Tour Notebook ; First Coast ‘Big Break’ on way

The first Golf Channel "Big Break" filmed on the First Coast will be unveiled Feb. 5 at 9 p.m. with a preview show that introduces viewers to the 12 members of the all-female cast.

"Big Break: Florida," was taped over 10 days last October at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation utilizing the Oak Marsh, Ocean Links and Longpoint courses. The contestants, who range in age from 18- year-old Dallas Odom of Anderson, S.C., to 28-year-old mother of two Tonya McCall of Las Vegas, will compete for more than $175,000 in cash and prizes and an exemption into the LPGA Manulife Financial Classic on June 5-8 in Ontario, Canada.

The winner also gets a year-long exemption to the LPGA's developmental tour and an endorsement contract worth $10,000 with Adams Golf.

The first show featuring competition will be Feb. 24 and will continue for 12 episodes until 11 contestants are eliminated.

Tom Abbott and Melanie Collins will be the co-hosts for the show.RUBBING IT IN

United States Golf Association executive director Mike Davis said in a recent interview for Sports Business Journal that the U.S. Open telecasts that begin on Fox Sports in 2015 will be enhanced because the network's golf producers and talent will get more time to prepare.

"What's neat about this is they can focus on our [USGA] events," Davis said. "It's not 30 weeks a year where they're doing golf and the U.S. Open sneaks up on them. They plan on taking their announcers to the site months in advance to learn the golf course, and I'll be there with them to take them through what we're trying to do. ... While there may be a new group, in some ways they'll be more knowledgeable than what we've seen in the past."

Ouch ... especially when Davis is referring to an NBC crew that has an Emmy-Award winning producer in Tommy Roy and the veteran announcing team of Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller, a trio that has done every U.S. Open since 1995.

Davis might also want to get out a calendar. NBC airs 10 golf tournaments this season, six before the U.S. Open, with a month in between The Players Championship and the U.S. Open.WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

Stacy Lewis is the third-ranked women's golfer in the world and won five times in 2013, including the Women's Open Championship.

Had it not been for the heroics of other competitors, she might well be ranked No. 1. When Lewis finished second last week at the Pure Silk Bahamas Classic, is was her fifth runner-up performance in her last eight starts - and the fourth time another player has made either birdie or eagle on the final hole to beat her by one shot.

Jessica Korda birdied the final hole to nip Lewis last week. At the LPGA event in China last fall, Shanshan Feng's second shot at the par-5 18th hole of the Pine Valley Golf Club near Beijing hit the pin and settled to give her an easy eagle to overcome Lewis' one- shot lead. Lexi Thompson and Pornanong Phatlum each birdied their last holes to beat Lewis by a shot in Mexico and Dubai.ETC.

The TPC Sawgrass is one of nine courses in the TPC Network to receive the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America chapter award, in the resort division, for environmental excellence. The TPC received chapter honors in 2007 and 2012, and the national resort award in 2010. ... After opening its season last week in the Bahamas, the LPGA doesn't play again until the Women's Australian Open on Feb. 13-15. ... The Champions Tour resumes next week with the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton. Billy Andrade will make his debut.THIS WEEK ON TOURPGA TOUREvent: Waste Management Phoenix Open, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Scottsdale.At stake: $6.2 million purse ($1,116,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).Defending champion: Phil Mickelson.TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:20 p.m.).Area players entered: Jonas Blixt, Jonathan Byrd, Harris English, Matt Every, Fred Funk, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, David Lingmerth, Vijay Singh.Notable: Mickelson's decision to play might come close to his Thursday morning starting time. He withdrew from last week's Farmers Insurance Open because of back pain. He hasn't missed the tournament since 1990. ... Masters champs Bubba Watson and Angel Cabrera, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Padraig Harrington are also in the field.