 26, has also proven herself to be a quality player, earning her first title at the 2007 Evian Masters. She showed promise at a young age when she qualified for her first LPGA tournament, the 1997 Longs Drugs Challenge. At 14, she was the youngest amateur to do so until Michelle Wie broke her record in 2002.

Sophie Gustafson (@SophieGustafson)

Another pro export from Sweden, Gustafson has been a regular feature on the LPGA Tour since 1998. Her best year on the Tour was on 2000 when she won two tournaments and had two other top-10 finishes. She triumphed in the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship and the Weetabix Women’s British Open. She won again the following year, at the Subaru Memorial of Naples and captured her fourth tour title at the 2003 Samsung World Championship.

Nicole Hage (@NicoleHage)

Hage turned professional in June, 2007 and returned to LPGA Final Qualifying School last year where she finished joint 34th to re-enter the Tour. Prior to becoming pro, she enjoyed a successful amateur and junior career, earning All-American credits in 2002 and 2003 as well as being on the 2002 Junior Solheim Cup.

Maria Hjorth (@MariaHjorth)

Hjorth is one of the veterans of the LPGA Tour, having made her rookie year in 1998 and then going on to win two tournaments and attain five other top-10 positions in 1999. Her maiden triumph on the Tour was the SAFECO Classic and she also won the Mizuno Classic. She had to wait eight years before her next triumph, at the 2007 Navistar LPGA Classic.

Janell Howland (@Janellaxo)

Howland has played only sparingly on the LPGA Tour since 2005, having played eight tournaments in total, including five in her rookie year. In 2008, she played 16 tournaments on the Duramed Futures Tour and eventually regained her card for the main circuit in 2009. She had a strong amateur career, winning two tournaments in 1999 while representing Lamar University and the 2001 Bermuda Match Play.

Noon Huachai (@NoonH)

Noon Huachai is a rising star from Bangkok, Thailand, who turned professional in 2007 and has played on the Duramed Futures Tour. As an amateur, she met with much success, winning three times on the 2005 Future Collegians World Tour. The same year, she also recorded three wins on the International Junior Golf Tour. She now makes the United States her home.

Rebecca Hudson (@GolfingBecs)

Bio coming shortly

Vicky Hurst (@TheVickyHurst)

Hurst is one of the most popular new faces on the LPGA Tour. She made her debut in 2009 and has already recorded two top-10 places from eight tournaments (up to 06.09), in which she made the cut seven times. She turned pro in 2008 and went on to win five events on the Duramed Futures Tour to earn her Rookie of the Year honours and priority list for the LPGA Tour.

Trevor Immelman (@TrevorImmelman)

Bio coming shortly

Peter Jacobsen (@JakeTrout)

Jacobsen is one of the stalwarts of the US PGA Tour, having won seven titles during his heyday and continuing on to find success on the Champions Tour, where he won two majors. The 55-year-old American is also a well-known TV personality, with two shows on The Golf Channel. The last of his PGA Tour titles was the Greater Hartford Open in July, 2003.

Liz Janangelo (@PumpkinPutts)

Janagelo is an American professional who plays on the women’s Duramed Futures Tour, having had one season in the elite LPGA Tour in 2008. The 25-year-old from Hartford, Connecticut turned pro in 2006 after a solid amateur career that include five titles in her State Open Championship. Her best season so far was in 2007 when she won twice on the Futures Tour to finish sixth in the season-ending rankings.

Sarah Kemp (@SarahJKemp)

Kemp had an outstanding career as an amateur and professional in her native Australia before making the jump to the LPGA Tour in 2008 via the Ladies European Tour. She was her country’s top-ranked amateur in 2003, the year she won the first of two Australian Stroke Play Championships. In 2005, she won four times on the Australian Ladies Professional Tour before achieving nine top-10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour from 2006-07.

Christina Kim (@TheChristinaKim)

Kim is an American of Korean heritage, born in San Jose, California in 1984 and now one of the most colourful and talented female golfers on the LPGA Tour. She is famous for her flamboyant style of dress and the Kangol berets she loves to wear. And her golf is not bad either with three pro titles to her name – the 2004 Longs Drugs Challenge and 2005 Mitchell Company Tournament of Champions, which added to the 2002 Garden State Summer Classic she won on the Futures Tour.

Mindy Kim (@MindyKim89)

Kim is in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour in 2009 after a successful 2008 in which she won three times on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she also finished second on the money list. Kim turned professional in 2007 after a solid amateur career in which she won the 2006 American Junior Golf Association Mission Hills Desert Junior Classic and the Los Angeles City Championship.

Jeehae Lee (@Jeehaeda)

Lee made her LPGA debut in 2009 after more than two years as a professional, which included two victories on the Futures Tour. The Seoul-born Korean, who studied economics at Yale University, had a strong amateur career, with one victory in the American Junior Golf Association. She was also third at the 2003 Ivy League Championship individual tournament and the low amateur at the 2006 Connecticut Women’s Open.

Spencer Levin (@Spencer_Levin)

American Levin has been playing professionally since 2005 but it is only in 2009 that he has been a regular feature on the PGA Tour. The 25-year-old previously played on the Nationwide Tour, where, in 2008, he earned seven top-10 finishes to end up 22nd on the money list. He is the son of former PGA Tour golfer Don Levin.

Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis)

A rookie in 2009, Lewis made a solid start to her career on the LPGA Tour with some eye-catching performances. The previous year, she had played seven events on the Tour with two top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the US Women’s Open. As an amateur, Lewis won 12 collegiate events during her time with the University of Arkansas and was a four-time All-American.

Davis Love III (@Love3D)

Love is one of the most respected golfers on the professional tour, having been among the paid ranks since 1985 and a long-time resident among the world’s top 10 players. The 45-year-old has won 20 titles on the PGA Tour including the 1997 US PGA Championship, which remains his only major win so far. His last win was the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November, 2008, a victory that gave him a lifetime exemption on the Tour.

Paige Mackenzie (@Paige_Mackenzie)

After turning pro in 2006, she promptly went on to win an event on the Cactus Tour as a sponsor’s exemption. Mackenzie had played a handful of times on the LPGA in 2005 and 2006 before earning full playing honours in 2007. Her best finish in a major was actually when she was an amateur, tying for 13th place at the 2005 US Women’s Open. While at University of Washington, she finished as the country’s top amateur according to Golfweek and became the college’s first female golfer to win the Pac-10 Championship individual title.

Michelle McGann (@MichelleMcGann)

McGann is a true stalwart of the LPGA Tour, having made her debut in 1988 and turning pro one year later. The chirpy star enjoyed her best years during the mid-1990s when she won seven tournaments in three years. Her last victory on the Tour was in 1997 when she captured the ShopRite LPGA Classic, one of two titles that season. McGann has earned more than US$3 million in prize money.

Jill McGill (@JillyMcgilly)

The statuesque McGill is a veteran of the LPGA Tour, having enjoyed her rookie season in 1996. In that time, she has had numerous top 10 finishes and came close to winning tournaments in 2001 and 2005, both times earning the runners-up check. The six-footer had a solid amateur career, winning the 1993 US Women’s Amateur Championship and the 1994 US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.

Rory McIlroy (@RorsMcIlroy)

Bio coing shortly.

Parker McLachlin (@ParkerMcLachlin)

The Hawaii-born McLachlin has been in the pro ranks since 2003 and broke through to the main PGA Tour in 2007. After successfully returning to qualifying school for the 2008 season, McLachlin ended his tournament drought when he won the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. That performance helped him secure his place on the Tour until 2010.

Kate Miller (@GolfProGirls)

Kate received a golf scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Her collegiate career is highlighted by being named a two-time All-ACC selection for golf. She also had the chance to be a sideline reporter for ESPNU during a UNC Basketball game. Katie is now a member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour, and she aspires to play on the LPGA Tour. She would also like to pursue a career in journalism. Kate is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.

Tina Miller (@TinaMillerGolf)

Miller, whose full name is Christina Mae Miller, is a 26-year-old pro golfer from Miami, Florida who turned professional in 2005 at the LPGA Wendy’s Championship for Children. She has been playing golf since she was seven years old and earned a full scholarship to the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. In her junior year, she became a member of the elite Iron Arrow club – the university’s highest society honour.

Whitney Myers (@Whitney0Myers)

Myers is another golfer who is trying to make a name for herself on the women’s Futures Tour after showing plenty of potential at junior and amateur levels. She is a former winner of the Pennsylvania State Junior Girls’ Championship and a two-time AJGA champion. The 23-year-old was also the individual winner of the 2008 SEC Women’s Golf Championship.

Johanna Mundy (@JohannaMundy)

Englishwoman Mundy has been a professional on the LPGA Tour since 2000 after an amateur career that included victories in the 1992 and 1994 Sussex Ladies Championship and the 1994 Astor Salver. She has had four top-10 finishes in her LPGA Tour career with her best most recent performance being 13th place at the Corona Championship. Also last year, she tied her career-low score of 65 in the last round of the Fields Open, where she earned 14th place.

Jane Park (@MaryJane1432)

Park has been playing professionally on the LPGA Tour since 2007 and, though she has come close, was still looking for her first career title by the middle of the 2009 season. Her best performances in 2008 were two second places, a third and one other top-10 finish. As an amateur, she was runner-up at the 2003 US Women’s Amateur and tied for 30th at the US Women’s Open.

Suzann Pettersen (@SuzannPettersen)

One of the best players on the LPGA Tour, Norwegian Pettersen joined the Tour in 2003. She enjoyed a fantastic year in 2007, winning five tournaments, finishing second twice and gaining five other top-10 places. Her victories included a major triumph at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, when she also went over US$1 million in career earnings. She has since earned more than US$4 million.

Pat Perez (@PatPerezGolf)

It has been a breakthrough year for 33-year-old Perez in 2009 after he won January’s Bob Hope Classic for his first PGA Tour victory. In the first two rounds of the tournament he set a record of 20-under-par 124 for the lowest score over 36 holes relative to par. Although Steve Stricker beat the record by one over the third and fourth rounds, Arizona native Perez, who has won once on the Nationwide Tour, went on to win the tournament and establish himself as a winner on the Tour.

Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter)

Englishman Poulter is one of the most popular players on the circuit with nine professional titles titles. Seven of his victories come from the European Tour while he has also won Japan’s famous Dunlop Phoenix tournament in 2007 and the 1999 Ivory Coast Open on the Challenge Tour in Africa. The often colourfully dressed Poulter scored the winning points for Europe in their 2004 Ryder Cup victory over the US.

Amber Prange (@GolfProGirls)

Amber Prange is a graduate of Washington University and was an All-American junior and collegiate player, with 9 Top-Ten NCAA Finshes. She recently competed in Golf Channel’s Big Break Michigan. A rookie on the Duramed Futures Tour last year, she will continue to compete on the Futures Tour for the 2009 season. Amber is one of the founders of GolfProGirls.com.

Morgan Pressel (@MorganPressel)

Pressel has emerged as one of the leading players on the LPGA Tour with more than US$2 million in earnings since she turned pro in 2006. She was barely 18 when she was given special exemption to join the Tour full-time. She has two titles under her belt and a string of top-10 finishes. Pressel enjoyed an eventful amateur career, finishing joint runner-up at the 2005 US Women’s Open.

Anna Rawson (@TheAnnaRawson)

Australian Rawson has been playing the game since she was 13 years old and the glamorous golfer also does modelling work, either on the catwalk, print ads or on television. The Adelaide-born Rawson started playing full-time on the LGPA Tour in 2008, when she recorded a career-best tie for 10th at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. As an amateur, she was a member of the 2003 NCAA Championship team, representing University of Southern California, and won numerous amateur tournaments in her native Australia.

Maggie Simons (@MaggieSimons)

The 24-year-old Simons joined the Futures Tour at the start of 2008 after enjoying much success as an amateur. She is a two-time winner of the North Carolina Women’s Amateur tournament and was the runner-up in the 2007 North and South Women’s Amateur Championship. She earned a degree in psychology at Wake Forest University but is now focusing mostly on her budding golfing career.

Kristie Smith (@NikeGolfChick)

The 20-year-old Smith is one of Australia’s up and coming female golfers, having only recently turned professional after a successful amateur career. The daughter of former Aussie golfer Wayne Smith, she was the Australian Amateur champion in 2008 and was the best-performing amateur at the 2008 Women’s Australian Open. The Perth native is currently playing on the Duramed Futures Tour with an eye on one day qualifying for the LPGA Tour.

Annika Sorenstam (@Annika59)

Sweden’s Sorenstam is one of the greatest female golfers ever to play the game, having dominated women’s golf in the late 90s to mid 2000s. She won 90 tournament titles all over the world, 72 of them on the LPGA Tour and 10 majors. She tops the career money list with more than $22 million in earnings and once shot 59 in a competition. The 38-year-old retired from golf at the end of the 2008 season to start a family.

Angela Stanford (@Angela_Stanford)

Stanford has four career victories to date (06/09), the first one coming in 2003 in her third year on the LPGA Tour. That was at the ShopRite Classic and it was not until 2008 that she recorded her next triumph at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. The same year, she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. She started 2009 by winning the season-opening SBS Open for her fourth career title.

Karen Stupples (@KStupples)

England’s Stupples has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 1999 and her best year on the circuit was in 2004, when she won two tournaments, finished runner-up once and had five other top 10 places. One of those victories was at the Women’s British Open where she became only the second player to shoot a double eagle at a major tournament. More recently, her best finish was second place at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill in 2008, the same year she crossed the $3 million mark in career earnings.

Perry Swenson (@PerrySwenson)

Bio coming soon.

Yani Tseng (@YaniTseng)

Taiwan’s Tseng made her LPGA Tour professional debut in 2008, making the cut in 26 out of 27 tournaments and picking up her maiden victory at a major – the LPGA Championship. She had nine other top-10 finishes. So far in 2009 (up to end of June), she has had one more victory, winning the LPGA Coming Classic and shooting a career-low 62 in the process.

Brianna Vega (@BriannaVega)

Vega, 27, plays regularly on the women’s Futures Tour after turning professional in 2004. Although born in New Jersey, she went to college at North Carolina State University, twice winning the state’s Most Valuable Player award, in 2003 and 2004. At the 2008 Suncoast Series Tour, she finished with three victories and emerged as the leading money winner. Vega has recently shot into the limelight by winning the golf reality show, “Big Break VI”.

Michelle Wie (@TheMichelleWie)

Wie is one of the most famous names on the LPGA Tour, having played regularly as an amateur since she was barely out of her teens but only making her full-time Tour debut in 2009, having turned pro four years earlier. One of the best amateurs ever, she set many records in the unpaid ranks including the youngest to qualify for the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the age of 10, in 2000. Shortly before turning pro, she was runner-up at the 2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship.

After doing it’s best impersonation of the European Tour over the past couple of months, The Nationwide Tour has finally back on native shores this week as it travels to Bayou country for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in Broussard, La. While that means the U.S contingent of Nationwide players gets their first chance to make their mark on the Top 25 on home soil, for those of us pros based in the U.S with little or no card, the Nationwide Tour returning to the states means one thing – Monday madness.

For those of you unaware, every Monday the PGA and Nationwide Tours run a qualifying tournament for those professionals and low handicap amateurs not already in the event for that week. There are 14 spots available for the Nationwide Tour’s Monday qualifying and 4 on the PGA Tour with the low scores of the day qualifying. Ties are determined by a playoff. The format boils down to, for all intents and purposes, “Go low, or go home.” 

