With the PGA Tour season down to four events, and a No. 209 ranking on the money list, time is rapidly running out on former Lamar University All-America Chris Stroud.

Battling season-long putting woes, and a nagging wrist injury that forced him to withdraw during the second round last week, Stroud’s odds of avoiding another trip to PGA Q School are overwhelming. But a strong finish could help him avoid having to go through all three stages.

Stroud needs to climb inside the top 200, which is well within reach, to get a pass on the first stage. He needs to vault into the top 150 to avoid the second stage, and that’s going to require high finishes in the next couple of events.

Heading into this week’s Valero Texas Open, Stroud’s offical earnings are $129,845. That leaves him roughly $36,000 out of 200th place and more than $300,000 behind Justin Bolli, who is number 150 at $438,202.

The silver lining in Stroud’s rather gloomy outlook is that his second best finish as a pro came at last year’s Texas Open. Playing a LaCantera Golf Club layout he’s familiar with dating back to junior golf, Chris shot rounds of 65-65-64-69 for a 13-under 267.

He finished six shots behind winner Justin Leonard.

Sub-par rounds have been few and far between for Stroud in 2008. He’s made the cut in only seven of 24 tournaments and has just one top 25 — a tie for 12th. His stroke average has climbed from 71.27 in 2007 to 72.57.

The major contributor to his struggles has been poor putting. The one-time PN-G great ranks 198th in tour putting stats.

CHIP SHOTS: While Stroud hopes to avoid making a stop at the PGA Tour first stage Q School Oct. 27-28 at Kingwood’s Forest Course, Orange’s Michael Arnaud is happy to be headed there. Arnaud continues to play well on the Adams Tour, finishing T4 in the Oct. 2-5 Guaranty Bank Clasic at Black Bear in Delhi, La. He posted a six-under 282 and stands 14th on the Adams Tour money list. Among Arnaud’s accomplishments on the Adams Tour is ranking T4 in scoring average, being No. 3 in Top 10s and going 9-for-9 in making cuts . . . Sheldon Arnaud of Port Neches got to celebrate a hole in one last Thursday at Babe Zaharias. Playing in the Senior 60 Plus game at The Babe, Arnaud sank a 5-iron from 137 yards on the 12th hole. The ace earned him a $50 payoff. Witnesses were James Bolton, Henry Taylor and Art Miller . . . The Babe Zaharias Senior 60 Plus game was played in a 2-man scramble format. The duo of Tom O’Grady-Marshall Rowe won 1st Flight at minus seven, finishing two clear of Tommy Trahan-Ben Thornton. In 2nd Flight, James Bolton-Sheldon Arnaud won at minus five. There was a tie for second at minus one between Tommy Holland-Harold Wilkinson and Guy Van Cleve-Harold Guidry. Third Flight went to Paul Brown-Charlie Ingraham at plus one. L.J. Hardy-Bernie Johnson finished second at plus four. Closest to the pin winners were Ken Fabre (No. 2), Ron Hebert (No. 7), Arnaud (No. 12) and Joe Benoit (No. 15) . . . The Babe Zaharias DogFight was won at 19&7 by the foursome of Tom Lawton, Larry Voight, Billy Pennington and Austin Segura. Second at 17&5 was the team of Bill Hatfield, Jeff Rinehart, Dennis Odom and Art LeCoq. Third at 16&6 was the team of Hilario Padia, Jim Cooper, Jerry May, Wayne Mathews and Harold Wilkinson. Closest to the hole winners were Hervis Allen, (No. 2), Ed Hetzel (No. 7), Jim Cooper (No. 15) and Hilaro Padia (No. 15) . . . The 13th annual Joe Williamson Memorial Tournament will be played Saturday at Zaharias, with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Entry fee for the two-person scramble is $50 per player. Proceeds go to scholarships at Port Neches-Groves and Nederland High Schools. Call 722-8286 to enter.

Golf news should be faxed to 724-6854 or e-mailed to rdwest@usa.net.