Playing in his first PGA Tour event at the age of 37, Chris Thompson’s tournament score fluctuated between even-par and 2-under par through 70 of the 72 holes of the Byron Nelson Championship. But after losing five strokes to par on the final five holes, Thompson finished the day and the tournament 3-over par.

“It’s just like going to a good movie with a bad ending,” Thompson said. “It leaves a little bit of a bad taste in your mouth, but overall it’s a great experience.”

Through 13 holes of Sunday’s final round, Thompson had 11 pars and two birdies. He finished bogey, bogey, par, bogey, double bogey. His 69-69-72-73 was good for a tie for 64th, which earned him a check for $14,559.

Thompson’s week started by qualifying for the tournament after making a 15-foot putt to survive the first hole of a playoff and carding a birdie on the third hole. From there, he hurried across town to play a practice round with fellow Lawrence Country Club member and former Kansas University standout Gary Woodland.

“I’m excited for Chris,” said Woodland, who resides in Orlando, Fla., during the winter months and in Lawrence in the summer when he takes breaks from the PGA Tour schedule. “I play as much golf with him when I’m back home as I do anybody. He’s put in the work. He’s put in the time. It’s great to see him out here. I’ve always wanted someone from KU to play with, and that was the most enjoyable practice round I’ve had.”

Thompson lamented his performance on the final five holes, saying they “had my number all week. They’re hard holes, and you need to be able to flight the ball a little bit. You can lose it pretty quick out here, especially on those last five holes. They’re a pretty good test of golf, and it’s a test that I failed today.”

Thompson said by playing in the Tour event, he learned what he needs to work on, which he said, is “flighting the ball,” or keeping it low enough to keep the wind from messing with it.

“I grew up in (Independence) Kansas,” he said. “I know how to do it. When I’m swinging really well, I can do it. I don’t think it’s a huge adjustment.”

Asked if anything about his first PGA Tour event surprised him, Thompson said, “The course is a little harder than I thought it would be, but it’s in perfect shape. The greens are perfect, so if you hit good shots you’re going to have good looks. You have to get used to making 15, 20 footers because it’s pretty penal around the greens. You have to hit the ball the right distance to the fat side of the green and then make the putt.”

Thompson said he thought playing so often at Lawrence Country Club, noted for its quick greens, kept him in aggressive mode on the greens of Las Colinas.

“I think Bill Irving is one of the best superintendents on the planet,” Thompson said of the man known in Lawrence as the Sodfather. “He gets the greens out there at Tour level, so I think playing out there, the undulations of those greens, it’s pretty similar to out here. I’d say the greens out here are a little bit bigger, and for sure you’re hitting longer shots into the greens, but I feel really comfortable with the pace of the greens and the topography of them. I feel like the way he prepares a course prepares me for this kind of event.”

Thompson’s next challenge is at a U.S. Open district qualifier in Springfield, Ohio. He passed the first phase of qualifying at Sycamore Ridge.

“I was playing really well coming up to this week,” Thompson said. “These four days were OK, but I can play better.”

Thompson’s caddie, Jake Istnick, a former KU teammate, senses Thompson is at the beginning of a career breakthrough.

“I think what happens to some guys, and hopefully it happens with Chris, once you qualify for one, you qualify for a couple more, and you become more comfortable, and Chris is already comfortable. If he gets in a couple more this year, maybe a handful or a dozen next year, he’s there.”

Istnick and Woodland both said this week’s experience can only help Thompson to grow his game.

“He just has to continue to work at it because he’s close,” Woodland said of Thompson. “He’s not far off, and this week shows it. He knows he can play with the best. He’s definitely got the game. Now it’s just catching that break and (qualifying for the tour), and he can stay out here and do it for a long time.”

If that happens, apparel companies and equipment manufacturers are going to regret not signing him up when he could have been had so cheaply, when he didn’t use a Tour bag because nobody thought the exposure was worth paying him to show off a brand.