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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- I have always hoped that death comes with an accountant. When I die I want to know how much money has fallen out of my pockets throughout my life. I want to know what great opportunities I missed. I want to know how many times fate intervened, I took credit for it, and how many times I cheated fate. I want to know why I have a drawer full of unmatched socks when I know that I put two in the dryer.

But life doesn't come with a scorecard. Second guessing and hindsight certainly have their place but only for the lessons they teach. The remorse that they conjure is counterproductive.

Ted Purdy began the week at No. 125 on the money list. (Grayson/WireImage)

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• Watch:  Purdy on the bubble

Living a life in the sunshine as a professional golfer might seem to an outsider like players are exempt from worries. And certainly in some ways that is true. Making lots of money to play a game is certainly a dream. But it is a hard fought dream and at no time of year is it more apparent than now.

The Children's Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart is the best event of the year for players with young families as long as that player isn't fighting for his job. For those who are hanging around one of the bubbles it is another matter all together. Loneliness can be defined by being stressed out in the happiest place on Earth.

Ted Purdy knows that. He came into the week at No. 125 on the money list. The 2005 winner of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship is in the last week of the exemption that victory afforded him.

Ted opened with a 2- under-par 70 on Thursday but was unable to generate any momentum on Friday and missed the cut by two shots. The most helpless feeling for any player is knowing that your fate now lies in the hands of others.

There is no question that Ted can think back over those 36 holes and find putts missed and shots squandered. He can think back on the year and drive himself crazy. He won't want to look back, he will want to look forward. But that is easier said than done. Especially when what is on the horizon is the gathering storm of q-school.

While Ted's role at the Children's Miracle Network Classic is now reduced to that of spectator there are a lot of players trying to take advantage of one last opportunity.

Interestingly, two of the three players immediately behind Ted on the money list will seemingly have little impact on the final exempt money list. Brett Quigley's (No. 128) season ended a couple of months ago with knee surgery. At the time it looked like he would finish comfortably inside the top 125 but this Fall Series has seen the number increase some $200,000 in just six weeks.

Quigley has applied for a medical exemption and should have a handful of tournaments next year to make up the difference between where he finishes and the final 125 number.

J.B. Holmes (No. 126) is exempt next year by virtue of his win last year at the FBR Open. But, as he is poised to move inside the top 125 after shooting 8 under over the first 36 holes, when he moves in someone else gets booted out. Furthermore, J.B. will need to finish in the top 125 to qualify for THE PLAYERS Championship next year.

But while Quigley and Holmes' situations are not quite desperate, Kevin Stadler and Craig Kanada may feel differently. Kevin started the week $21,458 behind Purdy. Kanada found himself $45,545 in debt to the 125 mark. Both players are playing this weekend and both have an opportunity to push past Ted.

By Sunday afternoon celebrations and sadness will take place side by side. Obviously someone is going to win the Children's Miracle Network Classic and that will be quite a story. But the real story that will hold a lot of players attention will likely play out somewhere other than the last few groups. Every stoke on the PGA TOUR has a dollar figure attached to it. But it is only at the last couple of events that players start counting pennies.

For those who fall short, and the nature of the beast dictates that someone will, there will be the nagging agony of knowing that one shot could have made a difference. One, lazy 2-footer on a Friday in May that caused a carelessly missed cut. One block in the water on a Saturday that stalled momentum in June can haunt a player months later.

There may not be a scorecard in life but there is in golf and everything is counted. Sunday of the Children's Miracle Network Classic is the day when debts are due. The entire year can come down to a single shot. A single birdie on the last hole can buy you another year in the sun. A single mistake can send you to q-school.

Sort of makes worrying about where the other sock went sound trivial, besides, TOUR players get their socks for free.