Q School, Stage Two: Mac O'Grady?

The second stage of the three-stage PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Q School, begins today with its usual interesting assortment of players, including...Mac O'Grady?

One of the odder characters in golf history, O'Grady will turn 60 in less than six months. He hasn't played a PGA Tour event since 2006 (the B.C. Open) and has played only two in the last decade. He hasn't played a Champions Tour event in more than two years.

O'Grady is an accomplished teacher and student of the swing. What he is not and never has been is predictable, which is why we probably shouldn't be surprised he's entered in Q School.

Other second stage participants of note:

-- Todd Hamilton, who won the British Open in 2004.

-- Ty Tryon, who at 17, made it through all three stages of Q School to become the youngest ever to earn PGA Tour membership. That was 2001. He's been attempting to resurrect his career since.

-- Doug Barron, the first to have been suspended under the PGA Tour's drug policy. His one-year suspension has expired.

-- Brett Wetterich, who played for the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2006.

-- Olin Browne Jr., son of the PGA Tour veteran and Champions Tour player.

-- Jay Haas Jr., son of the Champions Tour stalwart and brother of Bill Haas, two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year.

The second stage will be contested at six sites around the country, one of them beginning Tuesday, the other five on Wednesday.

-- John Strege