Spark of Recognition

Who was that redhead strolling the fairways at the Ginn Open? She looked familiar. Wasn't she on "Big Break"? Yes, that's right. A Big Breaker. But not a contestant - a host.

Golf Channel personality - and co-host of every "Big Break" season except the first one and the current one - Stephanie Sparks played in the Ginn Open this week on a sponsor exemption.

And she fared respectably, too - back-to-back 75s. A long way from making the cut, but a very long way from embarrassing herself, too.

Who knew that the most talented golfer on the "Big Break" was usually one of the hosts?

Sparks was a collegiate All-American at Duke, and made a run at playing professionally back around the turn of the millenium. She got into a handful of LPGA tournaments, but never achieved any kind of status on the big tour. And so she wound up going into broadcasting.

She's also done a little acting. Below, she portrays long-ago U.S. Women's Amateur champ Alexa Stirling in the Bobby Jones movie, "Stroke of Genius." And here's a rundown of Sparks' opening round on golfchannel.com.