THE PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS HAS BECOME A ROAD OF REDEMPTION

Normally, when Tiger Woods is playing on the weekends, I’m glued to the TV like all other fans of the champ.

Well, that was the plan during the weekend of June 28 – July 1 when the 42-year old was in the field at the Quicken Loans National, a regular invitational tour event hosted by Woods himself.

But, strangely, my attention had not focused on him.  Despite the fact that Woods was in contention for the lead, I found myself drawn to the U.S. Senior Open Championship instead.

I was totally taken with this third major on the calendar of the PGA Tour Champions (formerly known as the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour), specifically open for players 50 years old and above.

I was also hypnotized by the beauty and challenging nature of the East Course at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the site of this year’s US Senior Open.  With the big mountains in the background and lush greens, it made me dream of visiting the resort and playing there one day (if/when I’m ever good enough.  I hold out hope…)

But, what really drew me in were the stories of the many Senior players in contention, several of whom I was not familiar with and wanted to know more about.

Well, most of us golf fans were aware of the 51-year-old Jerry Kelly who had led the Senior Open for 54 holes and Miguel Angel Jimenez, the brilliant Spaniard who was his playing partner in the first two rounds.  Also in the mix were the very recognizable Davis Love III, Kirk Triplett, Lee Janzen, Jay Haas and Bernhard Langer.

But then there were the likes of Tim Petrovic, Paul Goydos, Brandt Jobe, Paul Broadhurst, Kevin Sutherland and Marco Dawson.  These were not names I was acquainted with.

So, I googled each and discovered that these PGA journeymen all have their own unique, fascinating histories as pro golfers which unfortunately included many struggles on the regular Tour.  Some had either battled through injuries and/or personal problems, or simply couldn’t win against the tough competition.

Yet, here they are now, keeping their careers going, making good money, and trying to find redemption on the Senior circuit.

Take Tim Petrovic, 51.  After playing golf at the University of Hartford, he convinced his wife to move to Florida so he could pursue his dream of becoming a pro golfer.  That was in 1988.  For fifteen years thereafter, he struggled on every mini-tour known to man without sponsors. Meanwhile, he worked nights as a bartender, sold cell phones and was a manager at Pizza Hut, among other odd jobs to pay the bills.  Finally, in 2002 at the age of 34, he got his PGA Tour card.  But he only ever won once on the Tour (2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans)… Fast forward to the Senior Tour, in 31 starts, Petrovic still searches for his first win.  But, things are looking up.  This year alone, he’s been very solid and in contention already at two majors.  He’s also had three Top 10 finishes and currently ranks 8th in the Charles Schwab Cup… It is clear that Petrovic is not giving up on his 30+ year dream.  His big breakthrough is coming and he’s going to do it as a Senior.  There’s no shame in that.

Paul Goydos, 54, is another player who took years to get his PGA Tour card after turning pro.  For this southern California native, it was five years to be exact.  In 1993, he went through Qualifying School and in twenty years on Tour, he only won twice (1996 Bay Hill Invitational and 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii).  He did earn the distinction of becoming the oldest player in history to shoot 59 (in 2010) and almost won The Players Championship in 2008 until Sergio Garcia beat him at the first playoff hole.  Also, injuries and a personal tragedy distracted him (his ex-wife and mother of his two daughters died of an alleged drug overdose in 2009 while treating horrific migraines).  But, he’s been more successful as a Senior player than he was on the PGA Tour.  Since 2014, he has five wins and this year alone contended at two of the majors and had three Top 10 finishes.  He’s another player who is too good not to have a major trophy on his mantel.  And, there’s plenty of opportunities to get it done with five major championships each year on the schedule for the PGA Tour Champions.

