The Phil Ritson-Mel Sole Golf School at Pawleys Plantation near Myrtle Beach, S.C., announces a two-for-one rate on its three-day instruction programs through Jan. 29, 2005.

Circling Raven Golf Club and the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel in Worley, Idaho, announce that the golf club has exceeded projected rounds played for the second successive month.

The end of the PGA Tour season is nearing, four events left to be exact. This is the point in the season that is just kind of blah. Davis Love III even admitted as much on Wednesday, as he attempted to motivate himself for this week's Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

"I'm like, you know, it would be nice to stay home the rest of the year," he said. "It's that time of year where you are either chasing something or you're trying to figure out what to do for next year."

On the surface, there really is not much left to look forward to on the Tour. The majors have been decided, along with the Ryder Cup. Vijay Singh is a hands-down lock to win Player of the Year honors with his eight (and counting) wins that includes the PGA Championship. Even Tiger Woods ended the suspense and finally wed.

But for about a dozen or so players, there remains plenty to play for, and it's called the money list. Quite simply the magical numbers are 30, 40 and 125. The top 30 on the PGA Tour's money list get an invite to the season-ending Tour Championship. The top 40 get invites to next year's four majors, and the top 125 get a playing card for 2005. Kenny Perry (30), Bo Van Pelt (40) and Mark Calcavecchia (125) are are the bottom of the respective lists heading into this weekend.

But this is the time of year when putts hold higher premiums and a missed -- or made -- one could slip players in and out of the list. For example, Pelt holds a roughly $2,700 lead over Woody Austin for 40th, while Calcavecchia leads Mark O'Meara by slightly less than $2,100 for 125th.

A win or a top finish can catapult players up the list, as was the case with Australian Andre Stolz. Prior to last week, Stolz sat 217th on the money list with just under $90,000 earned for the entire season. But Stolz then went out and won the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas and moved to 89th. He could easily take the rest of the year off.

Thursday, Jason Dufner took the first step toward duplicating Stolz' story. He shot a 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead. Dufner's story is no less compelling.

The rookie is 186th on Tour in earnings with $206,795 with a top finish of T11 at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Currently No. 125 has earnings of $545,959.

DOUBLE CLICK
http://www.pgatour.com/stats/leaders/r/2004/109

At this point in the season, this is a better leaderboard to watch. Many of the big names are heading toward off-season hibernation, but there is plenty of movement down the list.