The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer tied for second on Sunday at the Constellation Senior Players Championship in Baltimore. The former Coloradan has clearly become one of the top players on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. In nine senior majors since turning 50 two years ago, Jobe owns five top-five performances and six top-10s. He was third two weeks ago in the U.S. Senior Open. Jobe captured his first Champions title last month in Des Moines, Iowa.
The oppotunity for a victory in a senior major was very much there down the stretch on Sunday in Baltimore. He shared the lead after the first hole of the final round and had chances late in the round to force a playoff.
On the 17th hole, trailing by one with leader Bernhard Langer in the water off the tee, Jobe was in the greenside bunker. But he left his sand shot in the rough short of the green, then hit his pitch 20 feet by the hole. He had to make a 20-foot putt to save a bogey, while Langer carded a double on the par-3.
Then on 18, trailing his former UCLA teammate Scott McCarron by one, Jobe gave himself a 20-foot birdie attempt to force sudden death, but he just missed. Langer did the same, giving McCarron the title.
After going 66-68-65 the first three rounds, Jobe (pictured) shot an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish with a 17-under 271 total.
The former Coloradan jumped into fifth place on the 2017 PGA Tour Champions money list with $1,064,585.
Elway Finishes 9th, Spiranac 14th in American Century Celebrity Tourney: Elsewhere on Sunday, Denver Broncos general manager John Elway finished in a familiar spot at the American Century Championship near Lake Tahoe, Nev. The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback tied for ninth place, marking his 14th top-10 showing at the celebrity tournament. His best performance was a runner-up in 2010.
Elway racked up 52 points over three rounds in the modified Stableford format, ending up 21 behind winner Mark Mulder. He shot medal-play scores of 74-76-75, making four birdies on Sunday.
Former Coloradan Paige Spiranac, the 2015 CWGA Match Play champion and one of a handful of women competitors in the American Century Championship this year, placed 14th on Sunday following a final-round 71 that included four birdies. She posted 50 points after rounds of 76-80-71.
Jobe finished fourth Sunday in the Constellation Senior Players Championship in Philadelphia. That means that in the last month, the 50-year-old has placed 17th (Regions Tradition), third (Senior PGA Championship) and fourth (Senior Players). Overall, Sunday marked his third top-six showing in 10 starts on the Champions circuit in 2016.
That’s certainly a positive omen for Jobe, who lived in Colorado for about 20 years before moving to Texas.
Jobe, who won the PGA Tour Champions Q-School finals in November, carded rounds of 69-69-74-71 for a 3-par 283 total. That left him two strokes behind champion Bernhard Langer, who won his seventh senior major, tying former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin in that category.
Jobe was in second place much of Sunday, but bogeys on 10, 15 and 16 in windy conditions cost him a shot at the title.
With a $166,600 payday, Jobe improved to 17th on the 2016 Champions money list with $448,585.
Jobe won the Colorado Open in 1992 and five major CGA championships during the 1980s (three Match Plays, one Stroke Play, one Junior Match Play and one Junior Stroke Play).
Also on Sunday, Michael Schoolcraft of Denver posted his career-first top-10 finish on the Mackenzie Tour Canada, tying for eighth in the GolfBC Championship in Kelowna, B.C. Schoolcraft carded rounds of 66-69-67-69 for a 13-under-par 271 total. He ended up 12 strokes behind champion Dan McCarthy.
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