ESPN Golf

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- The parking lot is full at Orange County National, so overrun with cars that makeshift spots are a necessity. The clubhouse dining room is jammed with customers, standing room only.

Then you venture onto the two courses at the property where the golf tournament is under way, and you barely run into a soul, save for the players, their caddies, and a few friends and relatives.

Oh, there are a handful of spectators spread out over acres of green grass, but for a golf tournament with so much riding on the outcome, it is almost eerie to see so few people, hear so little noise.

"There's a lot of silence," said Dave Kinne, one of the few to venture out to the fourth round of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament on Saturday. "But if you are a golf fan, this is the place to be. There's a lot of pressure on these guys, just from a stamina standpoint. Six rounds, boy. But it's neat to see some guys you've heard of and some of the new guys."

Kinne traveled to Florida from Greensboro, N.C., along with a couple of buddies, almost giddy that they had the whole place to themselves.

There are no grandstands at Q-school, no luxury suites, barely any ropes. Good thing, because more than a few players on Saturday appeared to be looking for a noose.

Now is when the pressure starts to build. Some have already shot themselves out of contention for one of the 25 (plus ties) PGA Tour cards and there are a some whose hopes of even securing full Nationwide Tour privileges (the next number closest to 50 after the top 25 and ties) are all but gone.

But for those with a chance over the next 36 holes, every drive, every approach, every putt becomes crucial.

And yet, you never quite know where you stand.

Unlike regular PGA Tour events, there are no electronic scoreboards. There are not even people-operated scoreboards, or standard-bearers. You know what you are doing, and you know what the other two players in your threesome are doing. But you can only guess as to what you need to be doing when it's all over.

"It is definitely different in that way," said Scott Parel, 42, a Nationwide Tour player who is at Q-school for the 12th time and has never made it to the PGA Tour. "Depending on how you feel about it, it may be good or it may be bad. For me, it's fine, especially here. It's not like we've got a make-or-break par-5 on the last hole. There are not a lot of options, not a lot of lay up or go decisions. That's a little different than PGA West (the site of last year's Q-school finals). That had some scarier shots and you have to be more aware. There's more stuff lurking there.

"When you're on the last nine holes, you find out so many times what you think the number is and it ends up not being that. You hear about a guy who thinks he needed to do this or that. My philosophy is you just have to play the best you can. You should play every shot at your best. And you shouldn't force it anyway."

Most of those in the 166-player field had to pay $4,000 to enter, depending on when they submitted their paperwork. PGA Tour members who made it into the Q-school finals got a discount of $3,500. Some 1,300 participants have been part of the process that now includes a pre-qualifier before getting to the first of three stages. Those events comprise 72 holes before this 108-hole marathon that concludes on Monday. Only six players have advanced from the pre-qualifier to here.

At least everyone here knows he will have some place to play in 2008, however limited his opportunities might be. Everyone who tees it up at the finals is at least given conditional status on the Nationwide Tour.

So those who suffered through a tough week can take comfort in knowing that it could be worse. The qualifying tournament began in 1965 and by 1968 the tour was conducting two per year, in the spring and the fall. And a tour card back then, before the days of the 125-player all-exempt list, simply meant the right to qualify on Mondays. Only 60 players were fully exempt. If you failed at Q-school, there was no choice but to toil on mini-tours and try again next year.

That all changed when the developmental tour now known as the Nationwide came along in 1990. It gave players a fallback plan. And let's face it, some of the upstarts at the final stage of qualifying might be better served getting some seasoning on the developmental tour, where the spotlight does not shine so bright, and where the competition is stiff, but not nearly as troublesome as the PGA Tour.

Still, nobody in the hunt for their PGA Tour card is thinking that way now. They are this close and want to make it, which is what makes the last two days so compelling. At the moment, there are 37 players who are at 10-under-par or better, which is the cutoff to get a 2008 PGA Tour card. (The projected number for the top 25 and ties is 15-under.) Another 30 players are within three shots of the top 25.

All of which means the atmosphere ought to be even more somber and silent over the next two days.

Bob Harig is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.