Last week I logged more miles than a marathon runner attempting to qualify for the Chitimacha Louisiana Open and I thought I’d give you a run down of how it all went.

My roommate and I left Atlanta on Saturday morning at 9am and drove 5 hours south down interstates 85 then 65 to Mobile, Al where one of our traveling companions lives. As those who have been through Atlanta know, getting out of Atlanta on a weekday is virtually impossible. Rush hour in the morning stretches from 6am to 10am and from 4pm to 8pm in the afternoon. Needless to say we were fortunate to be traveling on the weekend and we made good time, arriving just in time to attend a friend and former tour player’s afternoon wedding on the beach.

While the festivities kicked on a little to late for the dedicated professionals amongst us, the three of us playing in the qualifier managed to drag ourselves out of bed Sunday morning and drive the final 5 hours to Louisiana, arriving in the mid afternoon. The final 30 minutes of the drive stretched on along rural back roads, winding through farmland and dirt-poor towns with front yards piled high with disheveled children’s playground swings and neglected, rusted Chevrolets and Dodge pick-ups. My roommate’s GPS couldn’t find the road we were on, planting us firmly in the middle of a field that didn’t exist. I guess satellites don’t hit that part of the country much. These are the places we have to qualify sometimes.

But we followed our noses and finally arrived at Squirrel’s Run Golf Course where we would all be qualifying the following day. We played a late practice round and practiced a little before heading to our hotel where we would attempt to cram the three of us into two king size beds. As you might imagine we take our drawing of straws very seriously. I would be teeing off at 8am the following day and both my mates would be off in the afternoon field at around 1.

My 6am wake up call came very early and I was on the range by 7 even though the sun was barely up. Despite making 4 birdies in 5 holes around the turn I couldn’t get anything going all day. Unfortunately, I also played a wrong ball during that stretch, halting any momentum I was building. It’s something I haven’t ever done, and I bogeyed the last two holes when it really didn’t matter to shoot 75. That certainly wasn’t going to be good enough to get through with a 64 already on the board, coming from the first couple of groups. On top of that I had to wait another 5 or 6 hours to find out if my travel companions had done any better.

I decided I may as well do some work on my game and following lunch I spent the next 4 hours practicing. I watched as many, many players walked off the 9th green, straight past the 10th tee to the parking lot, slammed the trunks of their cars and high-tailed it out of Louisiana. The boys finally got done around 6pm, neither of them had made an impression on the scoreboard, so we packed up the cars and got back on the road. After 5 hours cruising along I-10 we made it back to Mobile and got into bed (or couch in my case) around midnight. I felt absolutely exhausted after such a long couple of days driving and playing.

We rose early again and headed back to Atlanta, another 5 hours away, and got home around 2 in the afternoon. When it was all said and done we had traveled a grand total of 1180 miles in three and a half days and thrown a couple of rounds of golf in between. It may seem like it was all for nothing, but the greats like Nicklaus and Woods try and take positives out of every experience, and that’s just what I did, telling myself I had handled the wrong ball catastrophe with poise and strength – birding the next three holes I played. It was something I could take with me to my next round at least.

Monday qualifiers can be a funny thing. You can shoot 66 and still not make the tournament if the course is playing easy, or you can gut out a 71 and get through if it’s playing tough. I missed out in a playoff for the Knoxville Nationwide Tour event a couple of years ago, shooting 68 to get into a 13 man playoff for 4 spots. 13 for 4! Four players birdied the first hole, 8 made par (including myself) and one made a bogey. The four birdies went through to the tournament, the rest of us got back in our cars and headed home.

The best example of the psyche of the Monday qualifier I can think of came last Monday. My playing partner that day in Louisiana, a veteran pro who played several years on the PGA Tour and who shall remain nameless, was -2 for the day through 11 holes and playing solid, if unspectacular, golf. By the 17 tee he was making a call on his cell phone to change his flight home for the week. That’s kind of how Monday Qualifying goes.

But that’s also the beautiful thing about Monday qualifying; it’s a crap shoot and any week can be your week. I remember an interview with Camilo Villegas on TV a couple of years ago where they asked him if it was tough having to Monday qualifying each week because he didn’t have a Nationwide Card.

“If I have to Monday every week to get to where I want to be (the PGA Tour), then that’s what I’ll do. I don‘t have a choice” he replied.

I couldn‘t have said it better myself. That’s why we drive 1200 miles over a couple of days to Monday Qualify; because we want to be better, because we want to move forward. Because, to get to where we want to be, we have to.

A couple of weeks ago I was playing a Hooters Tour event in Amelia Island in Florida. The tournament finished on Sunday and as we were so close we decided to make the quick drive down to the TPC at Sawgrass practice there on Monday. Although Sawgrass is a public facility (for those willing to pony up a mere $400) we were fortunate to have access to Sawgrass in a way that only a rare few have. I say we because my roommate I live with in Atlanta is David Skinns, an Englishman who plays on the Nationwide Tour. Being a member of the PGA or Nationwide Tours allows a player total access to any of the 29 TPC layouts throughout the continental US. And so, on a sunny Monday morning in March we drove into the Sawgrass parking lot in my dinged-up 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage with 213,000 miles on it and parked in the “player parking” section so close to the font door we might as well have been inside the club house. We were greeted in the pro shop by head professional Matt Borocz, who graciously showed us around the facilities, giving us a guided tour of the practice areas, clubhouse and closing holes on both nines. He then headed inside and returned with Titleist range balls and showed us to the back of the range where we were to warm up before our round.

