Quick hits from q-school: Lancaster gets into position

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Neal Lancaster has never been one to mince words.

"It's so nerve-wracking, it's a joke out there," he said with a wry smile. "We try to say it's just golf and there are a lot of things worse; if you miss it or make it, it's not the end of the world."

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Neal Lancaster knows he needs another good day on Monday.

Of course, Lancaster is right. But that doesn't make the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament any easier -- particularly when you are on the outside looking in as the 46-year-old North Carolinian is with 18 holes remaining.

Lancaster had just put the finishing touches on a 70 Saturday on the Stadium Course at PGA West that moved him to 12 under through five rounds. He's three strokes away from the security of the low 25 and ties who will earn their PGA TOUR cards on Monday.

"I didn't know how I stood and I made a great par on the last hole to get to 12," Lancaster said. "You can see it in guys' faces, they're choking. So it was important to get to 12."

He figures he'll need to get to 17 under -- at the very least -- to have a shot. And if he can't go that low, Lancaster, who won the 1994 GTE Byron Nelson Championship, wants to preserve his spot among the next 50 or so players who receive full exemptions on the Nationwide Tour.

"Even if I don't play well, I just want to get in position,' Lancaster said. "I want to come down to the last hole and have something to shoot for. The hardest part is if you're running in there about 30th place and you can't make it with about four holes to go so you're trying to get that Nationwide Tour status. That's as hard as anything else. ...

"I think the scores backed up a little today and they will (tomorrow). Guys will start thinking about what's going on there."

Lancaster's goal when he came to southern California was to play consistently and shoot 1 or 2 under par each day. So far, he's done that "so maybe if I can ... get a few more putts to go in I can get back out there again and stay out there until I'm 50," Lancaster said.

A former club professional who didn't take his first golf lesson -- from Raymond Floyd's father, no less -- until he was 30, Lancaster was exempt on TOUR for 16 years. But the Smithfield, N.C., native, who has twice shot 29 for nine holes at the U.S. Open, acknowledges that he hasn't had his heart in the game of late.

"I guess I deserve to be here," Lancaster said. "I lost interest about three years ago and said I'm tired of the road and stayed home. Now the body's breaking down."

Watching his friends play on TV piqued his interest again, though. Not to mention, Lancaster is quick to say "I think more than anything, that's the only thing I know how to do." He split time on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour the last two years, with one top-10 on each, but is anxious to get his card back so he can plan a more complete schedule.

Lancaster planned to spend Sunday night watching football. He'll probably pass some time hitting balls into the curtains in his hotel room, too. He admits that he'll be nervous in the final round, but he hopes to rely on his experience and get the job done.

"There's nothing you can do -- just hope you got it tomorrow," Lancaster said. "If you don't, there's nothing you can do. Like I told my wife driving out here this morning, if I play good, I play good. I'm not in a wheelchair and I don't have cancer or anything like that. So it's all in what kind of perspective you put it in.

"These kids don't even know what they're getting ready to go out there and do. I've been out there long enough, I've had my shot. Maybe I can come back and get better the older I get."

MAKING THE BIGGEST MOVES: Chris Stroud was among 10 players who vaulted inside the number on the eve of Monday's final round. He didn't make the biggest move -- Notah Begay III did, jumping 74 spots -- but Stroud did jump into the top-10 with a round of 67 that left him at 17 under.

"Today was moving day," Stroud said. "We all felt it. ... I'm very pumped. I finished strong today. That's what it was all about."

The first time Stroud got his TOUR card was in 2006 when he finished in a tie for 16th at PGA West. His round of 67 on Sunday included birdies on his final three holes and was his fourth in the 60s in five rounds this week.

"I have a lot of great memories here and on the PGA TOUR that year," Stroud, who also finished third at last year's q-school, said. "It was the first time for me. So I have nothing but good things to say. The weather's much better this year. I am playing solid. One more good round today and I'll be in good shape."

GOOD BALL-STRIKING PAYS OFF: Notah Begay walked off the 18th green on the Nicklaus Course Sunday and grinned.

"I pulled a rabbit out of a hat today," he told a reporter standing nearby.

Begay's round of 9-under 63 enabled him to make the biggest move of the day -- jumping 74 spots into a tie for 21st. Begay, a four-time PGA TOUR champion, is one good round away from regaining the TOUR card he lost after battling nagging back injuries.

"Actually, I hit it great the last two days," Begay said. "Yesterday I had 11 looks inside 15 feet and only made one. I didn't know if it was going to happen today or tomorrow or next year but I knew that I would have a good round at some point because I was hitting it too good and too close.

"It's kind of frustrating at times. You need to stay patient. I have a lot of experience at all levels -- lot of experience at q-school, too. So I just knew if I hung in there that things might turn. So four birdies in a row just kind of propelled me to a really, really good score and I'm right back in it now."

Begay said he expects the magic number to be between 17 and 19 under. He planned to go home Sunday evening and cook dinner for his brother, Clint, who is caddying for him, and continue their regular routine. One thing changes on Monday, though -- unlike all but one person currently among the low 25 and ties, Begay will be playing on the more difficult Stadium Course.

"The law of averages really affects everyone," said the Stanford grad who was a teammate of Tiger Woods. "I played some really good golf on the Stadium Course. I just haven't made any putts. So I feel like I can go over there and shoot equally as good a score. So maybe that will happen."