Editor's note: John Maginnes , a 10-year TOUR veteran who now works as an analyst for the PGA TOUR Network on XM Satellite Radio , has been sharing his expertise on PGATOUR.com this year. Over the next eight days, he's going to try to put into perspective the overwhelming pressure players feel at the final stage of the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament.

By John Maginnes
Special to PGATOUR.com

Silence. You know, the kind that is deafening. That is what I remember most about the 1994 qualifying tournament at the Grenelefe Resort.

Of course, it’s always quiet at q-school. The galleries are confined to family, friends and a few rubberneckers. Now there is television coverage which means dozens of golf carts buzzing around, but back in 1994 that was not the case. Most people think of q-school as some sort of chaotic event where only the most level-headed survive and in some ways, that is true. The chaos, though, is in the minds of each player -- not in their surroundings.

That year was my third trip to the finals, my second at Grenelefe. It was the first time that I had ever contended for a PGA TOUR card. I was coming off my best year on the Nationwide Tour. Although I had not won, I had played extremely well in the last 10 events. The fact that I had played so well after my girlfriend had quit her job and started caddying for me was no small coincidence. I continued that good play right into q-school and through five rounds was close the coveted number.

I was playing with an old friend of mine, Damon Green, in the final round. Damon and I had battled on the winter tours around Orlando for several years. I do not recall exactly what we needed to shoot in the final round. What I do remember, though, is that we both had a chance on the final hole. I would need a birdie on the par 5 to have an outside chance. Damon was two shots better than me for the tournament and it looked as if a par would be more than enough for him.

Although I hit my drive in the fairway, I was unable to reach the green in two so I laid up to 90 yards, my favorite distance. Damon had pounded a drive up the right-hand side of the fairway, and he had the opportunity to hammer a 3-wood at the green. With out of bounds left of the green, though, Damon wisely opted to lay up. That is when the trouble started. His second shot trickled just into the right rough. Although he had little more than 100 yards to the green, there was a small tree directly in front of him. His third shot came up just short of the elevated green, leaving him a difficult chip. I played my third to about 20 feet behind the hole. I was trying to fly it past the hole and spin it back to the front pin, but it didn’t take the spin.

I should perhaps spell out the situation in more detail. I knew if I made my putt and Damon did not get it up and down we would finish on the same score. That single shot could be the difference between the Nationwide Tour and the PGA TOUR. With all of that storming through my mind, I could not watch Damon’s chip shot. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know the result of the chip until after I putted. I would love to tell you that I was pulling for Damon -- regardless of how his play affected my future. In the interest of honesty, though, I will not try to claim that type of nobility.

I hit the birdie putt with the exact speed and line that I wanted. As it started to take the break just short of the hole I felt certain it was perfect. Unfortunately it dipped to the bottom lip and spun out. There was no ‘oooh’ from a large gallery. No fanfare of any kind. The only thing that I could hear was the pounding of my heart and the screaming realization that I would be a Nationwide Tour player for another year. As I tapped in for par Damon was placing his ball on the green about 10 feet from the hole. I may have told him to knock it in but I doubt it. More than likely, I walked to the back of the green with my head down. I had been pulling for Damon all day with the exception of the past 10 minutes. He had played brilliantly and it would be a shame for him to bogey the last hole. And at the time, we did not know that this was the putt of his career. Make the putt and you are a PGA TOUR player. But fate was not on Damon’s side that afternoon in the overwhelming quiet at Grenelefe.

Damon went on to play a few seasons on the Nationwide Tour and although he did not have the success that some of us thought that he would, he has still made a name for himself on the PGA TOUR. As one of the most respected caddies on TOUR, he has won tournaments with Scott Hoch and looped in the Ryder Cup for Zach Johnson. When I see Damon out on TOUR these days there is the odd occasion to reminisce. We play the “where are they now” game and we talk of the way things used to be. But the memories of that December afternoon more than a decade ago have been silenced, only to live in the quiet of our memories.