Q School curiosities

The Nicklaus and Palmer families are represented, as is the Giuliani family and even the Major League Baseball family. They provide some of the more intriguing story lines in the annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament's pre-qualifiers.

Last week, Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, survived a pre-qualifier in Florida to advance to the first stage of Q School. Mike Van Sickle, son of Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle, won a pre-qualifier in Nebraska to advance to the first stage.

This week, Jack Nicklaus' son Gary, 40, is launching a comeback bid in a pre-qualifier in Texas, where Arnold Palmer's grandson Sam Saunders also is entered.

In a California pre-qualifier, former Major League Baseball player Phil Nevin is entered, though for what reason we're unsure. Nevin, who lives in Poway, Calif., and is a member at Crosby National in Rancho Santa Fe, played in a pre-qualifier last year and missed advancing to the first stage by 27 shots.

On the women's side, Duke star Amanda Blumenherst won an LPGA Sectional Qualifier in Rancho Mirage, Calif., by six strokes on Sunday.

-- John Strege