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By Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

LAKESIDE, Calif. -- It was a day of heartache and elation.

A day of good swings, shaky swings and last but not least mood swings.

A day of career altering experiences.

Sunday's win was Johnson's second of the year and gave him the money title. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

A day when every shot, be it a 300-yard plus drive or a two-foot tap-in, counted for something.

That's what happens down the stretch each and every year on the Nationwide Tour when the all-important pecking order on the money list is determined. It builds to a crescendo, with the drama, the tension, the satisfaction as well as the sadness inevitably magnified over the course of the last 18 holes of competition.

The 2007 season certainly was no different. When the final putt fell in the final round of the final tournament, the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek Golf Club in the foothills outside San Diego on Sunday, a 25-member graduating class was identified, a Nationwide Tour Championship winner was crowned and a brace of forlorn also-rans were pointed in the direction of either the second or third stages of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, where their last opportunity to achieve their primary goal this year awaits.

So after grinding from January to November, after traveling across four countries, after playing in 32 events another season is in the books, culminating with four angst-ridden days in Southern California that decided so much.

Here's the tale of the finale.

THE CHAMPION

To say Richard Johnson put on a stretch run worthy of Secretariart might be an understatement. Early in the season the 35-year-old Welshman was spitting the bit while playing in the final pairing four times without winning.

"I'm still able to laugh about it,'' Johnson said. "I completely blew one of them (with a double bogey on the 71st hole in Pennsylvania) ...but these guys are so good that sometimes you can play good and still lose.''

Perhaps that cavalier attitude bolstered Johnson, because he finally broke through the fifth time he played in the final group at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic the first week in October.

Talk about your turnarounds.

Now, in the first week in November, Johnson is the Nationwide Tour Championship winner too. And his check for $139,500 pushed him to the top of the money list heap. That means he receives the sweetest perk of all, full exemption on the PGA TOUR in 2008. And despite the fact that he will be a rookie next season, that means he can play when and where he pleases.

"I never gave (the money title) a thought to be honest,'' Johnson said. "Now I can set a schedule and I get to play in THE PLAYERS Champship, which should be quite nice.''

Johnson certainly earned it at Barona. He was six strokes behind first-round leader Michael Letzig, but kept his head down and kept making birdies. He shrugged off a quadruple bogey midway through Saturday's third round, closing by running the table coming home on Nos. 16, 17 and 18. Johnson seized the lead when Letzig four-putted the 18th, creating a four-shot swing.

A perfect start of an eagle and two birdies in the first four holes of the final round set Johnson up with a five-shot cushion. His 20-under-par total of 264 was just enough for a one-stroke victory over Letzig after the champion started steering the ball around.

"I was wondering how can I mess this up,'' he said.

Johnson didn't.

THE RUNNER-UP

Roland Thatcher moved into the money lead after scoring his second victory of the season at the Cox Classic presented by Chevrolet. That was on July 29. He owned it for 12 events and made no secret of his desire to gain that full exemption.

Roland Thatcher was the money leader for four months, until Sunday night. (Condon/PGA TOUR)

Thatcher assiduously worked out all the financial scenarios before the Nationwide Tour Championship began, discovering that only five players in the 56-man field could beat him. Four of those five needed a victory. Johnson was one of them.

Needless to say Thatcher, who slipped out of contention into a tie for 29th over the final 36 holes, was deeply disappointed by the outcome.

"Twenty five guys will be handed their PGA TOUR cards this afternoon and 24 of them will be happy,'' Thatcher said after completing his final round. "This is going to change how I approach (tournaments) on the West Coast. I'll probably have to add some now.''

Thatcher laughed.

"I had the lead for four months,'' he said. "Richard had it one night.''

But it's the most important night. And Thatcher congratulated the man who passed him.

"Give Richard credit,'' he said. "He played great down the stretch and earned every bit of it.''

THE ROOKIE

Eleven years of sweating blood at Qualifying School.

More seasons of beating the bushes on golf's mini-tours for longer than he cares to remember.

Scott Sterling will be a TOUR rookie in 2008. (WireImage)

Days and nights of battling demon doubt while wondering if perhaps this professional golf thing wasn't for him.

Scott Sterling purged those memories and thoughts from his mind in 2007. He scored his first Nationwide Tour victory in February in Australia and then he nervously hung on down the stretch to make it into "THE 25'' at No. 21 and will be a rookie on the PGA TOUR next season at the age of 36.

"I was feeling pretty good coming in here, figuring I'd just go out and have fun,'' said Sterling, who finished tied for 17th.

The fun ended and the nerves started jangling as Letzig, who was 26th on the money list, and Tom Scherrer, 27th, were playing extremely well and threatening to leap over a passel of players in their paths.

"That stuff started happening,'' said Sterling, who was nine shots out of the lead after round one.

Then Sterling made things happen. He closed with rounds of 67, 68 and 68 to ease the mental strain -- some.

"This is my first time so I guess I always thinking the worst was possible,'' he said. "I got off to a good start today and some early birdies settled me down. But it wasn't until the final nine hole that I figured I was in.

"Now I'm pumped. It's finally over.''

BUBBLE BOY

Brenden Pappas sat on the bubble -- 25th spot on the money list -- so long down the stretch he developed intimate knowledge of its intricacies. He moved onto it Oct. 7, when he tied for 13th at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic. He tied for 15th at the WNB Golf Classic the following week and remained 25th. He tied for 17th at the Chattanooga Classic. And he remained 25th. Sure enough, he tied for 27th at last week's Miccosukee Championship and ... well, you know ...he stayed glued to the bubble, making him a marked man.

Brenden Pappas earned the last spot for a 2008 PGA TOUR card. (WireImage)

"The bubble has burst,'' a relieved Pappas said after shooting a 67 in the final round that propelled him to a tie for fifth and the 22nd spot on the money list. "I plan to turn my back to the bubble for perpetuity.''

Pappas did his best to ignore his tenuous situation but finally admitted the anxiety of being the hunted for such an extraordinary period of time wore on him.

"I am drained physically and mentally,'' he said. "This has been a difficult period, making it is a testament to how much I've improved.''

THE CLOSE CALL

Jimmy Walker, the 2004 Nationwide Tour player of the year, was at the mercy of the golf gods after finishing with a 9-under-par total of 275 Sunday. Although he appeared safe in the 21st spot on the money list when the tournament began, he bounced in and out of "THE 25'' as the tournament wound down.

Jimmy Walker is looking forward to a second crack at the PGA TOUR. (WireImage)

It became apparent at least two players -- Skip Kendall and David McKenzie -- were going to get bumped by Letzig and Scherrer. Walker would be the third if B.J. Staten could finish strongly. All Walker could do was watch as the action unfolded on a television in his hotel room. It didn't help matters that Staten is one of Walker's best buddies.

"It was stressful and I watched with mixed emotions as people came in and out,'' he said. "You don't want to root against anybody but...''

Staten had two looks at birdies on the 71st and 72nd holes, but putts from approximately 15 feet slid past the hole on each occasion. If either had fallen, Staten would have supplanted Walker as 25th on the money list.

Somehow it seemed fitting that Walker won out in the end. A bulging disc in his back sidelined him before he could play in his first PGA TOUR event. The injury started a dark odyssey for a player who oozed with talent. Now he's come full circle.

"I didn't feel like I got a fair shot the first time,'' he said. "Now I can't to get out there again.''

Walker wasn't the Lone Ranger as the sun set on the Nationwide Tour season Sunday.