By John Reger
PGATOUR.com Contributor

LA QUINTA -- At the PGA TOUR National Qualifying Tournament smiles are as sparse as rain clouds here in the Southern California desert, but Ricky Barnes is beeming after finishing his second of six rounds, Thursday.

Though he is at even par after two days and hovering around the magical number of 30 and ties for those who get their TOUR cards, the 25-year old should have the least reason to be grinning. If it wasn’t for a couple of shots or a few thousand dollars this year on the Nationwide Tour he would have his PGA TOUR card.

That doesn’t seem to matter to Barnes, who has been thrown more curveballs in his young golf career than a veteran right-handed baseball power hitter.

“I’ve seen progression in my game, that’s the big thing,” Barnes said. “I’ve learned a lot more about my game, what I can and can’t do out on the golf course. You have to have your limitations out there, you can’t press all the time.”

When Barnes won the U.S. Amateur in 2002 he was one of the brightest college prospects and labeled a can’t miss on the PGA TOUR. When he played in the 2003 Masters and outshot playing partner Tiger Woods by seven shots, it only perpetuated people’s predictions.

But finishing low amateur at the Masters might get you a few sponsor exemptions, but it doesn’t get you playing privileges, though many considered Barnes getting his card a mere formality.

“I tasted the tops of all tops,” Barnes said. “I had dessert before dinner. I had to come back and have a few appetizers before dinner.”

Three years later and not only did Barnes not get on the PGA TOUR, but he had to hustle just to get on the Nationwide Tour. This was the first year Barnes had an exempt status on the Nationwide Tour and he didn’t earn that until late in the season.

He didn’t stop with that, though. He entered the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at the Houstonian with a chance to earn his PGA TOUR card. He shot a 65 in the final round and finished fourth, two shots below what he needed. He was 23rd on the money list, missing the last spot by $6,137.

“I can’t look at that,” said Barnes, who made 23 cuts during the season, second best in Nationwide Tour history. “I lost in a playoff four or five weeks prior to that. I had my chances, it’s just a tough Tour. You need a win out there. I think there are only two or three guys who got their cards and didn’t win. Obviously I missed my card by one spot but I made a huge push at the end rather than backing off. I did what I had to do, I just needed some help at the end.”

Barnes did earn a spot in the finals and rather than dwell on what could have been, worked on making this week the culmination of a dream he has had since he was a teenager.

“I want to keep going in the right direction, hitting the ball well and scoring,” Barnes said. “I did that at the end of the season. I want to finish off the job I started. I’m here and there is one way to get on TOUR this week and I want to do it.”

Q-School has not been kind to Barnes. He has never reached the finals.

“I’m a little more patient now,” Barnes said. “I came out and wanted everything right away. In our sports you have to be a little bit patient.”

Now Barnes feels he is ready to play at the level everyone thought he would be dominating now.

“My confidence is building,” Barnes said. “I was way up there playing at a high level. Then you come back and a little taste of reality and dims your confidence a little bit. Now it is the opposite, the confidence seems to be building every week. If you go from what I did straight onto the TOUR I don’t think you would ever really be humbled. I think I’ve been humbled enough. I think I am overdue to get out there now.

If he earns his card this week, you may never get the smile off his face.