When you play a game for a living, life can sometimes seem like a game show.

Vaughn Taylor experienced that during the PGA Tour's seven-event Fall Series, when he rode the stress and emotional swings of a contestant on golf's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Sunday on the Palm Coast of Florida, Taylor felt like one of those players who ran out of lifelines and missed the $1 million question, but still got to walk away with enough cash to secure himself for the next year.

It was bittersweet -- missing out on a chance to win by fractions of an inch, but still fulfilling the threshold goal of keeping his PGA Tour card for another season. In one breath, the Evans golfer was expressing dismay, and the next relief.

"I'm a little disappointed," Taylor said on the phone Sunday after finishing in a five-way tie for second in the Ginn sur Mer Classic. "I was looking forward to getting a 'W' but I made enough to keep my card. Being fully exempt next year is a whole lot nicer than thinking about Q-school."

Such is the change of perspective that can occur when you straddle the risky line between failure and opportunity. Taylor went into the week hoping simply to earn employment for the next 12 months and came a narrowly missed 10-foot putt away from securing his card for the next two years instead. He would have happily taken the former until the latter was so tantalizingly close.

"I was really looking forward to having a chance at a playoff or getting a win," he said. "I miss winning. It's been three years already."

Taylor hasn't won since defending his title at the 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open, but winning seemed the furthest thing from possible when he started the tour's Fall Series.

Without a top-10 finish since a tie for eighth at the Bob Hope Classic in February, he hardly seemed like the same player who qualified for a spot on the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team and contended on Sunday at the 2007 Masters Tournament.

"It's been a grind this season," Taylor said. "And, you know, I didn't expect to be coming down to this position."

Eighteen months ago, Taylor was ranked as high as 37th in the world. Heading into last week's event, he had slipped all the way to 226th.

Most importantly, he was 129th on the money list and almost $34,000 behind the moving target that represents the magic No. 125.

The way things played out, he needed to earn roughly $80,000 last week to jump back into the top 125. By playing the final 27 holes at 7-under without a bogey, he cleared that bar with two strokes and a couple hundred thousand dollars to spare. His runner-up finish earned $276,000 and moved him comfortably to 100th on the money list at $1.037 million -- marking the fifth year in a row that Taylor has topped $1 million on the PGA Tour.

"I came down here to keep my card and that was the goal," he said. "It was a bonus to be in the mix, which is fun. Now, it's all over and I am happy. I did achieve that goal, so all in all it's a good week."

That was not how Taylor felt when he was playing the final hole of the Hammock Beach Conservatory Course, a 570-yard par 5. Caught up in a six-way tie for first, Taylor hit his 142-yard approach from the rough to 10 feet pin high right of the hole. He flipped his putter in the air in frustration after the birdie attempt grazed the right edge of the cup and slid 9 inches past.

"I hit a good putt and perfect speed," said Taylor, who failed to birdie any of the four par 5s Sunday. "And I guess it wasn't just meant to be."

In the group behind him, Ryan Palmer made birdie to break out of the pack for the victory and a two-year exemption.

Despite mixed feelings, Taylor understood the magnitude of his strong finish. He hasn't voluntarily taken a week off since the end of July, and the 32 events he'll play this year are the most of his career.

He was feeling the effects of the overtime last week in Las Vegas when he started getting sick.

"I think it was pure exhaustion, really," he said. "I was trying to get a lot of sleep and rest, but I had a job to do and had to do what I had to do."

He got it done with a one-week grace period -- avoiding the specter of having to prepare for the PGA Tour's grueling six-round qualifying school in December. He'll play the season's final event at Disney this week without any pressure, then be able to take some much needed time off at home in Evans.

"It's been tough," he said. "I played a lot this year. A little bit different year this year. I think I've actually learned a lot about myself this year. Hopefully I can get some rest in the off-season and get tuned up for next year."

Thankfully for Taylor, his game show life will resume in January.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.