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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- As Scott Verplank and Stephen Ames made the turn in the final round of the Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart, Mathias Gronberg was bogeying his final hole of the year. At least, he was hoping that it was the final hole of the year. Any other week that closing bogey would be frustrating but not devastating.

Mathias Gronberg finished at No. 125 on the money list. (Feldman/WireImage)

On Sunday in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom, though, the bogey could have come with career-impacting consequences. The computer projections showed at the time that Mathias would tie for 38th and finish 124th on the money list -- just within the 125 who would retain their PGA TOUR cards. But, on the golf course behind him, there were several players who could alter the Swede's fate.

Mathias knew this. He grabbed his clubs from his caddy and huffed into the locker room. With his fate left in the hands of others. Mathias opted not to stick around. His caddy would keep vigil and call Mathias on his cell to keep him updated.

Ordinarily, he would need to worry about the men just behind him on the money list like Kevin Stadler and Craig Kanada. But there were two other names on the leaderboard that could be troublesome. Out of nowhere, Tag Ridings (who ranked 210th on the money list entering the week) and Bryce Molder (No. 216) were both in contention on the back nine. Bryce had just made eagle on the par-5 14th to grab a share of the lead. A win by either gentleman would impact the top 125. A runner-up finish would not impact Mathias' future. The nearly $600,000 that comes with a solo second-place finish would not be enough to move Ridings or Molder into the top 125.

Molder was the first to fall with a disappointing double bogey at the par-4 16th. But his playing partner, Kevin Stadler, made birdie at the same hole to move into the top 20. One bullet dodged, but another one loaded into the barrel.

Now Gronberg was projected to finish 125th. With two holes to go, Kanada (No. 129) was 9-under par for the tournament. He would need to birdie the last two holes to push inside the top 125 but Mathias was still sweating.

Kanada would bogey the final hole and finish the tournament at 8 under -- which left him outside the top 125. But in the group behind Kanada was the cub, the young Stadler. Stads whipped a long iron from 226 yards to 18 feet left of the hole at No. 18. At 10-under par, Kevin was two putts away from finishing 124th on the money list, and he utilized the prodigious wand to secure his job for 2008.

So where did that leave Mathias? Once Stadler and Kanada were finished the only man who could mathematically bump Gronberg was Ridings. When Stadler finished, Ridings was two shots back with three holes left to play. Mathias was on an airplane. What more could he do?

When Mathias landed, he would find that the roughly $20,000 he made at Disney was enough to pass Ben Curtis by $11,000. For the second year in a row, Mathias had to sweat it out to the bitter end. He ended the 2006 season 124th on the money list. He ended the 2007 season 125th on the same list. Perhaps now, for the first time in weeks, he can breathe easier. Four weeks ago, Mathias was outside the top 150; now he is exempt for another year.

Ben Curtis will finish the season No. 126 on the money list but as a multiple winner in 2006 there is no need to worry about his schedule for next year either. He still has two exempt years remaining.

The bogey that Mathias made at the final hole in the Children's Miracle Network Classic will be forgotten -- or at most, become a dinner party punch line. That is not always the case. Sometimes a single hole can define an entire year and sometimes you don't even know it until much later. When you are exhaling after dodging every bullet at the Mickey Corral, though, you probably don't think about it all.