PGA TOUR - PGA TOUR NATIONAL QUALIFYING
TOURNAMENT, PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament and TPC Stadium Courses), La Quinta,
California - The final stage of the PGA Tour's Q-School will be contested over
90 holes running from Wednesday to Monday.
In a rare occurrence, last year's Q-School winner Frank Lickliter is back to
defend his title. He opened with back-to-back 62s last year and cruised to a
four-stroke win.
There are plenty of known players trying to gain their 2009 PGA Tour cards at
PGA West this week. Among them are Ricky Barnes, Notah Begay III, 1996 PGA
Champion Mark Brooks, Robert Gamez, Jason Gore, John Huston and Chris Riley.
After 108 holes of action at Q-School, the top 25 and ties will earn their PGA
Tour cards for 2009.
Players will compete on both the Nicklaus and TPC Stadium course three times.
The final three stages will be televised on the Golf Channel.
There are two more off-season events for the PGA Tour. Next week is the
Merrill Lynch Shootout, where Woody Austin and Mark Calcavecchia were
victorious last year.
LPGA TOUR
LPGA TOUR FINAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, LPGA International (Champions and
Legends Courses), Daytona Beach, Florida - LPGA Q-School kicks off Wednesday
and this year's version has a little added star power.
Michelle Wie is one of the 140 players teeing it up at LPGA International this
week. Wie made the cut in four of seven starts in 2008.
Wie's last top-10 finish was in 2006 when she tied for second at the Evian
Masters. That year, she finished in the top five in the season's first three
majors.
Joining Wie in the field will be Shiho Oyama, a standout on the LPGA of Japan.
Oyama is currently ranked 40th in the world.
Also in the field are former LPGA Tour winners Jackie Gallagher-Smith,
Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Stacy Lewis, whose win at the 2007 NW Arkansas
LPGA Championship was unofficial because the event was shortened to 18 holes
by rain.
The five-day marathon will be played on the Legends and Champions courses at
LPGA International. The field will play two rounds on each course before the
cut to the low 70 and ties. The final round will be played on the Champions
Course.
The top 20 will gain LPGA status for the 2009 season.
This is the final LPGA event of the year. The tour will return to action
February 12-14 with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
DEL WEBB FATHER-SON CHALLENGE, ChampionsGate Golf Club (International Course),
ChampionsGate, Florida - Ryder Cup captains Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo will
be in the field for the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge this weekend, facing
each other three months after Azinger's United States team rolled to a five-
point win over Faldo's European squad.
Azinger and Faldo will both be appearing at the non-official Champions Tour
event for the first time -- Azinger with the late Payne Stewart's son Aaron,
and Faldo with his own son Matthew.
Among the other father/son teams in the field will be two-time winners
Bernhard and Stefan Langer, Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II, Arnold Palmer
and grandson Sam Saunders, Greg and Gregory Norman, Vijay and Qass Singh and
Raymond Floyd and Raymond Floyd, Jr., who have won the tournament three times
together.
Last year, Larry Nelson became the second father to win the event with two
different sons when he combined with Josh Nelson for a second consecutive 12-
under 60 in the final round on Sunday. Larry will play this year with Drew,
who won the tournament with his father in 2004.
The tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday on the International Course
at ChampionsGate. It will be covered by NBC and is the final event on the
Champions Tour's 2008 schedule.
CANADIAN TOUR
ARGENTINE MASTERS, Olives Golf Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Canadian
Tour remains in South America for its second event of the 2009 season.
Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open champion, is scheduled to headline the field
in his native country.
Also expected to play this week at Olives Golf Club are reigning U.S. Senior
Open champion Eduardo Romero and four-time Champions Tour winner Vicente
Fernandez, both from Argentina.
The Canadian Tour's 2009 season kicked off last week at the Sport Frances Open
in Chile. Rafael Gomez claimed a one-shot win over Daniel Im to earn a two-
year exemption on the North American tour.
The circuit remains in warmer climates next week for the Costa Rica Classic,
its last event until the third week in March.
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