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Last hurdle ahead for McCarthy

By DAVE THEALL
Published November 26, 2006

Gulfport's Kyle McCarthy has come a long way.

After learning the game at Pasadena Golf Club under the tutelage of his father, Vaughn, Kyle went on to excel at Canterbury, where his father coached, then at Eckerd College. At a first-stage PGA Tour qualifier last month in Lakeland, McCarthy, 26, shot 1-under 287 (76-68-69-74) to advance with a stroke to spare. Before that, he had to pass a tour pre-qualifying test at TPC of Tampa Bay in September to advance to the first stage. At Lutz, McCarthy finished fifth with 5-under 279.

Then at last week's PGA Tour second-stage qualifier in Kingston, Texas, McCarthy made the top-20 cut to advance to the final stage of Q-School. That starts Wednesday at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.

Under strong winds in Texas on an unfamiliar course, McCarthy strung together rounds of 74-72-72-73-291 to tie for 18th and make the cut by a stroke.

In California, McCarthy will be in a field of about 165. His first goal will be to survive six rounds and finish among the top 30 and ties to earn exempt status on the 2007 Tour. The next 46 earn fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour; the rest get conditional status.

"My main goal now is to get on the big tour," McCarthy said. "And that's the main goal of everyone else who earned his place there."

McCarthy, playing on a sprained ankle, said he never panicked during the final round at the second stage when he needed at least 73 to advance.

"I studied my final putt on the 18th green, a 15-footer, for a while before I went for the birdie," he added. "It went by about 31/2 feet so I had to make that one to survive. ... What got me through the tournament was scrambling successfully. I wasn't hitting a lot of greens in regulation but I was getting close then chipping and one putting."

- Dunedin's Bob Heintz will be in the mix at PGA West's TPC Stadium course. A veteran of the Nationwide and PGA tours, Heintz shot 12-under 276 to tie for 16th in the second-stage qualifier at Lake Jovita and reach the finals. At last year's Q-School finals, he shot 10-under 422, tying for 33rd. A 421 would have tied for 30th and returned him to the main tour.

Heintz, 36, who played for Countryside and was a three-time Ivy League titleist at Yale, is coming off a successful season on the Nationwide Tour. He had three top-10 finishes and was 43rd on the money list with $127,432. Another Countryside graduate, Kevin Durkin, finished 105th with $48,176.

CGA: Rich Volcko and Mike Sanderson didn't let the typical British Open conditions bother them Monday at Countryside. In a better ball of pair match, they collaborated for 4-under 68 under cool, windy conditions. Decker Todd and Chris Covert finished second with 70. Kirby Bloomquist and Jim Roberts had 71 to hold off the teams of Bobby Jolly and Jim Montali plus Jim Hunter and Gil Day of Clearwater by a shot. The men's net title was won by Bobby Ray with Eddie Grant at 63. The lowest women's team was Janet Richey and Nan Sher with 70.

FLORIDA JUNIOR TOUR: Blayne Barber of Lake City, the current Boys Junior Champion, is favored in this week's event at Orange County National Golf Center. He also tops FJT points.

The girls 16-18 field, who are playing Disney's Palm course, features 11-year-old Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs. She has five FJT wins this year and topped the girls 13-15 points standing last season. Evan Jensen of Belleair ranks fifth in the girls 16-18 standings, Andrea Messer, eighth, and Megan Chapman, 14th.

Among Pinellas boys 13-15, Travis Ralph of Redington Beach ranks eighth; Kollin Woodbury of Largo ninth; M.J. Maguire of St. Petersburg 12th; Taylor Hancock of Clearwater 31st; and tied at 33rd are Justin Foster of Dunedin, Westin Jensen of Belleair and Yanni Vretas of Palm Harbor.

POSTPONEMENT: Last Saturday's Moccasin Lake Nature Park Tournament, which was to be at Lansbrook, will be held in spring 2007 as part of the city of Clearwater's Fun and Sun Festival. Call Cliff Norris at (727) 742-0600.

[Last modified November 25, 2006, 22:48:08]