The TPC at Sawgrass has a large practice range, and extensive greens for chipping and putting right next to the Spanish-inspired clubhouse, but we were not going to be using those facilities. No, the VJ Singh’s and Jim Furyk’s that practice at Sawgrass have their own area and that’s where we were warming up. The professional’s practice area is a sanctuary. Tucked away in the back corner of the range are two massive teeing grounds (one rumored to have been built just for VJ), a phenomenally large and undulating putting green that was running about 12 on the stimpmeter, and three chipping greens all in perfect condition. As we drove to the back of the range we could already see somebody back there. We had hoped that it was VJ himself, pounding ball after ball into the morning sun, but alas, it was only PGA Tour player Kevin Stadler. I hoped he didn’t see the disappointment on my face as I walked past him to warm up.

We warmed up and struck a few putts before Matt returned and told us that if we wanted to jump off the front nine immediately we would have the course to ourselves. And he wasn’t kidding. We hit off the 1st and never saw another player, barely even a maintenance worker, the entire time we were out there. To keep things interesting we had decided to put $10 on the outcome of the day, and as we turned to the back nine I had a one shot lead with an even par 36.

We were playing from the absolute tips as well, ignoring the tee markers and walking to the extreme back of every teeing ground. As we got deeper into the back nine, the holes, so memorable on TV, were becoming more and more familiar. On almost every hole there were small flags placed where plaques had been laid down to commemorate famous shots from The Players‘ champions like David Love III, Fred Couples and Hal Sutton, and we were now treading the same grounds as those legends.

As any golf fan knows the final three holes at Sawgrass are three of the most charismatic and dramatic finishing holes anywhere in the world. The drama and excitement of The Players comes down to the risk-reward par 5 16th, the iconic and dangerous par 3 17th and the merciless par 4 18th. We came to the 16th tee all square in our match.

Ordinarily the 16th is a pretty reachable par 5 for professionals such as ourselves, but today, with temperatures on the cold side, we would not have the opportunity to go at the green in two. There is a large fairway bunker on the right hand side of the hole and this is where my ball ended up. David’s was in the left rough.

Down the left hand side of 16 is a large tree which blocks out a safe lay-up down, which is the safe side to play if you want to avoid the water which hugs the right hand side of the fairway and cuts in behind the green. Showing a distinct lack of local knowledge we both laid up too far down the left side and were blocked out by the tree. I was slightly further back and elected to go over the tree with a 60 degree wedge. however, in avoiding the tree I couldn’t get the ball to the back of the green where the hole was cut. David got creative with his shot, punching one under the branches and scurrying his ball up to the middle of the green where my ball sat. I putted up and tapped in for par and waited for David to putt, gazing back across the pond, past the tree island in the middle of the water, towards the most intimidating hole on the PGA Tour. David putted out for par to keep the match all square and we drove over to the 17th just as a tour bus full of visitors pulled up behind the tee. We had a gallery for our match at last.

I assume they were after blood. Not actual blood of course, but metaphorical, golfing blood. They type of blood that they see on Sunday at the Players when Sean O’Hair dunked his ball into the water while trying to chase down Phil Mickelson. Or when Bob Tway, four shots off the lead and making a charge, airmailed the green not once, but twice on his way to making a 12. Yeah, that’s what they were after. It wasn’t 25,000 screaming fans on a Sunday at The Players, but this tour bus sure felt like something similar to us.

Most of the back portion of the tee was roped off to protect the grass for the tournament which was still two months away, but there was still a small section at the back of the tee pros could hit off. That’s where we teed off. The hole was cut on the front slope of the green, making the shot a lot shorter than it would normally play. However, from the tee it looked like the pin was sitting about 6 feet out into the water. It was intimidating to say the least.

We paced off the yardage and figured it to be 132 yards with the breeze helping a little from the left. Dave took a deep breath and hit first, his ball looked like it was going to be short the whole way, but the wind carried it all the way to the front of the green, pitching half way up the slope, taking one bounce forward before backing up to 6 feet from the hole. It was a hell of a shot and he drew enthusiastic applause from our audience. I was next.

Ordinarily, 132 yards is a very little nine iron for me, but with the wind helping I decided to try and jump on a wedge and take my chances. I tried as hard as I could to go through my routine, and struck the ball very, very well. The ball jumped off the club and my first impression was that I had hit it too far. Half way across the water the wind knocked it down a little and I thought it had to be wet. Then, as if according to plan, it landed just past the hole, took one bounce forward, spun, and began trickling back down the slope towards the hole. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t breathing as I saw the ball track back towards what had to be a hole in one. I’m still not sure how it missed, but it did. It ended up 4 feet below the hole.

