Tag: The Big Break

Stephanie Sparks, host of Golf Channel’s reality series ‘Big Break,’ dies at age 50

In addition to the “Big Break,” Sparks hosted the “Golf with Style” series on Golf Channel.

Longtime Golf Channel “Big Break” host Stephanie Sparks died on April 13 at the age of 50. Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Robert and Janie Sparks, Mary Stephanie Sparks was an All-American collegiate golfer at Duke.

She won the 1992 North and South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst and in the summer of 1993, rattled off victories at the Women’s Western Amateur, Women’s Eastern Amateur and the West Virginia State Amateur.

Sparks represented the U.S. on the 1994 Curtis Cup team and had a brief professional career that was plagued by injuries. She began her pro career on what’s now the Epson Tour and played only one season on the LPGA in 2000 before chronic back pain ultimately ended her career.

Sparks played the role of three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Alexa Stirling in the 2004 movie “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius” opposite Jim Caviezel.

In addition to the “Big Break” reality series, Sparks hosted the “Golf with Style” series on Golf Channel as well as “Playing Lessons with the Pros.” She also did some on-camera reporting at tournaments.

During her competitive days, Sparks wrote player diaries for Golfweek, offering an inside look into tour life.

Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott worked seven seasons with Sparks as a co-host on the popular “Big Break” series. Abbott, who is on the broadcast team this week at the Chevron Championship, lauded Sparks’ work ethic.

“She had been a professional golfer herself,” he said, “so she knew what it was like for the contestants, and she wanted them to succeed. She kind of rode their emotions in a way when we were doing the show.

“She knew how tough it was.”

Sparks’ Kepner Funeral Homes obituary page notes that she was an advocate for hospice care for the last several years of her life and supported Libby’s Legacy Breast Cancer Foundation and the Barber Fund in Orlando.

A private family service will be held in Elm Grove, West Virginia, at Kepner Funeral Home.

Here’s a look back at Sparks’ career:

Photos: TV personality Blair O’Neal through the years

O’Neal played on the then-fledgling Symetra Tour, then joined TV’s “School of Golf” show in 2015.

Blair O’Neal had a successful youth golf career that included highlights such as winning the 1997 Arizona Junior Golf Association Ping Phoenix Junior Championship, being a member of the 1997 U.S Junior Ryder Cup Matches and the AJGA West Canon Cup Team, and playing for the Arizona State golf team. Twice she was NCAA long-drive champion.

What helped O’Neal get back into golf was a chance to appear twice on the Golf Channel’s Big Break. She finished second at Prince Edward Island despite having only a month to prepare. She won in the Dominican Republic. She played on the then-fledgling Symetra Tour, which began in 2004, then joined the network’s “School of Golf” show in 2015.

A participant in the 2024 Tournament of Champions, O’Neal made headlines in the 2020 edition of the event when she played while six months pregnant. She finished sixth, playing from the same set of tees as the men.

“I figured it would be a really cool experience to be able to look back on and say that I did it with my little baby,” she said with a smile that lit up the Four Seasons Orlando.

Her first son, Chrome, was born later in 2020 and she had a second son, Canon, in 2022.

Aside from making regular appearances on Golf Channel, O’Neal has played in numerous celebrity golf tournaments and has been a popular influencer with more than a half-million Instagram followers.

Here’s a look at some of her career in photos.