Michael Long is set to take the short cut back on to golf's biggest stage.
The New Zealander today made a significant advance in his quest for PGA Tour status in the United States next year when finishing in a tie for second in the secondary Nationwide Tour's Boise Open inIdaho.
Long, 36, the 2001 Boise Open champion, carded a closing round of one-under-par 70 for a tournament score of 272, two shy of the winner, American Scott Gump.
His fifth top-10 result of the season earned Long US$52,800 ($79,976) and propelled him from 26th to 13th on the tour moneylist with tournament income of US$195,084.
The top 20 players at season's end earn automatic promotion to the PGA Tour for 2005 and, with five events left, Long is now in a strong position to side step the need to return to tour qualifying school.
He had a full season on the PGA Tour in 2002 but lost his card before finishing 35th on the Nationwide Tour's order of merit in 2003.
Long is one of two New Zealanders playing regularly on the Nationwide Tour.
The other, Steve Alker, needs a miraculous finish to the season to challenge for a PGA Tour card.
Alker finished in a share of 30th at the Boise Open when his closing round of 73 saw him tumble 15 places down the leaderboard.
It left him 78th on the moneylist with earnings of US$57,390.
