Good News, Bad News: LPGA Adds Event For 2013, Still Finalizing Their 2013 Schedule

Steve DiMeglio reports on the LPGA adding a second event to the 2013 schedule, which unfortunately has not been finalized as we...are ten days into 2013.

The positive news only: a 144 player field in May with a $1.3 million purse.

The North Texas LPGA Shootout will also provide a unique opportunity for amateur players in the area to earn spots in the field through qualifying. Tournament exemptions will be awarded to the winners of a high school and collegiate "shootout" played in advance of the event. Tournament proceeds will benefit The Nexus Club which primarily supports and raises funds for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf in North Texas.

"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to play in my home state again," said Angela Stanford, a four-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team and native of Saginaw, Texas. "North Texas is a community with a passionate golf fan base and I know they will love having the Tour in town."

Quick PGA Tour & LPGA Tour Q-School's Primer

Both PGA Tour and LPGA Tour Q-School's are this week, the final time for the PGA Tour in which top qualifiers earn the right to play a few west coast events before the re-shuffle. Now they'll get in through the Web.com playoffs, before they face a reshuffle in the fall!

PGATour.com has set up a convenient one-stop shop here.

Golfweek.com figures to have it covered well too. Here are the opening round groupings.

Meanwhile the LPGA kicks off Wednesday and many will be rooting on Melissa Reid, who has endured a brutal year off the course.

Your one stop shop at LPGA.com can be found here.

Fan favorite Christina Kim is also back at Q-school but most peculiar of all is the appearance of Japan's Chie Arimura, ranked 19th in the world. In case you're wondering, Dustin Johnson is ranked 19th on the men's side. I'm guessing he won't be at a qualifying school anytime soon!

Golf Channel will not be covering the golf live, instead doing this:

GOLF CENTRAL Q-SCHOOL SPECIALS WEDNESDAY-MONDAY – All of the action at the PGA TOUR Q-School Finals will be covered in nightly Golf Central Specials Wednesday-Monday (Nov. 28-Dec. 2) at 8 p.m. ET, with extended highlights, live interviews from PGA West and special features. Wednesday’s two-hour Golf Central (8-10 p.m. ET) – hosted by Whit Watson and Jimmy Roberts – will feature a roundtable panel discussion with several Q-School alums, including Jerry Foltz, Dicky Pride and Tripp Isenhour. Monday’s live show will be a two-hour recap capturing all of the action from the final day of Q-School and featuring live interviews with players who secured their PGA TOUR cards for 2013. The network’s team of correspondents will report live and on-site from PGA West, including Curt Byrum, Matt Gogel, Billy Ray Brown and Phil Blackmar. The special also will incorporate the PGA TOUR card ceremony, when the PGA TOUR’s newest members will receive their PGA TOUR cards.

GOLF CENTRAL SCHEDULED FEATURES
· The future of Q-School – Golf Channel will examine the new process of earning a PGA TOUR Card during Golf Central’s Q-School coverage.

Good luck with that!

Must Read: Christina Kim And Other Golfers Who Battle Depression

There is a very powerful December Golf Digest story by Stina Sternberg that's a powerful, informative but in no way maudlin read (the print issue should hit your mailbox any day if it hasn't already, and the iPad edition is out).

Though Kim is the focus (and kudos to her for sharing her story to overcome the stigma attached to admitting issues with depression), she's certainly not alone.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 14.8 million American adults--or 6.7 percent of the U.S. population--suffer from Major Depressive Disorder, and more than 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year. "It's a huge medical illness on the order of cardiovascular disease and diabetes," says Dr. Michael Lardon, a San Diego-based clinical psychiatrist who specializes in working with professional athletes and has been treating tour players, including half a dozen major champions, for 21 years. (This is the first year he has no LPGA Tour patients, but he currently works with 10 players each from the PGA and Web.com tours.) "Unfortunately, it lives in the background."

Jiyai: 18 GIR En Route To Five Shot Lead

There are a lot of great accomplishments in golf, but hitting all 18 greens in regulation has always been one of the more underappreciated feats to me. Especially doing it in a major and on a tough links, as Jiyai Shin did while firing 64 and, according to this unbylined AP story, opening up a 5-shot lead heading into Sunday's Ricoh Women's British Open final round.

The nine-time LPGA Tour winner hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed only 28 putts. The 64 is the lowest round in competition at Royal Liverpool, breaking the mark of 65 set by four players in the 2006 Open Championship.

"A bogey-free day and then bunker-free, too, so that was probably the best round I have ever played in a major," Shin said. "So that is a good thing, today's golf. I missed just one fairway. And on the back nine, it's blowing very strong wind, but I just stay focused on my tempo and my timing with my driver and shots."

South Korea's Inbee Park was second after a 68. She played alongside Shin.

The LPGA's second round notes. Inbee Park lurks at -4 and amateur sensation Lydia Ko is eight shots back.

Remember, ESPN2 added two hours of coverage so their telecast comes on at 9 am ET in the States. And Andy North is announcing, so you can't say you weren't warned.