There’s something to be said for decompressing after a grueling, pressure-filled season of professional tour golf to finally gather a true assessment of things.

Weeks went by for Tacoma’s Michael Putnam when he didn’t want to think about how his 2008 season concluded – in a disappointing 52nd-place finish on the Nationwide Tour money list and an even more-crushing 107th-place standing at the end of the six-round final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School in December.

He kept a low profile.

He and his wife spent two weeks in Hawaii.

But slowly, he began thinking about golf again, about the mistakes – about the rash of double bogeys that turned good rounds into bad ones – and why they crept into his game.

One day at home, he went back to the drawing board. He watched a few DVDs from his playing days at Pepperdine and his first 18 months of professional tour golf, including his 2007 campaign on the PGA Tour.

Something not only caught his eye, it clicked in his brain. His swing had sharply changed. To make sure, he compared it to some recordings he had from the 2008 season.

“I was getting less flexible, and it wasn’t because I wasn’t flexible,” Putnam said. “(The backswing) was lower, and it was going around my body.

“I’ve always had a two-plane swing, and it was getting more and more like a one-plane swing, and I was hitting crazy shots here and there.”

On the surface, Putnam’s numbers were similar. He made 18 of 27 cuts on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, which was only slightly worse than his two previous seasons.

What was up was his scoring average, meaning sometime during the course of a four-round tournament, his “new” swing let him down and took him out of contention.

Even at Q-School, when he fired a third-round 63 to climb near the top 10, his two bogeys came after he hit drives out of bounds.

“Anybody who followed golf knows I made more double bogeys than I should have,” the 25-year-old said. “You should make one (double bogey) every three tournaments. I was making one per round … and they were round-killers.”

Again, the change was subtle – so much that Putnam’s swing coach, Joe Thiel, wasn’t certain it was even an issue. But the more the golfer talked about it, the more the coach became convinced.

“It’s a small change. Most people wouldn’t even notice it. But it’s a big change in the way I feel during (the swing),” Putnam said. “I had tapes from even high school, and the swing was perfect. I am trying to get back to it … and it could take a month, or three months. But the work I’ve put in, I feel I could do with what I have now.”

One positive Putnam takes from his sometimes-erratic performance in 2008 was that he relied on his scrambling skills. It shows up in his statistics – sand saves (55.6 percent, seventh on the Nationwide Tour) and putting average (1.781 putts per green hit in regulation, 44th on tour) – and those skills kept him in tournaments.

“He worked hard on that,” said Dan Putnam, Michael’s father. “That is a big deal when you’re a big, strong player. He did a lot of experimenting (with chipping and putting) in the last three months. He settled on a routine and got good results.”

The younger Putnam does not consider 2009 a “make-or-break” year in his effort to return to the PGA Tour.

He said the work he did on his game in the offseason gives him renewed faith that he’s headed in the right direction. His season kicks off Thursday at the Panama Digicel Championship in Panama City, Panama.

“The Nationwide Tour is not where I want to be,” he said. “But if playing bad for the last year-and-a-half prompted me to make this swing change, and it gets me in the top five, it will be worth it.”

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442

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THE MICHAEL PUTNAM FILE

Hometown: Tacoma.

Age: 25.

High school: Life Christian.

College: Pepperdine.

Turned professional: 2005.

Career earnings: $1,051,192 between PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour ($130,981 on 2008 Nationwide Tour).

Career cuts made: He’s made 61 out of 89 between PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour (in 2008, 18 out of 27 on Nationwide, 0 out of 1 on PGA Tour).

Best professional finish: Second at the 2006 Rheem Classic (lost in playoff) and 2006 Utah Energy Solutions Championship, both on the Nationwide Tour.

Best finish at a major: Tie for 55th at 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont CC near Pittsburgh.

World ranking: 629th.

Coach: Joe Thiel, Olympia.

Caddie: Joel Putnam.

Management: The Players Group, with Ralph Cross as his agent.

In the bag: Cleveland Launcher driver, Cleveland CG Red irons, Cleveland CG14 wedges, Never Compromise putter and Srixon Z-Star golf balls.

Endorsements: Cleveland and Srixon.

Todd Milles, The News Tribune