Golf Talk

Lickliter leads heading into the final stage of Q School.

There are a bunch of news items going on in the world of golf so I’ll just brief you all on some of the storylines on this Sunday,

Frank Lickliter II was even-stevens at the Orange County National and currently has a three-stroke lead following four of six rounds in the U.S. PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament on Saturday. With only 25 of the top finishers going on to earn 2008 U.S. PGA Tour cards the competition remains fierce. However not all is lost as players finishing between 24 and 50 will get full Nationwide Tour exemptions. All of the remaining players from the 166-man field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

On the women’s side, Jane Park completed her 4-under 68 fourth round at the LPGA International to take a commanding 6-shot lead heading into the fifth round of the U.S. LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Only the top 17 players on Sunday after the fifth round will earn 2008 U.S. LPGA Tour cards, while the next 35 will receive conditional status. Unlike the men, the women’s field was narrowed to 70 players for the final round.

Englishman Richard Finch won the New Zealand Open on Sunday for his first professional victory of his career. Finch shot an even-par 72, good enough for a 3-shot margin of victory over Steven Bowditch and Paul Sheehan. The New Zealand Open is officially sanctioned by the European and Australasian tours. Finch’s final score was 14-under 274 total on The Hills course.

American Bryan Saltus finished with a solid 5-under final round to win the first ever Cambodian Open on Sunday. Saltus finished with a total score of 17-under 271 to win by 3-shots over Adam Groom of Australia. Saltus earned $47,550 for his first place finish.

Finally, Tim Rosaforte, the Golf Channel insider is reporting that Don McGuire, a high level VP at the Golf Channel has left his position. This is significant because McGuire orchestrated the move to bring live PGA Tour coverage to the Golf Channel. President Page Thompson said they were looking to go in a different direction. Speculation seems to indicate that the PGA Tour coverage may end with McGuire’s departure. This would really be a shame if true as the Golf Channel really did a good job covering the PGA Tour events, the ones that the networks didn’t pick up.

Q School, New Zealand Open