As we drove around the pond we waved at our small gallery, the tour guide laughing at what great shots we had just hit. I’d love to tell you that we both brushed our birdie putts in with ease, but David’s putt broke across the hole, and he had to settle for par. I made my putt and walked to the 18th with a one shot lead.

If the 17th is a tough hole, the 18th is the double bogey on the cake. This is especially true if there is a tournament (or in our case, something much more important, on the line). It is 462 yards of terror; a slight dogleg left with water screaming down the entire inside of the hole with wood planks built into the side of the lake making it seem like the water and the fairway are on the exact same level, one blending seamlessly into the other.

Thanks to my birdie on 17 I was first to take the tee. I aimed at the small sliver of fairway and took an aggressive cut at the ball. But half way on my downswing I flinched slightly, my subconscious wandering towards the trouble on the left, and I bailed it out just into the right rough. David, who had been struggling with his driver, decided to unleash his best of the day, a 300 yard bomb down the middle. I was going to have my work cut out for me to win this one.

My ball had come to rest just behind a very small and thin tree that guards the right rough where many balls, trying desperately to avoid the water, end up. If I was to get to the green I was going to have to start the ball towards the water, and cut it back ten or fifteen yards to the middle of the green where the pin was cut, just on top of a tier. I chose a 5 iron and opened the face, taking an aggressive swing. The ball started left and started to fade and for a moment I thought it was perfect, but the wind, off the left again, pushed it a little too far and the ball came up just short and right of the green. David stepped up and flushed a 7 iron to fifteen feet behind the hole, now the pressure was squarely on me.

Watching golf on TV does a couple of things to the observer. One of the things it does is flatten out lumps and bumps. I can attest to this because the slope that runs through the middle of the 18th green at Sawgrass is much, much larger than it looks on TV, and I had to hit a chip that would have to tip-toe across the top of the slope, being careful not to trip and fall which would send the ball falling to the bottom tier of the green. I selected a 54 degree wedge and pitched the ball onto the top of the slope. It ran down towards the hole but slowed up quickly, like it had pulled a hamstring on the final straight, and settled 3 feet short, leaving me a tricky downhill putt for par.

David, still one shot behind, looked over his putt like it was the last he would ever hit and poured it in the middle of the cup for a birdie. He pumped his fist and looked at me with a grin that suggested he had just stolen the last cookie from the pantry. The ball was in my court. But with the near perfect greens it was going to be a hard putt to miss, and I got up and stroked it confidently, the ball hitting the back of the cup and bouncing slightly into the air before settling at the bottom.

It was a gentleman’s half, as we call it in strange countries over the seas, and we were happy with that. That was until Matt came to greet us as we drove towards the clubhouse.

“How’d it go guys?” he asked.

“Awesome, wonderful, fantastic.” we replied.

“Well, you’re in luck. VJ is at the back of the range hitting balls. You should go back and hit some with him.”

We looked at each other.

“Or you could go out and keep playing, the course is wide open on the back nine still.”

“Nine hole playoff?” I asked Dave.

“Let’s do it.” he said.

We thanked Matt and drove off towards the 10th tee again for a rematch with the back nine at Sawgrass. VJ could wait, he‘d probably be there a while anyway.

India’s Arjun Atwal won the Malaysian Open for the second time in his career after he beat Sweden’s defending champion Peter Hedblom in a play-off.

But before going into Atwal’s victory, I’d like to comment a bit about the BBC website’s treatment of this piece of news.

If the BBC consider themselves a parochial news outlet that serves only Britain, then I would have no complaints.

However, I am assuming from the fact that BBC World can be seen around the global, its radio channels have an international presence and news.bbc.co.uk is accessed by millions around the world, the famous name in news is more than merely a Brit-centric mouthpiece.

It certainly didn’t come across that way from reading their report on the Malaysian Open, which is a European Tour event also sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Here is how it started:

“Britain’s Simon Dyson had to settle for third place at the Malaysian Open after leading for most of the final round.

India’s Arjun Atwal took the title, beating defending champion Peter Hedblom at the second play-off hole.”

The article went on to say how Dyson had led until the 16th hole before a rain-break threw him off his stride.

That may be true but this is disrespectful to Atwal and Hedblom, who took part in a gripping play-off that saw the Indian win on the second extra hole.

Every other international news outlet that I read led off with Atwal winning but BBC felt it was more newsworthy that Dyson finished third.

It was a wrong call by the website editor, who should realise that the story has international implications not just British.

Anyway, Atwal surged into the lead with a eight-under-par 64 to finish the tournament on 18-under 270. Overnight leader Hedblom matched him but three-putted on the second extra hole, a par three, which Atwal parred. He said on the European Tour website:

“It is an amazing feeling. I don’t know how to put it into words. To come here and win this title twice now is incredible. I didn’t think I had a chance starting out and just relaxed from the first hole. It was only on the 11th I felt I had a chance. It is incredible.”

Atwal last won the title in 2003 and the victory will give him plenty of confidence as he tackles the Nationwide Tour in a bid to regain his PGA Tour card.

On the PGA Tour, Sean O’Hair made the most of Stewart Cink’s collapse to the the PODS Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

O’Hair scored a two-under par 69 to finish with 280 and win the tournament by two strokes from six others, including Cink.

Cink had a four-shot lead after two holes of the final round but amazingly imploded in the back nine, losing four straight shots to end up with 74.

