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Some wealthy English friends offered financial support so he could ditch the waffle iron for a bag of irons, but after some rough times playing in Europe, he considered quitting again. "I wanted to be a golf coach but nobody would hire me, so I figured I'd play," he said.

Looking forward to the PGA Tour season opening in Hawaii in January, Johnson said with a wry smile, "I've got to get my body in shape. I'm too old for this."

The pressure will age you. Brenden Pappas has a smoothly shaven head; otherwise, he would have torn his hair out during the last month. For the fourth straight week, despite 12 straight cuts made, Pappas entered the Tour Championship in the bubble position at No. 25.

"To maintain your focus ... it's been physically draining," Pappas, 37, said. "Mentally, I've been a basket case."

The South African had good-naturedly given himself the tag of "Bubble Boy," though he may have rued the gesture. And when he tied for fifth at Barona to get his card at No. 22, he ceremoniously scribbled out his last "Bubble Boy" signature on a golf ball.

"The bubble has burst," he deadpanned. "I plan to turn my back to the bubble in perpetuity." More seriously, he said of his 17-under performance, "Considering the ramifications, it was a walk in the park. I was about as solid as an individual can be this week."

In warm and calm conditions, on greens the players said were as smooth as any they had seen, the tournament was a sprint to birdies. The scoring average for the field of 68.42 was the lowest in Nationwide Tour history. Letzig set the tone with an 11-under 60 that beat the course record by three, and he was cruising until suffering a four-putt triple bogey on the last hole of the third round to hand a two-stroke lead to Johnson.

"Nothing seems to go easy for me. I put so much pressure on myself and sometimes that gets in the way," said Letzig, who began the tournament 26th in money.

Letzig took his frustration out in the gym and came to the course Sunday with the aching muscles to prove it. He popped some Advil, shot 66 in the final round and earned his first tour card at No. 12.

Veteran Tom Scherrer, winner of the 2000 Kemper Open, tied Martin Laird for third and joined Letzig as the two to leap into the top 25. That pushed out two: David McKenzie, who fell from 23rd to 27th, and Kendall, the 12-year PGA Tour veteran, who went from 22nd to 26th. Kendall missed getting back to the big tour by a little less than players get for a last-place finish on one weekend.

"You know," Kendall said amiably, "it was in my hands."

The lament of so many at season's end.