2012 Children’s Miracle Network Classic preview: Disney hosts final Fall Series event

The PGA Tour’s Fall Series continues this week with the annual visit to Walt Disney World for the 2012 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. It’s the final event of the series, and it usually features some of the season’s lowest numbers as the pros take aim at the Magnolia Course and Palm Course. It was here last year that Luke Donald made money list history by wrapping up the PGA Tour 2011 money title, adding to his Euro Tour money title. The field doesn’t have the typical high-profile names, but it does have talented players trying to cement their status in one of their final shots in 2012.

Perhaps the biggest name in the field is 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III. The veteran has been busy this fall, hosting the Ryder Cup but also playing nearly a full slate through the month of October. At St. Simons, where he served as a host of the McGladrey Classic, he finished in the top five but could not catch the red hot Tommy Gainey.

Along with Love, Gainey is another favorite this week at Lake Buena Vista. Tommy “Two Gloves” has now had two weeks off to cherish his first career win, and the last time we saw him on Tour, he was carding a season-low 60. The former Big Break contestant had made noise on Tour for nearly two seasons, but the breakthrough win in Georgia could catapult him to a string of victories.

Some of the other big names in the field are Charles Howell III, Ryan Palmer, Justin Leonard, and Robert Garrigus. Disney was the site of Garrigus’s first career win two years ago, and the long hitter enters this week in form. If he has hit miniature putter working, it’s likely that he’ll post a couple numbers in the low 60s. Howell has two top 15 finishes this fall and is also in form, so it’s likely he’ll be on the first page of the leaderboard come Sunday. The receptive scoring conditions will undoubtedly make for another exciting conclusion to the Fall Series.