Pinehurst, N.C. ? Seinfeld had the summer of George. On the Kansas golf scene, this has been the summer of Chris Thompson.

Contending on the PGA Tour has become routine for fellow Lawrence Country Club member and former Kansas University golfer Gary Woodland, but few expected him to have Jayhawk company in big events this summer.

In a whirlwind two-week period, Thompson qualified for and made the cut in the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas, his first PGA tour event, then qualified for the U.S. Open out of a sectional in Springfield, Ohio.

He tees it up with Cody Gribble and amateur Andrew Dorn at 1:42 p.m. (Kansas time) Thursday off No. 1 and at 7:57 a.m. off No. 10 Friday. He teed it up with Sergio Garcia in a practice round Tuesday.

Playing the best golf of his career at the age of 37, Thompson was a two-time All-American at Kansas in 1997 and 1999. A mini-tour veteran, he has won nine events in the Bush Leagues of professional golf, including three times on the eGolf Professional Tour, so he is familiar with several golf courses in the area. Thompson earned the two biggest golf pay days of his career in North Carolina, taking a $35,000 first-place purse in each one. He also has won four Adams Tour events, and had a victory apiece on the Prairie Tour and Golden Bear Tour.

“Unfortunately, the purses have gotten smaller (compared to his $35,000 victories),” Thompson said.

He played in four Adams Tour events this past April and earned $18,365.50, including $8,300 for a second-place finish in the Gateway-Buick GMC Classic. He took home a $14,599 check for finishing tied for 62nd in the Byron Nelson tournament.

The best financial year of Thompson’s career came in 2007, when he had full status on the Nationwide Tour (now called the Web.com Tour, the Triple A of professional golf). He said he made “just under $100,000” that year, one in which he shot a a 60 in the opening round of the Cox Classic in Omaha, Nebraska. Because he did not perform well in the final phase of Q school, Thompson is so far down the waiting list for web.com tour events he must rely on surviving qualifying or receiving a sponsor’s exemption to get in a field. There are events in Kansas City and Wichita.

If he ends up in the field at one of those events, he likely would have a decent-sized gallery following him, based on how many from Kansas watched him in Texas and planned to travel to Pinehurst. Friends marvel at his even temperament and coolness under pressure.

Long-time Lawrence restaurant and bar owner Brad Ziegler, who was in the gallery at the Byron Nelson, recalled playing with Thompson on an Arizona golf trip.

“I was with him the second day when he got a hole in one on the same hole two days in a row, and he didn’t even crack a smile,” Ziegler said.

Friends who play with him regularly at LCC insist he’s a better player now than then, and Thompson agrees.

“I think the strength of my game is the driver,” said Thompson, who said he has gained 5-to-10 yards off the tee with the Callaway Big Bertha he was given at the Byron Nelson. “(His game) is kind of built around driving the ball well, and I’m pretty good around the greens. This past year or two, I’ve become a better putter.”

Thompson’s hot putter enabled him to make the cut with three strokes to spare at 2-under par in the Byron Nelson. He finished at 3-over par.

His friend Jim Clement caddied for him in the local and sectional U.S. Open qualifiers. Former KU teammate Jake Istnick was on his bag for his first PGA Tour event, and Justin Livonius will be helping him manage his way through Pinehurst No. 2. Thompson met Livonius through former college teammate Ryan Vermeer, who used to join Thompson on long drives from Kansas to North Carolina for Tar Heel Tour events.

“I stay with him when I play in events in North Carolina and he has caddied for me,” Thompson said. “He’s played Pinehurst several times. I think it’ll be a good fit. He’s relentlessly positive, pretty upbeat, good personality. He keeps me talking when he feels me getting tired or mad or down.”

After a light day of practice on the course Monday, his arrival day, and a heavier one Tuesday, when temperatures reached 97 degrees, Thompson scheduled his final getting-to-know-you session with Pinehurst for this morning.