A flying Thompson took the long way home

Barely had his winning putt dropped on the playoff hole when Nicholas Thompson began thinking about a joyous homecoming and the next day's 18 holes of golf. All he had to do was cross 18 time zones to get there.

No worries, as they say on the other side of the world, which is where the affable Thompson stood late Sunday afternoon. Having won the New Zealand PGA Championship -- stop No. 3 on the Nationwide schedule -- Thompson figured time was on his side, even if the next tee box was on the other side of the globe.

The good news: As he collected the winner's check for $113,685 and accolades at Clearwater CC in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thompson knew it was midnight in Southern Florida, meaning his tee time for the Honda Classic's Monday qualifier was roughly 33 hours away.

The bad news: He wouldn't start his trip for another three hours, then he had nearly 28 hours of flying ahead of him, and a short layover.

Crazy? Thompson laughs, because he knows people will think that of his odyssey. But his tale should be viewed as a testament to the spirited passion of pro golfers.

"I knew in my mind that I was a long shot, but there's no shot if you don't at least try," said Thompson.

A year ago, Thompson was a rookie on the PGA Tour, fresh off a standout career at Georgia Tech. He missed the cut in 15 of his first 19 events, and finished 180th on the money list ($264,717). Thus, his Nationwide Tour membership in 2007, which is off to a rousing start. With $116,338 on his ledger after tournaments in Panama, Australia, and New Zealand, Thompson leads the money list and if he's top 20 at season's end, he'll earn a promotion to the PGA Tour.

But that's a story for later in the year. Let's get back to that around-the-world trip for a Monday qualifier.

"I wanted to get in that tournament. It's been the hometown tournament as long as I can remember," said Thompson, who was raised in Coral Springs, Fla.

He had a taste in 2006 and even though he finished joint 55th, Thompson, 24, wanted another crack. When he signed up for the Monday qualifier, he knew he'd be in New Zealand. In fact, he gave up the chance to play in this week's European PGA Tour stop in Thailand, the Johnnie Walker Classic, which started yesterday.

"It was a tough one to give up, but [the Honda] is the one I want to play in over all the others, except the majors.

"It would be my hometown crowd," said Thompson.

Alas, he won't get the chance this year. He shot even-par 71, but four players shot 66 or better to earn the spots. Still, there are no regrets, "not one," said Thompson, who earned great respect from many of his peers, especially those on the putting green Monday morning at Martin Downs CC in Palm City.

"Some of them who saw me did double and triple takes," said Thompson with a laugh. "They all had that look that said, 'How'd he get here?' "

It was as simple as flying from New Zealand to Los Angeles, then taking a red eye from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, which got Thompson on Florida soil at roughly 6:30 a.m. "Just enough time to stop by the house -- literally for eight minutes -- to take a shower and change."

He hadn't slept much, "but oddly, my body didn't feel that bad and I actually hit the ball pretty well," said Thompson.

"In my mind, the hardest part was just getting there," he said.

James Driscoll was among a host of local players who came up short in the Honda qualifier, but there is a bright side: His back is feeling better. "I had never seen doctors before [about his back], so I figured I'd have it looked at," said the pride of Brookline, who returned to Boston recently to have an MRI. He intended to fly to Australia and New Zealand to play in the Nationwide stops, but opted for medical opinions. "It's a fun trip and it's hard not to play the first few events, but you hate to fly 20-odd hours and limp around for two weeks." Driscoll was told he had a small, bulging disk that flared up, "very minor, not a major issue," he said, so he was able to return to Florida to continue his practice routine while he awaits the next Nationwide stop, March 22-25 in Louisiana. The 29-year-old Driscoll is fully exempt on the Nationwide and plans on a full schedule in a bid to make it back to the PGA Tour. "The swing changes I made last year are starting to feel good," he said a day after shooting 72 at Martin Downs CC. Only four players, Marco Dawson, Jay Williamson, Scott Parel, and Bubba Dickerson, earned spots by shooting 66 or better. Kevin Johnson of Pembroke was the closest of the local contingent with a 4-under 67. Milton native and onetime Presidents GC assistant pro Mark Brown shot 69, as did Ron Philo Jr., the longtime NEPGA standout, and Jamie Neher of Weston. Pat Bates of Manchester shot 71, while P.H. Horgan of Newport, R.I., withdrew. Neher was attempting to ride the hardest route into the Honda, for he had to get through a pre-qualifier. He did that in a breeze, taking medalist honors with a blistering 63 before coming up short in the next round . . . The Monday qualifiers have also been elusive for local entrants on the Champions Tour. Kirk Hanefeld, the director of golf at The International in Bolton, shot 68 in Hawaii, but it took 67 to get into the Turtle Bay Championship, then he shot 73 when it took 71 to make the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla. Last week, Hanefeld missed out at the Monday qualifier for the ACE Group Classic in Naples. Rick Karbowski of Worcester has missed at both the Allianz and ACE, and Joe Clarke of Holderness, N.H., fell short to get into the Turtle Bay. Another frequent entrant at the Monday qualifiers has been Lance Ten Broeck, the onetime Vermont Open champion and longtime PGA Tour caddie for Jesper Parnevik.

