Brandt Jobe had a great opportunity to regain his PGA Tour card earlier this fall, but let it slip through his fingers. However, when a second chance presented itself, the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer wasn’t about to watch it go by the wayside.
Nearly two years after losing his long-held Tour exemption, the Kent Denver High School graduate earned his status back Monday at the final stage of PGA Tour qualifying in Winter Garden, Fla.
In fact, the 45-year-old Jobe not only was the oldest Q-school qualifier, but he had room to spare by finishing sixth and earning $25,000 in the process. He shot a 3-under-par 69 on Monday and posted a six-round total of 14-under 415. The 29 players who finished at 9 under or better earned their 2011 Tour cards.
It means “a lot to get back out there and see what I can do again,” said Jobe, a Tour regular from 1999 to 2009.
Five-time Tour winner Billy Mayfair won the final stage — and $50,000 — with a 411 total. In all, 1,389 players entered Tour qualifying this year.
Meanwhile, former University of Denver golfer Danny Wax earned fully-exempt status on the Nationwide Tour by finishing 59th on Monday. The players who placed 30th through 74th earned full Nationwide status for 2011.
Wax, a 2009 DU graduate, shot a 2-over-par 74 in the final round to finish at 4-under 425 for six rounds. He needed to make up a few strokes on the final day to earn his PGA Tour card, but endured a rough start instead. With a double bogey at No. 2 and bogeys at Nos. 3 and 5, Wax was 4 over par for the day. But he rallied with three birdies — offset by one bogey — to assure himself a full Nationwide card.
It will be Wax’s first season playing a full schedule on the Nationwide circuit.
As for Jobe, during the stretch run of the 2010 Nationwide Tour season, he was in good shape to earn his PGA Tour card by finishing in the top 25 on the season-long money list. With a month left, he stood 18th in the money rankings, and even going into the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship, he was 26th. But a lackluster finale dropped him to 30th on the final money list, just five spots from a cherished PGA Tour card.
“I had my chances on the Nationwide Tour and didn’t get it done,” Jobe told PGAtour.com over the weekend.
Fortunately for him, he had one more opportunity to get over the hump, and he sealed the deal over six rounds in Florida.
Though Jobe has lived in Southlake, Texas for the last 11 years, he is certainly no stranger to Colorado golf fans.
During the 1980s, he won six CGA championships, including three Match Plays and one Stroke Play. Later, after playing the PGA Tour in 1991, he came back home to win the 1992 Colorado Open. All in all, Jobe lived in Colorado from 1970 to 1999. And even after moving away, he came ever so close to posting his first PGA Tour win in the Centennial State.
At the 2005 International in Castle Rock, Jobe led by nine points in the Modified Stableford system going into the final round. But a 4-over-par 76 over the final 18 at Castle Pines Golf Club left him one point behind champion Retief Goosen. That was one of three runner-up finishes on Tour during the last decade for Jobe, who is still seeking his first PGA Tour victory.
Jobe finished a career-best 27th on the 2005 Tour money list, but a freak accident in November 2006 led to a downfall that cost him his Tour card. While sweeping his garage, Jobe severely cut himself when a broom handle broke in his left hand. The tips of his left middle and index fingers were cut off — they were reattached in surgery — and his thumb suffered a gash.
“There was a 50-50 chance I would never play golf again,” he said Sunday. “The problem now has been that I have no feeling in my fingertips and I had to change my swing because of it.”
After playing the Tour on a major medical extension, in early 2009 Jobe lost the card he had held for a decade. But this year, he’s been a solid performer on the Nationwide Tour, posting seven top-11 finishes.
“I’m not back to where I was, but I’m getting there and working hard, and the game is improving,” Jobe said. “I had to reset everything. I was (ranked) 75th in the world when I got hurt and I got readjusted each year instead of going back to how I was playing.”
Jobe has won more than $6.7 million in 266 career events on the PGA Tour, and also has 11 significant international victories to his credit, most coming in Asia.
Coincidentally, the first time Jobe earned his PGA Tour card through Q-school, he finished sixth, just as he did on Monday.
