By Bill Cooney
Special to PGATOUR.com

MILWAUKEE -- Paul Goydos is playing terrible golf. In his words, he can't putt, chip, hit an iron or crack a solid drive.

These days, though, Goydos is relatively pain-free, a major bonus considering his injury-plagued past.

"Am I doing everything the best I can? No," Goydos said Saturday, after missing the 36-hole cut by one stroke at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. "But I'm working at it. It's not like I'm just sitting back on my couch waiting for the next event."

Goydos, who finished at 1-under-par 139 (71-68) Saturday morning since rain wiped out half of Thursday's first round, earned the money he needed earlier this season just to continue playing on the PGA TOUR.

He was awarded a major medical extension due to a disastrous and unfortunate 2004 campaign.

"I was a complete mess," Goydos said.

Sinus problems and ensuing surgery coupled with two bad hips limited Goydos to only two events at the end of 2004.

Goydos believes the sinus problem resulted from an injury he suffered in a wave pool five years ago in Las Vegas. His daughter, Courtney, accidentally banged into his nose.

"Blood was pouring out of me," Goydos recalled. "It broke the skin and I didn't even know.

"Good thing there weren't sharks," he joked, "because I would have been eaten."

The nasal irritation never went away, prompting Goydos to have surgery around the 2004 Masters. When he returned that season, he earned $19,366 in the only two events he played.

Goydos cashed a respectable $486,362 in 15 events last season, boosted by a fourth-place tie at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Entering this season, he had 12 events to make $117,534 in order to match the $623,262 of the 2004's 125th-ranked player, Tag Ridings.

An 11th-place tie at the Shell Houston Open sealed the deal. Now Goydos can play the rest of 2006 on the medical extension.

"What it gave me, is an opportunity if I'm playing poorly which I have been," Goydos said. "Now I'll have a chance to play at the end of the year."

But if he fails to crack the top-125 money leaders, Goydos is headed back to PGA TOUR Qualifying School for the first time since 2002.

"What else would I do?" questioned the 42-year-old California native. "I don't have any other skills, and these skills are deteriorating pretty quickly."

Goydos' best season on TOUR came in 1996, the year he captured the Bay Hill Invitational for his first victory. From '96 through 2000, Goydos racked up an impressive 18 top-10 finishes and 34 top-25s.

After playing two seasons with partial status, Goydos regained his form in 2003, finishing in the top 100 on the money list.

Ever since, injuries have halted his progress.

"Nothing good has happened," Goydos said. "Right now, all the right tracks have been dead-ends."

This season, Goydos ranks 176th on the money list ($183,002). The short-but-straight hitter ranks 13th in driving accuracy but has struggled to find his putting stroke. He's 142nd in putting average (1.800).

Goydos knows it, and hopes to tidy up a few things starting at next week's Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Mich.

"You just keep working or quit," Goydos said. "Those are your two options. But to not give it everything you've got is just as bad as quitting. I just have to keep grinding it out and see what happens."