Scott Gordon was on fire. He was 6 under par through 17 holes Friday when he stood over a four-foot putt on No. 18 and thought … pretty much what every player from Tiger Woods to a 25-handicapper would have thought.

"How stupid would it be to three-putt on the final hole?" he said.

He had an addendum. "And miss by a shot?"

Gordon's moment of truth came on the 72nd and final hole of last week's first stage of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament at San Juan Oaks in Hollister. After rounds of 77, 71 and 73, he was 5 over par and well outside the number it would take to be one of 23 players advancing to the second stage.

He began the final round thinking he needed a 65. Playing the back nine first, he turned in 4 under. Then he birdied No. 1, eagled 2 and birdied 3 to get to 8 under for the day.

"I thought I was going to shoot a 61 at that point," said Gordon, 28. "There were no nerves. My only thought was to keep it going."

The golf gods thought otherwise. His tee shot on his 13th hole was just off line and found a bunker, under a lip. He recovered to give himself a 15-footer for par, which he ran four feet past and ended up three-putting for a double bogey.

"Then I got nervous," he said. "Suddenly, I was under the number I needed to make, and the momentum had changed."

If Gordon's stellar seasons at Jesuit High School and UC Davis, followed by a trying 2008 Nationwide Tour season in which he made just four cuts in 26 tournaments, taught him anything, it was resilience. The Fair Oaks resident figured he needed at least one more birdie and that the par-5 ninth was reachable in two.

Four pars later, Gordon was 20 feet above the hole on No. 9 in two shots, knowing an eagle-3 would solidify his chance but figuring a birdie would get the job done. He hit a good, aggressive putt but ran it four feet past.

Negative thoughts were running through his mind, he admitted.

"The thought definitely crossed my mind how stupid it would be (to miss that putt)," he said. He composed himself by thinking he would have been happy to be in this position at the start the week. "Then I snuck the putt in."

Gordon completed a 7-under 65 for a 2-under 286 total and a tie for 23rd. He'll compete in the second stage Nov. 18-21 in Texas. Jeff Wood of Natomas tied for second and Philip Dawson Jr. of Shingle Springs tied for 19th to advance.

Dillon Dougherty, Robert Hamilton and Tom Johnson, other players with local ties, failed to move on.

Missed it by that much

Golf is a game of inches. And so is long-driving competition.

Jason Frey painfully discovered that last week in the RE/MAX World Long Driving Championship, twice coming up short by a yard during his bid to become the world's longest knocker.

Frey, 26, of Sacramento was bumped from the winners' bracket in the second round in Mesquite, Nev., when his 382-yard drive was a yard shy. After two losers' bracket wins, Frey was on the verge of qualifying for Friday's finals when his 386-yard blast again was a yard shy.

The top 24 in the field of 144 made the finals. Frey was 25th.

"I hit the ball well enough to be in the finals," said Frey, who was 18th last year. "People are telling me I should be happy to be the 25th-longest hitter in the world, but I'm not. I'm better than that."

Canadian Jamie Sadlowski won for the second year in a row and earned $150,000. Dan Depner, Jeff Williams and Lonnie White, qualifiers with Sacramento connections, were eliminated in the early rounds.

ESPN will debut a 90-minute highlights package Dec. 20.

Call The Bee's Steve Pajak, (916) 326-5526.