Tacoma's Michael Putnam is past the penultimate, out-of-sight stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School, placing tied for third at the four-round event Saturday at Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas.

Putnam finished at 9-under 279, and will get an opportunity to rejoin the PGA Tour by playing the six-round, final stage Dec. 3-8 at PGA West Nicklaus and Stadium Courses in California.

The top 25 from that tournament earn their PGA Tour card.

Needless to say, Putnam is anxious and excited. He failed to reach this point last season after finishing outside the top 125 on the PGA Tour's money list, and had to try and qualify again.

"Everything feels great. I played well at the end of the year," Putnam said. "The swing feels good. I am in maintain mode right now."

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When he realized he was going to have to go through Q-School last year, Putnam chose the closest venue to home – in California – and missed the cut.

His approach was well-researched this season. The Nationwide Tour Championship finished up Nov. 9 in Texas. On the advice of good friend, and fellow touring professional Chris Stroud, Putnam decided to play the second stage the following week near Houston.

It helped that Stroud has a house a few minutes from the course, and Putnam stayed there.

"Chris talked it up, said the course was a great one for a ball-striker like myself," Putnam said.

He opened with a 69, followed by a 68 to put himself in the top 10. And that is where he stayed for the remainder of the tournament.

"For a qualifying stage," he said, "it was pretty stress-free."

Now, the focus turns to PGA West. Putnam is traveling to the site for practice rounds at both courses this weekend, then will fine-tune a few things with swing coach Joe Thiel in the coming week, especially dialing in his wedge game.

"These two courses are different," Putnam said. "The Stadium Course is the hardest Q-School course there is … and I want to shoot around even-par for three rounds. The Nicklaus Course is really easy, and most guys figure they need to shoot 10-under (for three rounds).

"Two years ago, 8-under qualified. I'll definitely have scoring goals for each course."