Field looking green for Disney tourney

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The final PGA Tour event of the year is a lot like the final stage of Q-school, one last chance for so many players to earn their full cards for next year. The field at Disney looks like Q-school, too.

The only player from the top 50 in the world ranking is Robert Garrigus, who checks in at No. 42.

Only five players from the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list are at Disney — Garrigus (26), Ben Curtis (30), Jonas Blixt (35), Brendon de Jonge (39) and Charlie Wi (45). And six players have won on tour this year — two against weak fields in the Fall Series (Blixt and Tommy Gainey) and two against even weaker fields at opposite-field events (Scott Stallings and George McNeill). The others are Curtis at the Texas Open and Ted Potter Jr. at the Greenbrier Classic.

For sheer entertainment, the best bet might be at one of Disney's theme parks.

For the pressure of trying to perform with so much at stake, few regular PGA Tour events can match the tension of a golf tournament held on the expansive property of a resort that bills itself as the Happiest Place on Earth.

The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic gets under way Thursday on the Palm and Magnolia courses at Disney, with the opening two rounds a pro-am format.

The top 125 on the money list keep full exempt status on the PGA Tour next year, with Billy Mayfair smack on the bubble at No. 125.

He has a lead of $2,665 over Trevor Immelman, who already is safe next year from his five-year exemption for winning the 2008 Masters.

Mayfair is only $3,504 clear of No. 127 Gary Christian, a 41-year-old rookie from England.

It's kind of nice to get to that stage now where you have to perform, Christian said Wednesday. This is it. You've got one more chance, and do good or you go home.