Q-School of Hard Knocks Is Cruel To Relatives of Legendary Golfers

The PGA Tour's Q-School wrapped the early portion up its First Stage on Saturday, and perhaps the players that didn't move on to Stage 2 are more notable than those who did:

Miami's Erik Compton, the heart transplant survivor was the medalist in his 72-hole event at Port St. Lucie's PGA Golf Club. He finished -22, 7 shots clear of second place Michael Smith, who hails from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Sam Saunders, the former Clemson player who left school in order to turn pro, failed to advance by three shots. Saunders is Arnold Palmer's grandson. Saunders, who served as Palmer's caddie in his final appearance at the Masters in 2004, is also a two-time club champion at Palmer's Bay Hill club.

Jack Nicklaus's son Gary faltered in his final two holes and also failed to qualify for Stage 2. Nicklaus was at 6 under at PGA Golf Club stepping to the 17th tee with one shot to spare, but he finished with a bogey and double bogey to miss advancing by two.

Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudy, also failed to qualify after finishing T-25 at the Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney, Texas. The Golf Channel Big Break contestant missed making the 2nd stage by two shots. Giuliani, who told the New York Post that he has no backup plan for his life if he fails to make it in golf, still has some work to do, and maybe some growing up along the way as well. His lawsuit against Duke University was thrown out of court -- he was thrown off of the Blue Devil golf squad for excessive bad behavior.

Tadd Fujikawa also faltered and fell short of the needed number. The Hawai'ian was tied for fourth after the first round at St. John’s Golf & Country Club in St. Augustine , Fla. , but he faded from there and tied for 44th, missed advancing by six shots.

Former U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee, who won a European Tour event in February also failed to qualify for the Second Stage. Lee finished T-36 at Stonebridge, the same site that Giuliani played. He effectively ended his chances of advancing when he shot a 78 in the second round and closed with a final-round 76. Lee, who won the U.S. Amateur at age 17, won earlier this year on the European Tour as an 18-year-old amateur and should be quite competitive on that tour in 2010.

Isabella Biesegel's seemingly eternal quest for a card on a men's tour continues, as she failed to make it past PGA Tour Pre-Qualifying in September. She shot 71-80-77-70 and finished 64th, beating only eight other players. She has now moved on to attempt to qualify for the Canadian Tour. While Biesegel has every right to continue her attempts to qualify against male players, it is certainly not sexist to point out that her physical disadvantage in distance makes her chances nearly zero of qualifying for a top tour like the PGA, Nationwide or Canadian Tour. At some point one starts seeing this as either a fool's errand or an endless publicity stunt as opposed to a true attempt at being a trailblazer.

First Stage continues this week from Wednesday to Saturday with six tournaments scattered across the country:

Pinewild CC (Magnolia course)	Pinehurst, N.C.	Oct. 27-30
Kinderlou Forest	Valdosta, Ga.	Oct. 27-30
Grasslands GCC	Lakeland, Fla.	Oct. 27-30
Lantana GC	Lantana, Texas	Oct. 27-30
San Juan Oaks	Hollister, Calif.	Oct. 27-30
Carlton Oaks CC	Santee, Calif.	Oct. 27-30