School sessions for PGA status

Mills will only be attending classes Several Canucks already grinding

Oshawa’s Jon Mills is going back to PGA Tour qualifying school this year. But not to play.

Mills won the Nationwide Tour’s CPGA Championship in Cambridge this summer and finished fifth on that tour’s money list. That automatically put him on the PGA Tour for 2006, meaning he has avoided the dreaded, pressure-packed trip to qualifying school. But he’ll be at the Q- school final in Florida early next month all the same because that’s where the PGA Tour puts on its annual “ what tour rookies need to watch out for” orientation.

Mills, who now lives in Pennsylvania, was in Toronto yesterday to talk about his coming — and long- awaited — stint on the biggest stage in golf.

“ I’ve talked with a few players about what to expect,” he said. “ Most of the guys have given me the same advice, which is basically to do what got me here; don’t get all these endorsement deals for new clubs but instead use what you’re comfortable with. That sort of thing.”

Mills was known as a big bomber who struggled with the putter. But he credits long- time coach Dave Woods with new drills that helped him go from 110th in Nationwide Tour putting in 2004 to 49th this year. A similar transformation might be needed for Brantford’s David Hearn, who earned his 2005 tour card at qualifying school but finished 196th on the money list and today finds himself playing in the second stage of Q- school at Kingwood, Tex.

Also in stage two events starting today are North Bay’s David Morland IV, Glen Hnatiuk of Selkirk, Man., Oshawa’s Derek Gillespie, Ben Ferguson of Ancaster and Danny King of Milton. Jim Rutledge of Victoria and Brian McCann of Mississauga are among the 10 Canadians who will play in three other Q- school events next week. Morland said he had marriage problems this year and is now single again, having separated from his wife, Michele, who made news in September of last year when she finished second in the Mrs. America pageant.

“( The marital situation) was a distraction, sure,” said Morland, who struggled early but finished a respectable 54th on the Nationwide money list this year. “ But it was time to focus back on golf and as I did that I started to play better.” The 108- hole final stage will be played Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 in Florida where only the top 30 will be guaranteed tour cards.