Baryla qualifies to avoid qualifying.

Byline: NOTEBOOK By Adam Jude and Steve Irvin The Register-Guard

JUNCTION CITY - To have a chance on Sundays this summer, Chris Baryla has had to continually prove himself on Mondays.

Not any more.

After spending six months shifting from town to town with no guarantees of actually playing in the next Nationwide Tour tournament, the 23-year-old Canadian firmly established himself on the tour with a fourth-place finish Sunday at the Oregon Classic.

Baryla carded a 4-under 68 for the second consecutive day to finish at 13 under overall at Shadow Hills Country Club.

"Today was pretty solid," said Baryla, a native of Vernon, B.C., who was a standout at UTEP. "I didn't hit a lot of spectacular shots, but made a putt here and there."

The $21,600 fourth-place paycheck moves Baryla into No. 50 on the money list.

The top 60 this year earn full status on the Nationwide next year.

Baryla isn't satisfied with that.

"It's a grind trying to get out here and play every week," he said. "But it's been nice. Hopefully I can move up to top 35, if not top 20."

Better yet, he doesn't have to spend the Monday before each tournament hoping to qualify.

"You just gotta do what you gotta do," he said. "You show up and hopefully play well. Thankfully, I've gotten it done a lot of times this year."

Tidy paycheck Sunday

helps Putnam breath easy

Being safely among the Nationwide Tour money list's top 20 has altered Michael Putnam's reading habits lately.

"I don't look at the money list that's posted in the locker room every week," Putnam said. "I don't stare at it, and I just kind of bypass it."

It wasn't always that way for the 23-year-old, who came to the Oregon Classic with plenty of good memories of the Willamette Valley after winning two tournaments at Eugene Country Club during his college career at Pepperdine University.

"I thought about the money list all year long ... until about a couple weeks ago when I made a big check," Putnam said.

Two weeks ago, Putnam tied for second place at the Utah Classic in Sandy, Utah, to earn $31,350, and he came into the Oregon Classic 13th on the money list with $211,796, with five top-10 finishes in 20 events.

He gave away some money Sunday with a final-round 78, but the $1,496 he made for tying for 52nd place helps ensure he will be one of the top 20 money-winners who earn PGA Tour cards for next year.

Although Putnam's focus in the locker room has shifted, he said there's still plenty to play for in the last five events of the season because a top-five finish on the money list would get him into more West Coast events at the beginning of 2007.

Bigger holes surrender

smaller scores at Shadow

Shadow Hills Country Club's par-5 holes proved vulnerable again this year, as they were the four easiest holes in relation to par.

The 541-yard 18th played easiest, with an average score of 4.682 strokes over four rounds, followed by the 555-yard fifth at 4.770, the 533-yard 15th at 4.809 and the 578-yard ninth at 4.894.

The toughest hole proved to be the 17th, a 433-yard par-4 that played to an average of 4.205 strokes.

The par-4 seventh hole at 438 yards was the second-toughest at 4.194.