No disrespect to Stephen Ames, but the real drama at the Children's Miracle Network Classic had nothing to do with the winner of the tournament. No, everybody's interest was focused further down the money list, on the No. 125 cut line. (You know the deal, right? Stay in the top 125, and you're exempt for next year; fall out of it, and you have to resort to exemptions and sponsors' whims.) 

As you probably already know, David Duval fell short in his bid to stay in the top 125. But he wasn't the only one. Some big names hung on to get their card (the pictured-at-right Ricky Barnes, Rich Beem) and some others dropped out of the mix (Chris Riley, Jeff Maggert). Over at CBS Sports, Steve Elling did a fine job of breaking down all the vomit-inducing turns of fortune as players pinballed back and forth between salvation and damnation. For instance, check out the story of Nicholas Thompson:

Thompson started the week at 132nd and was sitting at a projected 116th as he played the 18th, then hit his drive next to a tree and found his ball among the roots. He bent the hosel of his 6-iron trying to hit a big slice left of the green, but overcooked it and it almost sailed into a water hazard along the right side of the green.

[snip]

It was dry by perhaps 10 feet, and Thompson badly chunked a wedge shot onto the green, leaving him an uncomfortable 50 feet. How unsettling was it? His lag put was nearly a gag putt -- he left it nine feet short. But he somehow collected himself and ran it in.

Oh, but it got worse from there for Thompson, who bounced in and out of the top 125 based on how later players fared. (Read the whole account here.) Same deal for Jimmy Walker, who most certainly was not dynamite when he was closing out his round, dunking his ball on 17 and bunkering it on 18. But he still managed to stay at 125. 

For the current money list, click here and see how your favorite golfer did (or didn't) fare. Exemptions are all over the map, but I like the fact that Tom Watson made it into the top 125 with only two events played. So fear not, dudes who didn't make the cut this year -- there's always hope.

Related: Tom Watson, Chris Riley, Rich Beem, Ricky Barnes, Stephen Ames, David Duval