Injuries, illness and age all were issues in what was a lackluster year for Rhode Island’s PGA Tour players.

No one won a tournament, two lost full Tour privileges, and another hardly played at all.

Here’s a look at how Rhode Island’s top golfers fared in 2008, in the order in which they finished on the money list:

•Brett Quigley (No. 120, $878,216) — There’s no question what the highlight of his year was: the birth of his second daughter, Lucy, in September.

“Certainly, that was the shining spot,” said Quigley, who described the rest of his ’08 campaign as “pretty challenging.”

He began the year playing on a medical exemption, having ended his 2007 season in September, when he had knee surgery. Then, in June, he suffered from a stress fracture that hobbled him throughout the summer. Finally, in the fall, there was the stress of battling to remain in the top 125 and retain his Tour card.

“That number moved a bunch at the end,” he said. “The way the system is now, with a lot of the top players not playing after the FedEx Cup, there are more guys making money.”

The most dramatic example of that was Cameron Beckman, who rocketed up to 82nd on the money list by winning more than $1 million of his $1,312,837 in earnings in the last three events of the year — winning at Grayhawk, in Scottsdale, the last weekend in October, then adding a 10th-place finish two weeks later.

“I hate to say I’m happy about finishing at 120,” Quigley said, “but, all things considered, I am. And I’m excited about ’09. Taking two months off, where I don’t have to be walking the course for five hours a day — I think I’ll be in great shape in January.”

•Brad Adamonis (No. 124, $862,413) — He didn’t exactly finish with a flourish, missing the cut in 7 of his last 10 tournaments, but he still finished among the top 125 as a 35-year-old rookie and came oh-so-close to winning a tournament.

He missed a putt to win on the final hole of the John Deere Classic, then lost in a playoff to Kenny Perry, who, two months later, would help the United States regain the Ryder Cup. Adamonis also had top-10 finishes at Hartford, where he tied for sixth, and last month in Las Vegas (T-10).

What made his first year on Tour even more impressive was that he battled nystagmus — a condition causing uncontrollable eye movements and vertigo.

“I’m taking medication that’s making it a little better,” he said, “but it can still pop up out of nowhere. But I’m an optimist. I think I’ll have a better year in 2009 because I’m more experienced. By finishing in the top 125, I can pick my schedule and stay away from some of the courses I don’t like. I want to improve my putting, and if I do, I’ll improve my game.”

•Patrick Sheehan (No. 128, $805,897) — It was a frustrating finish for the former Pilgrim High hockey player, who made the cut in 27 of the 35 tournaments he played, but just slipped out of the top 125 in the final weeks.

“I can’t say I didn’t play well,” he said. “I just didn’t play well enough.”

His best finishes were a pair of sixths in Milwaukee and Mexico. He hopes to get into 20 to 24 tournaments in ’09, with perhaps a fourth of those coming in the fall, after the Tour playoffs.

If he can play just a little better on the weekends next year, Sheehan should be able to regain fully exempt status.

•Billy Andrade (No. 193, $243,490) — Andrade got off to a poor start, making the cut in only three tournaments through the end of May, and wound up with his lowest finish in his 21 years on the Tour. Having lost his Tour card, he could be hard-pressed to play even as many as 15 events in ’09. Although, at the age of 45, he could consider opportunities as a TV commentator, Andrade believes he still can play at the highest level.

“I still have the passion,” he said. “I love the game. I love working at it. Not being in the top 150, I have to hope I can get some exemptions, and then cash in when I get the chance. I’ve switched to a longer putter, and it’s been great. If I were ‘down’ on my game, I’d say that maybe I was at a crossroads, and should think about doing something else. But I think I’m striking the ball maybe better than I ever have.”

•Brad Faxon — Recuperating from knee surgery, he played in just three tournaments, all of them at the end of the year, and failed to make a cut. Although he’ll turn 48 in August, Faxon is determined to regain his form on the PGA Tour before heading to the Champions Tour in 2011. An exempt player by virtue of his ranking among the top 25 on the all-time earnings list, Faxon plans on playing a full schedule in ’09, starting in January in Hawaii, where he won in 2001. The last of his eight career victories came in 2005, at Hartford.

“I came away pretty positive,” he said of his return to tournament golf this fall. “It was really a trial, to see if I could do it. When I’d played here at home, I’d played in a cart. Then I’d skip a day after playing. Tournament golf is so much different. You’re swinging harder, you’re walking faster.

“My game wasn’t bad. I feel good.”

•And then there’s Dana Quigley — The “Iron Man” of the Champions Tour will be 62 in April, and though he failed to add to his total of 11 Tour wins, he’s still going strong. He had 11 top-25 finishes — his best was a tie for third at Nashawtuc, in the Bank of America Classic — and ranked 41st on the seniors’ money list, with earnings of $450,195.

jdonalds@projo.com