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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

Jeff Quinney faced more question marks than you'd find in a book of riddles heading into the 2006 Nationwide Tour season.

Jeff Quinney stunned the field at TPC Sawgrass when he fired a third-round 64. It was the lowest round of the week during THE PLAYERS. (WireImage)

Observers couldn't help but wonder what was holding back Quinney, the 2000 U.S. Amateur champion, as he attempted to establish himself in professional golf. After all, winning golf's biggest amateur prize is an indicator of pending success at the next level, is it not?

Didn't he have more than enough experience and talent to find his way onto the PGA TOUR after five seasons of trying?

Would he ever find his game and comfort level?

Why didn't his victory in the Oregon Classic late in 2004 lead to bigger and better things in 2005?

Instead of taking the next step, Quinney had what he called "a lousy year'' in 2005 when he simply spun his wheels and got into a perplexing rut. He participated in 24 events, made 10 cuts and had a solitary top 10 and a little more than $50,000 in earnings to show for it.

That sullen season forced Quinney into some serious self evaluation, a process that begat a ton of hard work with swing instructor Mike LaBauve, especially on Quinney's driver. Then it happened. Improvement with one club provided a plethora of answers when Quinney started finding fairway after fairway.

Quinney had a breakout season despite his failure to locate the winner's circle. Two seconds and two thirds were included in his eight top 10s. Toss in eight more top 25s in a total of 27 starts and it added up to $317,802 in earnings, a Nationwide Tour record for a non-winner.

"I felt like I finally came to a good understanding of the principles,'' Quinney said, referring to his swing. "I kept it fairly simple and started driving it great. That set up everything.''

Quinney became more aggressive off the tee, forsaking his cautionary 3-wood, especially on par 5s. The attack mode produced birdies in bountiful bunches. And just like that Quinney began arriving at his outdoor office expecting to play well and contend.

Know what?

Little has changed in 2007 in 15 starts on TOUR. Quinney has performed like a seasoned veteran rather than a wide-eyed rookie although he admitted making finding his way on new courses in new cities isn't easy.

But he located his comfort level early and nothing -- not even a spate of four straight missed cuts in April and May -- has shaken him out of it. That was obvious when Quinney rang up a tie for sixth at THE PLAYERS Championship following that quartet of missed cuts.

The top 10 at The Players sent Quinney's earnings soaring past the $1 million mark, a figure also surpassed by fellow Nationwide Tour graduates Boo Weekley and Ken Duke. It was his fifth, following an early season pattern that, with the exception of Tiger Woods, made him the talk of the PGA TOUR of the West Coast Swing, where he reeled off four in a row.

"I was very comfortable out there (on the West Coast), with the courses and with the grasses,'' said Quinney, a native of Oregon. "I played at a high level.''

Quinney credited his seasons on the Nationwide Tour for part of his stunning success.

"I really developed my game on the Nationwide Tour,'' he said. "I feel like I'm a complete player now. This season was just a carry over. I didn't have to change a thing about the way I approached things. I had some success and kept building on it.''

If there was disappointment, it came at the FBR Open in Phoenix, where Quinney now resides. He seized the lead with a second-round 63 and slept on it heading into the final round, where he shot 68, but missed a crucial birdie putt on the par-5 15th and made a back-breaking bogey on the short par-4 17th after driving into a water hazard near the green.

He finished solo third at 19 under par as he was overtaken by Aaron Baddeley (64) and John Rollins (63).

"Obviously it didn't end the way I wanted it to, but all in all I was pretty happy with the performance,'' he said. "There was a lot of pressure involved with sleeping on the lead. I'm happy how I handled the whole situation.''

A smile of satisfaction spread across Quinney's face when the subject turned to how far his career has come in the last 18 months, especially given all those questions concerning his game.

"It has been all about experience,'' he said. "There are lots of ways to look at it, but to be honest, I wasn't quite ready to go out there (the PGA TOUR) and compete until this year.''