Tying Cink for second were Ryuji Imada, Troy Matterson, George McNeill, John Senden and Billy Mayfair.

A professional golfer faces possible consequences after hitting a hawk with a golf shot and killing it at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Florida.

Nationwide Tour player Tripp Isenhour apologised for killing the hawk, which was being noisy as he was filming TV Show “Shoot Like A Pro” in December.

Isenhour was charged with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird, offences that have a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and fines of $1,500.

The Humane Society also wants the PGA Tour to take action against the golfer.

According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report, the 39-year-old Isenhour drove up to the bird after the noise it made from about 300 yards away forced another take of the scene he was filming. He drove closer to the bird in a golf cart and started taking shots at it.

The bird stayed where it was and Isenhour gave up. The hawk then moved to within 75 yards and Isenhour resumed hitting balls at it, allegedly saying: “I’ll get him now”.

He eventually hit the hawk, which fell to the ground bleeding. Isenhour said in a statement:

“As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset. I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away.”

Dale Bartlett, the deputy manager for animal cruelty issues for the Humane Society of the United States, was quoted as saying:

“Because of the high profile nature of this case, the PGA needs to take steps to address its interest and to make it clear that they don’t condone animal cruelty.”

Most golf fans would love to be commissioner of the PGA Tour for a day. Then, we could all implement our pet projects for the betterment of the game. I for one would change two things in my one day in office. First, I would do away with Q-School completely. Second, I would make it mandatory for each PGA Tour member to play every event at least once in a five year period. Why would I do away with Q-School? (Q-school = yearly 3 stage qualifying tournament for aspiring PGA Tour players) Answer – it’s an antiquated system that no longer does the job of finding the most qualified players. Think about it – you need to play your best golf in one week segments (the length of each stage) and if you don’t — you’re out! No chance to get on tour for another year. It doesn’t make sense. If you want to find the best players to compete on a tour that spans 10 months – why not challenge qualifiers for an equitable amount of time?

As it stands today, the top 25 finishers on The Nationwide Tour year-end money list receive PGA Tour cards for the following year. I say make it more. Make it 35 or 40 and do away completely with Q-school. Then, run the Nationwide Tour like the old days on the PGA Tour, when there were only 60 exempt players and many spots open for Monday qualifying. These qualifiers were called “rabbits.” The great thing about this format was…if you were a good player, you were going to get into an event. And if you were a really good player, you would use this system to win tournaments and forge a career. I say do the same thing on the Nationwide Tour today — 60 exempt players and 60+ rabbits for every event. That way, the best young players in the world today are almost guaranteed a tour to play. And if they have a bad week, they can try again the next tournament and not have to wait a year. In this scenario, you would have the best Nationwide players – determined by a full season – graduating to the PGA Tour. This system almost guarantees a constant stream of battle tested pros graduating to the PGA Tour, which ultimately only enhances the product.

Right now, the PGA Tour has a rule stating each professional must play a minimum of 15 tournaments per year to maintain their membership. However, there is nothing in the rules telling professionals what tournaments they must play. Pros are independent contractors and free to make their own schedule. I believe in the contractor system, but I also believe it will eventually ruin the PGA Tour, as top players disregard second tier events year after year. We are starting to see the residuals of this system now as long standing events are closing down. They just can’t stay competitive without top players making an appearance — because they can’t keep their title sponsors. Sponsors are putting up the enormous title fee (up to $6,000,000 per year) to get a message to customers who want their product. It only makes sense – if the television ratings are higher – more people are getting their message And lets be honest, television ratings are higher every time Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play. Plus, the daily attendance at top events is always higher with the stars show up. So, as a second tier tournament, trying to secure sponsorship without the best players, is almost becoming impossible. Just ask the folks at “The International”, a long running tournament on the PGA Tour who shut their doors this past year. The tournament director said he just couldn’t compete without Tiger Woods in his field.

I’m not saying the commissioner needs to tell Tiger to play every week to save the tour. Tiger is a global figure who could never play every event. But if there were a rule stating each player must compete in every tournament at least once every five years – I think that solves the problem. Now the folks selling sponsorships can secure five year deals knowing that Tiger and other top players will at least make one appearance. And the fans outside the loop of the greatest tournaments will be treated to watching the greatest players live and in person. This is only good for the game and in turn, will make all the players more money. It’s a true win-win.

So, what would you do as PGA Tour commissioner for a day?

The Australiasian Tour is stirring with unease. Despite having a long history and enjoying joint sanction on tournaments with the European Tour, the Aussies are struggling to stay on their own.

A footnote in an article in The Age newspaper recently contained strong indications that The Australasian Tour will soon become one with, or at least part of, the Asian Tour.

Aussie PGA Tour chairman Peter Senior said it was “the only option we’ve got” while chief executive Ben Sellenger believes there is a long way to go but said:

“It’s clear to us that to grow, we need to integrate into the Asian market. There’s no science in that.”

I contacted Asian Tour and Aussie Tour officials for more information but neither has replied.

According to their website, the Aussie PGA Tour appears to comprise 18 events, a couple of them jointly sanctioned with Asia and Europe, two Aussie-Europe ventures and another two co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour.

