Johnson doing well in school

He understands the curiosity. After all, it's a game of numbers, and when you add up what Kevin Johnson produced this summer, there was no reason to expect much at last week's second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.

So what happens? The pride of Pembroke throws down a 69-67-67 start in Pine Mountain, Ga., and nurses it home with a 73 to finish joint seventh and breeze through to the final stage. Back-to-back 67s? Where did that come from?

"I was wondering the same thing myself," said Johnson with a laugh, because if there's one thing he's learned in the 19 years he's played professional golf, it's to maintain a sense of humor.

The 2008 season will rank as one of Johnson's most beguiling. Forgettable for the results (he made just three cuts in 22 Nationwide Tour starts), it was perplexing because he never felt he played that badly. "But I just found all sorts of ways to miss the cut by one shot," said Johnson, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour.

He never came close to a fifth win this season and in 51 rounds he shot 67 or better just three times, thus making what he did at Callaway Gardens more remarkable. In a week when his fellow Massachusetts golfer and longtime friend Fran Quinn Jr. bogeyed the 72d hole to fall one shy, and when PGA Tour veteran Billy Andrade missed out, and when stories of heartache were plentiful at the four second-stage sites, Johnson felt fortunate to earn yet another trip to the final stage, where six rounds are all that separate him from his dream, the PGA Tour.

Yes, at 41 Johnson is still grinding away, and while nothing he did in 2008 would indicate that this chance was in store, it's not as if he doesn't know what to do next. In 2000, Johnson played brilliantly at the final stage to earn a PGA Tour card, and he'll head to the Dec. 3-8 challenge with every intention of doing it again, buoyed by some good vibes perhaps. That's because the final stage will be at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., site of his successful effort eight years ago.

"Maybe the good memories will help me put this thing together," said Johnson.

So close

No Q-School anguish resonated quite like Erik Compton's. Back in competitive golf just five months after undergoing a second heart transplant, the 28-year-old Compton was more than a medical marvel; he was at the top of his game and in line to earn a chance at his first PGA Tour card. Through 54 holes, Compton was tied for 13th, two strokes inside the number, but he started Round 4 with bogeys on two of the first three holes. When he bogeyed the par-4 15th to fall to 6 under par, Compton was one outside the number, but he thought he perhaps was two. So, after reaching the par-5 16th in two, Compton charged the eagle roll when a safe, two-putt birdie would have done the trick. Compton three-putted for par, then made pars at 17 and 18 to finish tied for 22d at 282, one stroke too many. "It was hard to stay in the moment when you have so much on the line," Compton told reporters. "I had too much on my mind. I was thinking too much about health insurance, contracts, and it was a lot of pressure." . . . Andrade, 44, fell three shots shy and said from his home in the Atlanta area that he was weighing his options for 2009. "And option No. 1 is, I'm not giving up," said the 21-year PGA Tour veteran. "I'm going to fight and claw to get back." Andrade will get into a handful of tournaments out of the past champion's category, then rely on sponsor's exemptions to hopefully get enough playing opportunities . . . Johnson will be joined at the final stage by Geoff Sisk of Marshfield, who breezed through at Hombre Golf Club in Panama City, Fla. But for a host of other locals, the news was not good. Michael Welch of North Quincy missed by five in Brooksville, Fla., while Andrade, Quinn, John Elliott of Connecticut, Adam Rainaud of South Hadley, and P.H. Horgan of Rhode Island all missed at Callaway Gardens . . . Jim Renner of Plainville and Michael Sims, the onetime University of Rhode Island standout, are currently playing at a second-stage site in Texas.

The winner? charity

Months after the final putt dropped at TPC Boston in Norton, the Deutsche Bank Championship is still generating applause. Tournament organizers were cited by members of the PGA Tour's Tournament Advisory Council for having the season's best promotional idea, a fund-raising effort in association with the Stop & Shop/Giant Family Foundation that raised approximately $250,000 for the "Birdies for Charity" campaign. That was just one bit of the charitable news coming from DBC offices this week, because it was also announced that a whopping $3.5 million was raised for the Tiger Woods Learning Center and other New England charities. The six editions of the DBC have piled up nearly $14 million for charity. "Nothing is more gratifying for us than yet another record year of charitable contributions," said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas . . . Against a gloomy economic backdrop - three tournaments and $5 million in prize money have been trimmed from the '09 schedule - the LPGA Tour's ADT Championship begins today in West Palm Beach, Fla. It's billed as the finale of Annika Sorenstam's "farewell tour," though please don't get choked up; it's a safe bet you'll see her in tournaments down the road. Golfers simply don't retire.

Gaquin honored

The local golf community provides a long line of quality people, none more devoted than Jim Gaquin. He's worked behind the scenes at tournaments from the PGA Tour to Cape Cod and in an earlier lifetime was a superb reporter for the Waltham News-Tribune, his beat being Newton sports. Rarely does this wonderful man get enough credit, so it's great to hear that two honors have come his way. Gaquin was presented an Honorary Alumnus Award by the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund at the recent annual meeting, and later this month at the annual Hall of Fame dinner for Newton and Newton North high schools, he will be presented the Dr. L. Bradford "Doc" Thompson Award for outstanding service . . . Also at the Ouimet meeting, Richard Barrett of Charles River Country Club was elected the group's 27th president. Rounding out the executive committee are Richard Reilly of Brae Burn, first vice president; Terrence Kennedy of Farm Neck, second vice president; Scott Adler of Spring Valley, treasurer; and Dennis Kelly of Taconic, clerk. Susan Curtin of the Boston Golf Club was named to the board of directors . . . The 12th annual Fordie's Shootout is scheduled for Nov. 30 at Hyannis GC. You can put together your own foursome, but there are restrictions on handicaps. Best to call the pro shop at 508-775-1798 for entry information . . . Brian Spitz of Black Rock CC in Hingham shot 1-over 71 to score a two-stroke triumph in the New England PGA Assistants Tour Championship at Kernwood CC in Salem . . . Nick McLaughlin of New Castle, N.H., defeated Noah Walker of Norwell in a playoff to win the 14-15-year-old division in the recent Challenge Cup Invitational at Pinehills GC in Plymouth. Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., shot 74-70 to win the 16-18 division, while Clancy Waugh of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., scored a four-stroke win in the 13-and-under division. Julie Vongphoumy of Providence steamrolled to a 12-stroke win in the girls' division . . . No surprise, given the talent involved, but the annual McCracken Cup at Charles River CC needed a four-hole playoff, in which Charles Fox and his partner, Brendan Hester of Pleasant Valley CC, prevailed over Kevin Quinn and his brother, Chris, of Worcester CC. The teams had each shot 2-under 67, one better than Paul Murphy and Donald Gallagher of Woodland GC.

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