Michael Allen: Outside of Jako Van Zyl, who birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 8-under 64 and earn his PGA Tour card right on the number, no one had a better miracle rally at the finals of qualifying school than Scottsdale’s Michael Allen.

At the midpoint of the 108-hole grind held at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., Allen was 6 over and in a tie for “around 100 th place.’’ Then the mindset kicked in for the “King of Q School, who closed with rounds of 66-69-66 – 15-under par.

“I just put blinders on and played as hard as I could,’’ said Allen, who now has “graduated’’ a record nine times in 14 tries. “(Qualifying) school always teaches you something. And this time it taught me that anything is possible; just believe it.’’

Not an easy task to do when your future is so closely tied to how you play golf for one week. But Allen rose to the task and, unbelievably, did not make a bogey over his last 64 holes as he finished 9-under in a tie for 25 th place.

“As many times as I’ve been there, and as many times as I’ve got my card, you would think I’d get a lifetime exemption to Q School,’’ the 47-year-old Allen. “But seriously, I’m just glad I got one more opportunity, and that it turned out this good.’’

Robert Garrigus of Gilbert was the highest finisher among East Valley entrants, as he ended up in second place at 21-under. Garrigus, a former All-American from Scottsdale Community College, also had a nice comeback after opening with a 75.

Another shot back was Rich Barcelo, who grew up in Tucson. Stephen Marino, the guy who won this year’s Cingular Wireless Arizona Open with a brilliant 59 in the third round at Desert Mountain’s Outlaw Course, played true to his lights-out form. Marino finished seventh, a tournament-best 62 in the fourth round carrying him to his card.

Also earning PGA Tour cards were Scottsdale’s Parker McLachlin and Steve Allen, and Phoenix’s Jonathan Kaye, who all finished in a 12 player logjam for 29 th place. That bizarre finish came when veteran Tom Byrum, who was 10-under with two holes to play, ended up double bogey-bogey, and fell to 7-under, which opened up the floodgate.

Earning fully exempt status on the Nationwide Tour was former Grey Goose Gateway player Aaron Watkins of Mesa. It was a tough go for Watkins, who missed his card by one shot.

Also earning Nationwide Tour cards were former Arizona State All-Americans Chez Reavie, Todd Demsey and Matthew Jones. Reavie and Jones both played the Nationwide Tour last year, while Demsey played on the Grey Goose Gateway. Also returning to the Nationwide were former Arizona All-American Ricky Barnes and Scottsdale’s Danny Briggs.

Chances are all of the above are decompressing this week, or at least breathing a big sigh of relief after securing some type of card. But there are other things, like equipment contracts and sponsor money that are all tied to the deal.

In Allen’s case, he even has a little extra incentive. He has made 135 career cuts on the PGA Tour without a win, and needs 15 more to become fully vested with “veteran’s status,’’ which means a decent pension and health insurance for life.

NOTEWORTHY

LPGA cards: For those who want to know how young and Korean-dominated the LPGA has become, look no further than the two co-medalists at last week’s LPGA qualifying school. Hye Jung Choi, an 18-year-old former Futures player, and In-Kyung-Kim, an 18-year-old amateur, were the big winners. Former UA All-American Erica Blasberg also got her card, with former UA player Jenna Daniels and ex-ASU standout Louise Stahle gaining non-exempt status.

Four to go: OK, So John Daly did walk off the course at last year’s FBR Open after playing only 27 holes, and he still got the first sponsor’s exemption from the Thunderbirds on Tuesday. Nothing wrong with making sure golf’s third-largest draw is in the field. Now tournament chairman Pat McGinley has four sponsor’s exemptions to go, and it will be interesting to see if he protects veterans like Lee Janzen (the Phoenix Open winner in 1993), or goes for youth like his predecessor, Mike Haenel, did last year with Camilo Villegas.