The phones were hot Friday at Eagle Bend Golf Course, and it was far more than golfers looking to book tee times that kept them ringing.

Head pro John Morris could have saved the callers the trouble of asking if only he had answered the phone, “Eagle Bend. John Morris. Jim Kane is at 2-under. He made the cut.”

By Sunday, the question in the pro shop was more the norm for a major weekend: “Has Tiger run away with it yet?”

Tiger Woods ran away with it again, and by the end of the tournament, Kane was 31 strokes behind him, in last place among those who made the cut at the PGA Championship played at Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago.

Kane, who lived in Lawrence from 1995 until moving to Edmond, Okla., earlier this year, shot a 1-under 71 on each of the first two days in a PGA in which Vijay Singh, John Daly and Fred Couples missed the cut.

He didn’t fare nearly as well in the final two rounds, shooting an 80 on Saturday, a 79 on Sunday. He carded double bogeys on two of his final three holes. Kane shot a 43 on the back side Saturday and a 42 on the back Sunday. Excluding those two sides, Kane was even par.

He was the equivalent of a bubble team during Selection Sunday in March, each errant shot putting him in danger of missing the cut he ended up making with two strokes to spare.

That’s a lot of pressure to grind through for a player who hasn’t been used to much tournament play in recent years.

“Making the cut certainly was a goal I had in mind, something to focus on, and there might be some truth to it being mentally and physically draining, but I’m certainly not going to use that as an excuse,” Kane said Sunday night by telephone as he awaited his flight home. “I just didn’t hit the ball well the last 27 holes.”

Kane, 48, was reminded he holds the course record of 62 at Eagle Bend.

“That’s right, I forgot that,” he said. “I could have used that this weekend.”

What would a 62 at Eagle Bend translate to at Medinah, where Woods won with an 18-under score over the four days?

“About even par,” Kane said with a laugh.

Kane and Stuart Appleby were the first to tee off Sunday. After finishing, Kane stayed around and watched TV coverage through nine holes of Woods’ final round.

Kane’s weekend was enriched by the presence of his wife, his father and two brothers who flew in from California.

Plus, he didn’t play half bad.

“I hit the ball really well the first two days, and then on the back nine Saturday, I didn’t hit a single fairway,” Kane said. “At Medinah, you can’t score if you can’t hit a fairway. And that’s usually the better part of my game.”

Kane did count one highlight from Sunday’s back nine, when he holed out from a green-side bunker on No. 11 for a birdie.

Kane’s goal is to join the senior tour after he turns 50 in January of 2008. He’ll go to Q school beginning at the end of October to try to qualify for the PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour. Before that, he and his wife have a trip planned to attend the Ryder Cup in September in Ireland.

Kane’s flight was ready to board, so he said goodbye.

“Tell everybody in Lawrence hello for me,” he said.