Some halfway home, others halfway to going home

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Paul Stankowski is in position to improve his standing on the PGA TOUR next season.

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- Paraphrasing what one player said earlier in the week, the first few days of q-school are largely about not screwing up. The next three then will be about finishing the marathon, and some players, of course, are in better position to do that than others.

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James Driscoll, Carlos Franco and Paul Stankowski, for example, are among those in position in the top 10 and well could be on their way to securing PGA TOUR cards for next season.

James Nitties, Erik Compton, Billy Hurley and Lee Janzen, on the other hand, are in a much more precarious position with all four over par for the week and well outside the top 25 on the leaderboard at Orange County National.

For someone like Stankowski, who finished inside the top 150 at 137th on the money list, though, there is admittedly less pressure because he'll get into 16-18 events next season. Still, that doesn't mean the once oft-injured 40-year-old isn't feeling anxious.

"I'm just trying to keep my emotions in check because this week can wear you out, said Stankowski, whose list of injuries is as long as they were once serious.

In 2002, he tore cartilage in his left wrist and then needed surgery the following year before re-tearing it in 2004 and having the joint then rebuilt. A year after that he tore a tendon in his forearm and while injured later suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. In 2007, Stankowski hurt his shoulder but by 2008 and 2009 was pain-free. Still, he wears a wrap around his left wrist, where the tendon is literally held in place by tape and a cord that keeps the tendon from flopping around inside his arm.

Franco, like Stankowski, is a veteran on TOUR though he is in a tougher position. Franco made just 10 starts this year and finished 200th on the money list. There is no comfort of conditional status unless he finishes in the top 25 here and at 46 years old, Franco has a long time until he's eligible for the Champions Tour.

"I have to stay patient because every day is a different situation," said Franco, who shot an even-par 71 Friday on Panther Lake after taking 35 putts in the round.

This was Franco's 11th year on TOUR, but this year also marks his fifth straight trip to q-school. Only once in the last four years has Franco, tied for 10th going into the weekend, finished in the top 25 at final stage.

"My No. 1 goal is to play confident and strong," said Franco, whose last of four career victories came in 2004. "I need my card and need 4-and-a-half more years. I want to win twice more before the Champions Tour."

HORSCHEL'S HOPES: Along with Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark, Billy Horschel was thought to be one of the game's promising young players when he made it to the TOUR last year. A wrist injury wiped out the former University of Florida star's season, though, and he'll play 2011 on a major medical extension -- unless he finishes in the top 25 here.

Even though Horschel is likely guaranteed 19 or 20 starts under the MME for next season, he would like to improve his standing in the pecking order of what tournaments he'll be eligible for.

After a 66 Friday, Horschel is 6 under and tied for 16th. And perhaps just as importantly, pain-free.

"[The wrist] gets sore and it gets tight, the same old stuff, but nothing bad," Horschel said. "I'd like to take care of business here and hopefully won't have to worry about [my schedule]."

FOWLER'S INFLUENCE: After finishing 179th on the money list, Cameron Tringale is at q-school for a second straight year. And after a 69 Friday to move into a tie for third he is again in position to successfully secure a TOUR card for next season.

One person who would like to see that happen is Rickie Fowler. The two became good friends during stellar college careers -- Tringale at Georgia Tech and Fowler at Oklahoma State -- and were even roommates until recently when Fowler moved from Las Vegas to Jupiter, Fla.

That friendship, however, went a long way toward helping Tringale.

"It's nice to be surrounded with someone who's achieving so much," Tringale said. "Good people are important in life and in golf and it's always nice to have friends already there. He's obviously done well and will be there next year and I'm trying to get back out there with him."

As for what Tringale thinks of Fowler's already exploding future?

"The sky's the limit," he said. "He's very motivated to do good things and when someone has that motivation there's no telling where they're going to go. He can do whatever he wants to do, I think. He just has a great belief in himself. I think all good players have that. They all see themselves as being where they want to be."