Shag Bag

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – David Duval hopes it isn’t necessary, but he’s registered for the final stage of PGA Tour’s Q-School Dec. 2-7 at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Duval said Wednesday he isn’t certain he will go if he fails to secure his exempt playing privileges for 2010 at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic this week, but it’s an option he will consider.

At No. 125 on the PGA Tour money list, Duval is "on the bubble" going into this season’s final event. He said he registered for Q-School back in September before he knew he would be in this position. A year ago, he said he inquired about going to Q-School and learned he was two days late to register.

Duval, 38, the former No. 1 player in the world, has used his top-25 and top-50 career money exemptions. If he fails to stay in the top 125 in money this week, he loses his exempt status next season. Still, he could play with conditional status next year as a top-150 player. With unlimited sponsor exemptions, he could build a solid schedule.

“I find it ironic that I’m in the position I’m in right now,” Duval said. “Conceivably, I could be outside the [top] 125, not be exempt for the Tour and I’m in the first three majors.”

With his tie for second place at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in June, Duval qualified for next year’s Masters and a return to the U.S. Open. He’s in the British Open as a past champion. His U.S. Open performance ignited belief he was returning to his championship form.

“I’m happy with the way things have gone with my golf swing and my game this year,” Duval said. “I’m very displeased with my results.”

Though he’s playing at Disney World, Duval is here on a business trip. His wife and children are back in Denver.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Steve Marino arrived home from the HSBC Champions in China on Monday, exhausted by travel, four days of tournament golf and a bout with the flu – all of which turned out to be a blessing for Matt Jones.

At 129th in earnings Jones is in danger of missing his Tour card for the second consecutive year, but thanks to Marino’s withdrawal from the Children’s Miracle Network Classic on Wednesday the young Aussie will at least have a chance to move into the top 125.

Jones replaced Marino in the finale field and Steve Allan – No. 247 on the current money list – moved into the first alternate spot.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – It’s been more than a week since the PGA Tour announced Doug Barron was the first player to violate the circuit’s performance-enhancing drug policy but the buzz of the news was still palpable on the driving range at Walt Disney World Resort.

“What’s the scoop,” asked one player early Wednesday.

Others were still coming to grips with the news a 40-year-old Tour journeyman had become the face of doping in golf.

“You could give me a list of 500 Tour players and I would not pick Doug Barron’s name off the list to be the first,” Brad Faxon said.

Faxon and Zach Johnson learned of the violation during the executive session of the Tour’s Policy Board on Nov. 2 and they both had similar reactions.

“I was shocked,” Johnson said.

The Tour did not tell either Johnson or Faxon, both player directors on the Policy Board, what drug Barron tested positive for, which left both asking the same question many outside observers are now asking.

“My natural reaction was, what’d he take?” Faxon said. “That’s just human nature, but it’s our policy not to make that public.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Ryder Cup captains face grueling decisions they don’t normally spend a lot of time thinking about as players before a competition.

Ten months out, American captain Corey Pavin says he’s pretty much settled on the design for his team’s golf bags, but he has work to do deciding what style clothing Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Co. look best wearing.

“I still have decisions to make on hats and umbrellas, but the clothing’s getting there,” Pavin said after hitting balls Wednesday at Disney World’s Palms Golf Club, where he will play in the Children's Miracle Network Classic. “We have outerwear to decide on, what kind of sweaters, rain gear, belts.”

A Ryder Cup captain's work is never done. Pavin has enlisted his wife, Lisa, to help with the clothing design. Asked whose tastes are dictating choices, Pavin said: “We both have the same idea what we want to do, well, it was probably her idea first to have certain themes, but it is something we both agree on.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Erik Compton celebrated his 30th birthday Wednesday morning hitting a few golf balls on the driving range at Disney World’s Palms Golf Club before playing nine holes.

It wasn’t a festive celebration as Compton’s battling a cold that’s making him careful to conserve his energy this week. A cold for Compton can be more complicated than for somebody who has not undergone two heart transplants, his last 18 months ago. Compton canceled his scheduled trip to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children Tuesday to prevent passing on the cold. He is scheduled to play second stage of PGA Tour Q-School next week, providing the possibility he could play 144 holes in a 10-day span.

Compton has an experienced hand helping as his caddie. Michael Sturgill, who caddied for Arnold Palmer between 1996 and ’97, is on Compton’s bag. Sturgill was on Palmer’s bag when Palmer came back from surgery for prostate cancer in ’97.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Five years ago, Kevin Streelman was a fledgling pro who was $400 from being flat broke.

He just missed a Monday qualifier for the PGA Tour event in San Diego and wasn’t sure how he was going to get home after he was abandoned by the small sponsorship group that was supposed to be backing him.

“I called this group back in Chicago that had given me $1,500 to get started, and they don't pick up the phone,” Streelman said. “To this day, I have not heard a word from them. And they promised me a bunch of money for that year to get through and totally left me stranded in California.”

Barring a miracle shot by Bo Van Pelt, Streelman will walk away from this week’s PGA Tour event at Disney World with at least $1 million. That's the big payoff for the winner of the inaugural Kodak Challenge.

This week's event, however, is called the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, so Streelman isn’t discounting the possibility that Van Pelt finds the miracle that trumps him.

Streelman leads the Kodak Challenge by two shots. It’s a season-long competition in which PGA Tour pros post their best scores among 18 designated holes spread through the Tour schedule. The final hole is the 17th at Disney World’s Magnolia Golf Club. It’s a 485-yard par 4.

“I’m almost planning on someone holing out,” said Streelman, 31, who is 89th on the PGA Tour money list ($995,017).

Streelman leads the Kodak Challenge at 16-under with Van Pelt, Nathan Green and J.J. Henry at 14-under.

With Green and Henry not in this week's field, Van Pelt’s the only man who can catch Streelman. But Van Pelt needs an eagle at the Magnolia’s 17th to do so, which means he’ll have to hole a shot from the fairway.

Even if Van Pelt does so, Streelman can still win the $1 million with a birdie at the 17th.

“I was never a silver-spoon kid,” Streelman said. “I was never a country club member anywhere. It’s been a lot of hard work.”

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jeff Maggert has delivered under pressure before at Disney World.

Sixteen years ago, he won his first PGA Tour event, the Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic, on the resort’s Palm and Magnolia courses. The memories should help him at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic this week as he labors under a different kind of pressure.

Maggert, 45, is 127th on the PGA Tour money list. If he doesn’t move up two spots this week, he says he’s probably going back to Q-School for the first time in 20 years. He used his one-time top-50 career money exemption to play this season. The three-time PGA Tour winner is signed up for the final stage of Q-School next month at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach.

“Hopefully, I will play well this week and won’t have to go, but I don’t dread it,” Maggert says of a possible return to Q-School. “To be honest, if I have to go, I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like. It’s been so long.”

Maggert isn’t feeling the angst so many players fighting to keep their exempt status are feeling here this week. He remembers what it was like to be young and desperate to start a career, but he’s in such a different place now. He and his wife, Michelle, have a blended family of five with three children in college and a pair of 5-year-olds at home. Actually, the 5-year-olds are at Disney this week.

“When I won here, my oldest was 5 years old,” Maggert said.

Maggert will tell you his priorities have changed with his career mostly behind him. He has played on three Ryder Cup teams and a Presidents Cup team and made more than $16 million in his career. He enjoys his time at home and doesn’t grind like he once did on tour, though he still feels good about his game.

“I have some good vibes here,” Maggert said.