Jaxon Brigman played well enough to earn his PGA Tour card for 2000. A careless math error will keep him on the Buy.com Tour.
Brigman had one of the best closing rounds at Q-school, a 5-under-par 65 that put him at 8-under and right on the number for making the top 35 and ties. He was on top of the world -- until Rules official Steve Carmen asked him about his card.
While Brigman had 65, he signed for a 66.
Because he signed for a higher score, Brigman was not disqualified. But he had to take the 66, which left him at 7-under and caused him to miss his PGA Tour card by one stroke.
"I never signed a wrong card in my life," Brigman told golf.com. "Today was the first and the worst time."
How did it happen?
The 28-year-old from Abilene, Texas, birdied five straight holes early in the round and his marker, playing partner Jay Hobby, recorded every birdie with a circle. But on the 13th hole, Hobby circled a 4 when it should have been a 3.
Brigman, frustrated after his round because he missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the final hole, saw the five straight circles without checking the number inside the circles.
He now returns to the developmental tour for the third season.
"I got finished and I thought I was in," he said. "I went form being the happiest man in the world to getting killed."
NO MORE BOSTON: The LPGA Tour's return to Boston lasted all of one year.
The 2000 schedule, to be released on Wednesday, will not include the areaweb.com Challenge at Pleasant Valley Country Club because the contractor failed to foot its bill.
"Based on that, we terminated the agreement," commissioner Ty Votaw said.
Votaw declined to say how much was owed by Entertainment Sports Equity, with whom it had the contract, although one source put the figure at about $150,000. The tour is looking at its options how to recover the money.
While the LPGA will have one less tournament, Votaw said the tour has become strong enough that it doesn't need to go out of its way to keep tournaments afloat -- especially if it jeopardizes other relationships.
Along with the LPGA, he said ESE owes money to Pleasant Valley and to The Golf Channel.
PAYNE AND MONEY: The PGA Tour already decided to extend by an additional position the number of players who kept their cards because Payne Stewart, who died Oct. 25 in a plane crash, finished No. 7 on the money list.
But what will The Masters do?
Starting this year, Augusta National will invite the top 40 from the 1999 money list. Sitting at No. 41 is Gabriel Hjertstedt, who is not otherwise eligible for The Masters. Tournament officials have not discussed whether to extend an invitation to the 41st spot because of Stewart's death.
The U.S. Open exempts the top 30 on the money list, but Notah Begay (No. 31) gets in as a two-time winner. The British Open takes the top 20, but John Huston (No. 21) will be exempt because he is in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and played on the last Presidents Cup team.
COMING TO AMERICA: Open champion Paul Lawrie is the latest European, after Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, to plan a significant schedule on the PGA Tour next year.
"It's disappointing for Europe, obviously, but it's an individual game, an individual career and he's only got one chance at it," said Colin Montgomerie, who has chosen to stay loyal to his home tour.
Dean Robertson of Scotland, one of Lawrie's best friends, was shocked by the decision.
"It's great for the U.S. tour, but it's definitely a big blow for the European Tour," Robertson said. "It's like losing one of your comrades, one of your chums. But I have nothing but good wishes to offer him. I hope he goes over there and kills them."
Lawrie and the others still plan to play a minimum number of European events to maintain membership.
SHARK CURRENTS: Heading into his winter season, Greg Norman sounds like he's ready to make a strong push to the top echelon of golf.
"I've given a mandate to my staff to leave me alone," said Norman, whose off-course interests involve the wine industry, golf course design, a clothing line a turf business. "My priority now is to get back to playing the level of golf I know I can play at, to stay focused on what I need to do."
When he returned last year, Norman said he was through with punishing routines on the range. He apparently has changed his mind about that.
"I'm now hitting 500 balls a day," he said. "Before, I couldn't hit more than 150 a day. And you can't play great golf doing that, no matter how good you are."
DIVOTS: The chef in the hotel were Tiger Woods stayed during the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan created a special "Tiger Burger" for him, then added it to the permanent menu for $10. ... Jay Haas has been selected for induction to the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame. ... To mark his absence in the Grand Slam of Golf, the PGA of America will contribute $150,000 to Payne Stewart's estate. ... Among the records generated by higher purses was this distinction for Davis Love III -- the $2,475,328 he earned was a record for a player who failed to win. Chris Perry, Justin Leonard, Fred Funk, Phil Mickelson and Steve Pate also would have broken the previous record. ... Thomas Bjorn's victory in Japan last week moved him up from No. 55 to No. 39 in the World Ranking, assuring him a spot in The Masters. ... If Greg Norman doesn't pick up any World Ranking points the next three months, he probably will fall to No. 65 -- and play Tiger Woods in the first round of the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship in February. (No. 65 would play Woods instead of No. 64 because Jumbo Ozaki, who is currently ranked No. 30, is not expected to play.)
STAT OF THE WEEK: David Duval finished nearly $3 million behind Tiger Woods. Still, this was the fourth straight year that Duval has finished in the top 10 on the money list, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour. Woods has been in the top 10 three consecutive years. The record belongs to Jack Nicklaus -- 17 straight seasons. Duval finished 11th on the money list in 1995, his rookie year.
FINAL WORD: "They pay appearance money in Europe. I'm starting to think they should pay disappearance money here. As much as he wins, maybe get him to go somewhere else." -- CBS Sports analyst David Feherty on Tiger Woods.