Only the co-sanctioned events offer any significant prize money. The Asian Tour, though well behind both Europe and the US PGA Tour in terms of prize money, still manages to surpass the APGA events in terms of purses when comparing stand-alone tournaments.

Asia also has many more tournaments than what is available Down Under and enjoy joint joint sanction with Europe on a hefty nine events. This is a great deal for both tours with Asia offered higher-prize money events and Europe able to extend their schedule during the winter time.

The situation in Australia puts Asia in a rare state of comparative strength and they will consider any merger with the benefits of Asian players firmly at the fore.

One of the finest sounds a golfer can hear is the sweet ping of a perfectly struck drive off the tee. South Korean Lee Sung has hit many perfect drives in his professional career, but he has never heard the sound once. Lee is deaf.

His eyesight, though, is perfect and last week, he was able to look at his biggest cheque of the season, the $76,130 he earned for finishing tied fifth alongside South African star Ernie Els at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.

Lee took up golf at 16 after giving up his childhood passion of baseball, because he was unable to communicate with his teammates. He now enjoys the near solitary life of professional golf, with his father and mentor, Lee Kang-kun, being a constant companion.

Kang-kun taught his son how to swing a club based on the actions of Els and Fred Couples and it was naturally a thrill for the 27-year-old to not only play with the Big Easy in Shanghai but to earn his respect.

Els said in the Asian Tour website:

“It’s amazing. So much that we do comes from feeling and sound. A good golf shot sounds good and when you hit a good putt, it comes from good sound. It must be very difficult for him doing what he is doing and he’s doing unbelievable.”

Lee Sung has a simple strategy for how he approaches tournaments. When asked, he wrote down on a piece of paper: “Enjoy”.

He has certainly enjoyed his career, which started off as an amateur in 1990 and resulted in 16 titles within South Korea. After turning pro in 2000, he moved to the United States and played on the Nationwide Tour until 2003, when he lost his card.

PGA Tour regular and fellow Korean Choi Kyung-ju, who would sometimes provide Lee with financial assistance, encouraged the youngster to play on the emerging Asian Tour and he duly won at the Qualifying School in January 2004.

He is now an established Asian Tour pro and rose to 16th on the UBS Asian Tour Order of Merit after his performance in Shanghai.

The future looks bright for Lee Sung, but as his father says, he will go about his work in his own, quiet way.

“My son’s strategy has always been to play it one step at a time.”

In other words, he will continue to “enjoy”.

Nick Watney’s two-year wait for his first PGA Tour title ended when he triumphed at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at Avondale.

Watney snared an eagle two on the 428-yard par-four fifth hole that not only steadied his nerves but also laid the foundations for a three-stroke victory and a first prize of $1,098,000, just three days short of his 26th birthday.

His score of 15-under-par 273 was three strokes better than second-placed Ken Duke, who closed with 70 for his 276 while Anthony Kim and John Mallinger were tied for third on 277. Bubba Watson scored a final-round 72 for 278 and fifth.

Soon after his victory, a jazz band struck up a tune as Watney was draped with beads in Mardi Gras style.

Basking in the glory, Watney could feel the weight of his prize money as he looked back at some difficult early years on the Nationawide Tour.

After failing to qualify for the PGA Tour through sponsor exemptions, Watney went back to basics at the Nationwide Tour, where he missed five of his first seven cuts.

He refused to give up, and after fine-tuning his game with more practice and learning to control his emotions, he made 17 of the last 18 cuts and scored a victory on the Nationwide Tour Championship.

He then finished 127th on the main tour’s money list in his rookie season, as he recalled on the PGA Tour website:

“I did okay but it also was a struggle. I didn’t press too much. I’m still figuring things out but I also haven’t lost any patience with my game or myself. I knew it takes time to get used to everything so I wasn’t worried. My aim was to be out here on the Tour for a long time.”

Boo Weekley appeared to be doing his best to help Ernie Els end his three-year drought on the PGA Tour. That was until a 36-foot putt on the 18th gave him victory at the Verizon Heritage, which spilled over to Monday because of bad weather.

Weekley chipped in over the last two holes at Harbour Town for a final round of three-under-par 68 and victory over South African Els. His 72-hold total of 14-under 270 was one stroke better than Els, who shot 70 in the final round, and two ahead of Australian Stephen Leaney, who closed with 68.

The American took a three-shot lead into the 16th but bogeyed that hole before getting stuck behind the 17th green. He saved par with a 40-foot chip to maintain his slender lead and then chipped again from the rough on the 18th to keep Els at bay.

His victory made up for his failure to win the Honda Classic one month ago – a tournament that also carried over to the Monday to accommodate a four-man play-off. Weekley missed a three-foot putt on the final hole that would have given him an outright victory. However, what he couldn’t do from three feet a month ago, he managed with aplomb from 36 feet as the 36-year-old picked up US$972,000 and a Tour exemption for 2008.

For Els, it was an encouraging performance as he tries to rediscover his Major-winning form in his pursuit of Tiger Woods and the world number one ranking.

Els has given himself three years to unseat Woods in the Official World Rankings. Els is currently ranked fifth in the world while Weekley, who returned to the PGA Tour after a stint in the Nationwide Tour, jumped 60 places to 55th after his victory on Monday.