"He still takes seven or eight pricy anti-rejection medications every day"

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Steve Elling reports on Erik Compton starting Q-school second stage Wednesday and notes:

A newlywed with a baby girl due in late February, he told CBSSports.com on Sunday that he pays $600 a month for health insurance through the bridge program called Cobra, designed to fill gaps in coverage when workers are between jobs. He said it expires in six months and after that, he'll be scrambling for answers. His 14-hour heart surgery last May 20 and resulting hospital stay cost $1 million, he estimated. He still takes seven or eight pricy anti-rejection medications every day, he said.

“I can’t say (being deaf) is a plus"

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While everyone was watching Erik Compton at first stage of Q-school, Dave Seanor reminds us in par 1 of a two-parter that another feel good story tees it up this week. Kevin Hall has been profiled many times because he's of African-American descent, but Seanor focuses on what it's like for Hall to be deaf and what that means to a competitive golfer.

Some suggest Hall has a competitive advantage because he’s not distracted by noise. (Sound familiar, Casey Martin?) But any golf instructor will tell you that sound provides important feedback when a ball is struck. Moreover, Hall isn’t immune to distraction, thanks to exceptionally acute peripheral vision. As does Woods when he hears a camera shutter click, Hall will stop in mid-swing if he detects movement in the gallery.

“I can’t say (being deaf) is a plus,” says Percy Hall, Kevin’s father and occasional caddie. “It doesn’t facilitate what he’s doing. He deals with distractions – voices in his head and visual distractions. Those kind of things are going on in his head, just like everyone else.”

Compton Advances!

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Great stuff by Erik Compton and Stage 2 beckons as Antonio Gonzalez reports. Though I am a bit concerned about anyone whose first move of the day is to turn on the Golf Channel. Thankfully in this case, it worked.

Compton woke up at 6:30 a.m. and turned on the Golf Channel.

All the commentators had the same message: It was great that he was playing, but there was no way he could overcome seven strokes.

"It really motivated me," said Compton, who received special permission from the PGA Tour to use a golf cart and to continue taking banned anti-rejection pills. "People always want to count me out."

"Everybody almost looks like somebody who can play."

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Jim Moriarty files an entertaining GolfDigest.com column on the unusual gathering that is Q-School first stage:

If you're the kind of person who enjoys wandering through cemeteries reading inscriptions on mausoleums, the first stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying school is for you. It's quiet, respectful, sometimes surprising but mostly populated by, if not the walking wounded, at least the walking depressed.

"It takes a lot of stress off me, and it gives me a realistic chance."

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Randall Mell reports the good news that the PGA Tour has granted heart-transplant recipient Erik Compton a cart for Q-School.

Compton was informed by telephone this afternoon, PGA Tour Executive Vice President Ty Votaw confirmed. Compton said he expects written verification by FedEx on Wednesday.
Now, if they sent him a letter saying "no," would they send it DHL?


"For some reason, the tour keeps eliminating Q-school spots."

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Buried on page 4 of the designed-to-generate-page-views setup of Steve Elling's latest Knockdown Shots, was this  item:

News item: All precincts have reported and the toll at the polls can be tallied. A whopping 14 of the 25 Nationwide players who will receive promotions to the PGA Tour for 2008 have previously played in the major leagues. Conversely, of the 26 who navigated though Q-school to land their cards, 15 will qualify as big-league rookies.

Knockdown shot: For some reason, the tour keeps eliminating Q-school spots. This year the number of cards was pared from 30 to the low 25 and ties. Why, for heaven's sake? Players like Gainey (a former furniture mover and assembly-line worker), Yong-Eun Yang (who beat Woods in China last year), Cody Freeman (an insurance salesman) and Bob Sowards (a club pro) are interesting folks and represent the American ideal, even if Q-schoolers do often struggle to retain their cards. Note to Ponte Vedra: From a storytelling perspective, rookies trump retreads nearly every time.

I will never understand why our friends in Ponte Vedra continue to eliminate the chances for those potentially outstanding stories that make golf so unique. And not just on the PGA Tour, but also the Champions where I'd sure rather hear about a Jim Albus or Tom Wargo than some Tour player who was boring in his prime, is just as boring now and who doesn't need the money. 

"I think it's the two best rounds anybody has ever played"

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Really neat to see Todd Demsey make it back to the PGA Tour. And super news for Colt Knost: no Nationwide Tour event to conflict with Masters wee...oh wait, scratch that thought.

Pete McDaniel profiles the final round hits and misses.

Medalist Frank Lickliter is quoted by Steve Elling:

 Lickliter, a two-time tour winner, led a large group of tour-card retreads, thanks to opening with consecutive 62s, the lowest 36-hole total in tour history had this been an official event.

"It's unofficial, but nobody's ever done it before, which counts for something," he said. "It's not quite Neil Armstrong on the moon, but it's up there."

Lickliter, who has declined comment after every round this week because he didn't want to derail his concentration, was asked if his opening 36 marked the two best rounds he's ever played. He took a drag on his cigarette and paused for moment.

"I think it's the two best rounds anybody has ever played," he said.

No doubt, it's impressive to fire back to back 62's, but really, if you are the medalist of an event, it's not The Show.

Golfweek's Ray McCarthy featured notes and this rationale from Lickliter for ignoring the press all week:

 “Hogan didn’t talk to the press,” he said.

"This has the potential to be one of the great sports stories of our time."

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img10504726.jpgDon't miss Steve Elling's look at Madalitso Muthiya, whose backstory really is incredible and one of the all time great Q-school tales, even if after a fourth round 69 he appears headed for the Nationwide Tour he's obviously got game.

His presence is movie-of-the-week fare, probably best suited for the Hallmark or Disney channels. It's inspiration, perspiration and dedication rolled into one 5-foot-8, 160-pound package. Muthiya might be short on golf experience compared to many of his silver-spoon, coached and coddled American peers, but he's wise beyond his 24 years.

"I think he is more prepared than a lot of these guys, to be honest," said Glen Millican, Muthiya's college coach at New Mexico. "He's always had to figure everything out on his own.

"He showed up here with a golf bag and a duffel bag filled with his clothes, and that's it. But he was in our top 5 by the end of the year and he did it on his own."

No knock on Woods, who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in suburban Southern California, but his tale doesn't hold a candle compared to Muthiya's personal perseverance. For perspective, consider some of the particulars about Zambia, a country of 11 million residents that, until 1964, was under British rule and known as Northern Rhodesia.

Q-Schools Underway

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Helen Ross previews PGA Tour Q-School and some of the big names who are teeing it up this week at Orange County National. And PGATour.com has a stellar looking page devoted to Q-School.

Doug Ferguson reflects on results for some past graduates.

Steve Elling and Ross Devonport debate whether or not it should be televised and both are in favor. Elling:

However, frankly put, if ESPN can show 11-year-old kids making errors that cost teams the championship at the Little League World Series, then watching a grown man gag on a nervous 3-footer with his tour card at stake pales in comparison. The tour guys are professionals, after all.

Eh...I always feel like I'm spectating a car accident while watching the final day of Q-School. Some things are better left to our imaginations, and Q-School is one of them. Let the boys suffer in private, I say.

Rex Hoggard considers the plight of the flatbellies + Colt Knost.

Also at Golfweek Beth Ann Baldry previews LPGA Q-School

For leaderboards, you should be able to get the LPGA page here and the PGA Tour results here.