Wednesday, December 1, 2010

World of professional golf sets sights on Orlando this week

Orlando is the center of the professional golf world this week as two major events are bring conducted at two of Florida’s best golf resorts.

The LPGA Tour Championship, the final event on the 2010 women’s tour calendar, is taking place at Grand Cypress Resort. And a few miles west at Orange County National, the PGA Tour Qualifying School Finals will determine the future employment of 162 aspiring professional golfers.

The women tee it up with a lot more on the line than just a title and the $225,000 first-place prize. Several year-end individual races will be decided this week. The LPGA money list title, Vare Trophy for scoring average and Rolex Player of the Year are still up for grabs.

The top-nine ranked players in the world – Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jiyai Shin, No. 2 Suzann Pettersen, No. 3 Cristie Kerr, No. 4 Yani Tseng, No. 5 Na Yeon Choi, No. 6 Ai Miyazato, No. 7 In Kyung Kim, No. 8 Song-Hee Kim and No. 9 Paula Creamer – will join Rolex Rankings No. 15 and defending champion Anna Nordqvist in the 120-player field.

The 72-hole event will feature a total purse of $1.5 million and a unique two-cut format. The field will be reduced to the low-70 players and ties after 36-holes and to the low-30 players and ties after 54 holes. Nordqvist fired rounds of 70-68-65 at last year’s rain-shortened event to post a two-stroke victory over Lorena Ochoa.

The plush Jack Nicklaus-designed track at Grand Cypress has hosted several LPGA events through the years, and is always a favorite among the players. If the wind kicks up as promised, it will prove to be a difficult challenge.

The Golf Channel will carry all four rounds, scheduled as follows: Thursday and Friday: 1:30-3:30pm ET; Saturday and Sunday: 7:30-9:30pm ET.

For ticket information, visit www.cuetoems.com/lpgatc/OnlineTicketSales.aspx, or call 888-574-2849.
The Q-School Finals started today, with the first of six grueling rounds. Panther Lake and Crooked Cat, the two outstanding layouts at Orange County National, will both be utilized.

A total of 162 players from various qualifying sites and methods teed off today with the hopes of earning one of  25 full playing privilege spots on next year’s PGA Tour. The first-round leader was Kyle Stanley who made nine birdies on his way to a 65 on Crooked Cat. Stanley, the leading driver of the ball on this year’s Nationwide Tour, played his college golf at Clemson.

The Golf Channel will provide coverage of the Q-School Finals on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., and Monday from 12:30 to 4.

Source   http://www.examiner.com/golf-in-orlando/world-of-professional-golf-sets-sights-on-orlando-this-week

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