To many folks in and around the New England PGA, Warren Birch, who died Feb. 21 at 74, represented an era in golf that is long gone. "He personified what your old-time club pro was. He opened the club in the morning, closed it at night, and was a problem-solver all day," said Andy Froude, the retired head professional at Charles River CC. "If a golfer was having trouble with a cart, Warren would go out and fix it. He did it all." And always, Birch did it with a dignity that touched many lives at his various posts, from the Oyster Harbors Club to Wollaston GC to Braintree Municipal to Weston GC to Ponkapoag GC to even Augusta National, where for a few winters he used to help organize members' tournaments and provide lessons. "He was a prince of a man," said onetime NEPGA executive director Eddie Carbone. Bob Donovan, the executive director of the Francis Ouimet Scholarship who was a member of Wollaston GC under Birch's reign that stretched from its North Quincy location (now Presidents GC) to its current home in Milton, said that "he was arguably the nicest man I ever met in golf." Though Birch was renowned for his love of teaching golfers of all abilities, he "was a better player than he was given credit for; he could really get it going," said Froude. During a Vermont Open at Lake Morey in the 1970s, Birch shot 60 and Froude remembers his old friend firing a 30 on the back nine at Mount Pleasant CC in Boylston during a NEPGA Pro-Pro Stroke-Play Championship. But mostly, Froude relishes the memory of a humble man who was always in the company of his beloved wife of 40 years, Lorene. They never had children, but they had each other and they shared a love of golf.

If opposite-field events are supposed to provide chances for the unheralded sector of the PGA Tour, consider the trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a rousing success. While most of the attention went to 50-year-old Fred Funk -- who became the second player to win a PGA Tour event while a member of the Champions Tour -- others seized advantage in a $3.5 million event devoid of the world's 65 highest-ranked players, all of whom were at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Funk benefited most, but others cashed in, too. In fact, five unheralded players with very little PGA Tour experience recorded best-ever finishes, starting with Ryan Armour, who was fourth in just his sixth start. The others: Boo Weekley, sixth in just his 30th start; Stephen Marino, eighth in his sixth; Brendon de Jonge, joint ninth in his fourth; and Alejandro Canizares, tied for 13th in his third . . . Then there were veterans such as Mark Brooks, who finished tied for 13th. The 1996 PGA Championship winner hasn't been much of a factor since losing the 2001 US Open playoff to Retief Goosen, his hard times translating into 113 missed cuts in 172 starts. He recorded just his seventh top-15 finish since 2001 . . . By finishing top 10 in Mexico, players who wouldn't have been eligible earned spots into this week's Honda, among them Armour, Marino, de Jonge, and two veterans, Skip Kendall and Larry Mize.

The 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton generated $2.6 million in charitable funds, bringing its four-year total to $7 million. Through the Tiger Woods Foundation, which is the primary charitable beneficiary, monies were distributed to: Artists for Humanity, G-Row Boston, St. Mary's Women and Children's Center, Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, Mother Caroline Academy, Nativity Preparatory School, Partners for Youth With Disabilities, Tenacity, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston and Providence, Bottomline, Norton/Attleboro YMCA, Hockomock YMCA, Boston Cares, and the Stop & Shop Family Foundation . . . Entry forms for the 29th Cronin Memorial at the Country Club of Halifax (April 30, May 1) have been mailed, but some openings remain. Applications are available on halifaxcc.com, or via e-mail at thecronin@comcast.net . . . Online registration has opened for Mass. Golf Association tournaments. To register, go to mgalinks.org. The season tees off May 7-8 with the State Four-Ball Championship . . . The National Golf Expo will begin its three-day run tomorrow at the Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester. The expo hours are 1-8 p.m. tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10, $9 for seniors; children under 12 admitted free. For information, refer to golfexpoboston.com . . . Rob Oppenheim of Andover shot 66-67-69--202 and rolled to a three-stroke win in a Hooters Tour winter series tournament in Apopka, Fla. When he finished tied for fifth in the series finale in Eustis, Fla., Oppenheim secured third place on the money list, with $27,242. Andy Morse of Needham finished joint fifth in Eustis to wind up 25th on the money list . . . Onetime MGA Player of the Year Justin Peters shot 72-71-68 and finished joint fifth in a Gateway Tour winter tournament in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. On that circuit's money list, Neher is 13th, while Peters moved to 19th . . . Alison Walshe of Westford, a junior at the University of Arizona, shot 73-76-73 and finished fifth in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. . . . Vanderbilt's Jon Curran of Hopkinton finished second, shooting 73-71-71 at the John Hayt College Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.