Brandt Jobe, 52, never won a PGA Tour event in 25+ years, but did have success overseas on the Japan Golf Tour (won 6 times from 1995-1999) and finished in the Top 20 of both the Masters and PGA Championship in 1999.  Several injuries, eight surgeries and a herniated disk also threatened to end his career (including a freak accident with a broom in his garage in 2003 where he lost the tip of his left index finger and the base of his thumb.) But, he always pushed through and never gave up on playing golf professionally.  Nowadays, he needs to tape his left golf glove to his thumb to feel the club in his hand.  Yet, he’s gone on to win on the Senior circuit in 2017 and scored a career low round of 62 at the 2017 US Senior Open Championship.  He also came in 5th at the 2018 US Senior Open.  Jobe is knocking at the door of the majors and hopefully, can find a way to get it done soon.

Paul Broadhurst, 52, is an Englishman who had moderate success on the European Tour after he turned pro in 1988.  He became the leading amateur at the 1988 Open Championship, was the Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 1988, and played in the Ryder Cup in 1991.  He also had six Euro Tour wins through 2006.  Unfortunately, when he was in his mid-40s, he lost his European Tour card and thought about packing it all in.  He wondered how he was going to make money to live and also, carry his wife and himself into retirement.  He ultimately decided to play in small, local events for years, biding his time until he reached 50 and could go onto the Senior Tour.  Luckily, it all worked out and he had immediate success after turning 50 in 2015.  In just three short years, Broadhurst has won a total of seven times on both the Euro and US Senior circuits, including two majors (2016 Senior Open and 2018 Senior PGA Championship).  This success story goes to show what new life the Senior circuit breathes into an aging player.

Kevin Sutherland, 54, is a California native and was the most successful college player in Fresno State history.  He turned pro in 1987, qualified in 1992 and through 2013, only won once on the PGA Tour (2002 WGC-Accenture Match Play).  Back and neck injuries would hamper his career and he is known to have an “unorthodox swing and unusual grip”, yet he managed to tie for 9th at The Open in 2001 and the 2007 PGA Championship.  He was eligible to play on the Senior circuit in 2014 and became the first player to shoot 59 (2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open).  In 2017, he finally broke through and in 78 starts on the 50+ tour, won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship over Vijay Singh and with it, took home the Charles Schwab Cup over Bernhard Langer (even with his seven wins that season).  All told, Sutherland collected $1,440,000 for the win and cup victory.  It also meant that he ended a winless streak of 341 events (going back to 2002).  So far this year, in thirteen events played, he’s been in the Top 25 twelve times… Once again, having the opportunity to play golf as a Senior has been great financially and emotionally for another player who rarely saw success on the PGA Tour.

Marco Dawson, 54, was born in Germany and attended Florida Southern College where he majored in marketing.  During his last year there (1985) he and former teammates Rocco Mediate and Lee Janzen together won the NCAA Division II national team championship.  Dawson turned pro the same year.  It has been a long road for the Florida resident, having played on both the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour on and off for almost 25 years resulting in one Web.com Tour win (2002 LaSalle Bank Open).  But, he has seen a good amount of success as a Senior already, having won twice including a major (2015 The Senior Open) since 2014.  Dawson has also made every cut of every tournament he’s entered into (except once) and averages about 20 events per year.  It’s fantastic to see how a pro golfer can prolong his career and find more ways to win as a Senior.

Even Kenny Perry, Jeff Maggert and Jay Haas have won majors as Seniors, but never did so on the PGA Tour.  It had to have felt good knowing they could have that accolade finally, after coming so close during the primes of their lives…

But, this is just a sampling of what kind of player the PGA Tour Champions has to offer golf fans.  There are so many other unknowns who have been battling for decades trying to find prosperity and are now experiencing rebirths late into their careers.

It’s awesome to witness and downright inspiring to me, as someone heading towards 50 years old myself (shhhh…).

It goes to show that people can find a reconciliation of sorts even later in life.  Many are doing it right now on the PGA Tour Champions.

I’ll leave you with this thought: Phil Mickelson, Stuart Appleby, K.J. Choi, Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els are all close to turning the big 50…

 

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