But earlier this week, Woods relayed a rather amazing story — and it did indeed have a big link to Colorado.

Considering all he’s accomplished — 80 PGA Tour victories, including 14 major championship titles — it was astonishing to hear Woods indicate that while he made 19 holes-in-one before age 23, he hadn’t had one for over two decades — at least until this month.

In a casual round last week with Fred Couples in La Quinta, Calif. — and with his son Charlie also on hand — Woods aced the 210-yard second hole at The Madison Club, using a 5-iron.

And here’s the Colorado part of the story: Woods’ last hole-in-one prior to this month came at The 1998 Sprint International — specifically, on Saturday, Aug. 22, 1998. I was fortunate to have covered all 21 Internationals ever held, so that prompted me to dig a little deeper regarding the one Tiger made at Castle Pines Golf Club.

Combing through some stories I wrote that year and since then — along with other material — this is what I pieced together regarding the third and last ace Woods has made in PGA Tour competition.

It came at the seventh hole at Castle Pines, which was playing 185 yards that day. He took an 8-iron and holed it on the fly. Years later, when writing a retrospective on The International, I referred to the subsequent fan reaction as “one of the biggest crowd roars in tournament history.”

One of the most amazing things about it was that the ace wasn’t caught on TV — live or on tape.

As Woods (pictured with Nick Price at the 1998 International) said three years ago when recalling some of his more notable holes-in-one: “TV crews here have to take a mandatory union break, and it was on No. 7 at Castle Pines. I hooped it. They showed me on the sixth green, take the union break. I hoop it on 7. They catch me up on the eighth fairway, par-5 up the hill. So that was probably one of the more funny ones, because it went in the hole on the fly and tore up the cup.”

That was one of two eagles Woods made in round 3 and one of four for the week — two each in rounds 1 and 3 — which tied for the tournament record. Tiger, whose eagles were worth 5 points apiece in The International’s modified Stableford scoring format, finished fourth that year at The International, behind winner Vijay Singh, Willie Wood and Phil Mickelson.

Woods returned to Castle Pines in 1999, and barely missed advancing to Sunday. He never came back to The International, which was last played in 2006. His absence was considered one of the reasons the tournament ended its run — along with the lack of a title sponsor.

Tiger himself certainly found it amazing that he went 20 years without an ace, until ending the drought last week.

“Some of the best years of my career and I never made one,” Woods told ESPN’s Bob Harig.

Woods’ only other holes-in-one during official PGA Tour events came at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open in his pro debut and by far the most famous one — at the wild and crazy 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale in the 1997 Phoenix Open.
 

Who will win the 39th U.S. Senior Open, which starts on Thursday at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs?

— Will it be Davis Love III (left in a USGA photo), who at age 54 is competing in his first senior major ever? Love is trying to become the ninth player to win the U.S. Senior Open in his debut.

— Will it be World Golf Hall of Famer Fred Couples, who has finished in the top 14 four times in four tries at the U.S. Senior Open.

— Will it be 60-year-old Bernhard Langer, who with 37 PGA Tour Champions wins is chasing Hale Irwin’s record 45 victories? Langer has already won a record 10 senior majors.

— Will it be one of the former UCLA golf teammates Brandt Jobe and Scott McCarron? Jobe, No. 1 in the PGA Tour Champions in driving distance, lived in Colorado for 29 years before moving to Texas, and McCarron won the PGA Tour Champions event last week in Wisconsin.

— Will it be Kenny Perry, who is seeking his third Senior Open title and second in a row?

— Will it be Tom Lehman, who won the Senior PGA at Colorado Golf Club in 2010 and scored a PGA Tour Champions victory earlier this month in Des Moines?

— Will be it one of the other World Golf Hall of Famers in the field like Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie (below)?

— Or will it be the East Course at The Broadmoor, with its confounding, devilish greens and thick rough? After all, just three players finished under par — Eduardo Romero, Fred Funk and Mark McNulty — when the 2008 U.S. Senior Open was contested at The Broadmoor.

Couples seems to cast his vote for the course — or for Love, since they have to present the trophy to someone.

“It’s a very, very hard golf course,” said Boom Boom. “And I think the guys who play well will have to do a lot of things, which is what a U.S. Open is all about — or a Senior Open. You have to drive it, you have to be good around the greens and (deal with) the rough. And obviously you have to be a really good putter. These greens, I think they’re (tougher) than Oakmont and Oakmont’s are the hardest greens I’ve ever seen. I think they’re brutal (here).”

Langer will second that.

“They’re as severe as they get,” Langer said of the putting surfaces. “Fred and I played in many Masters over the years. And they’re pretty severe and tough (at Augusta National). But these probably are another level still.”

The Broadmoor this week “is a test with a driver, it’s a test with the irons and definitely the short game too,” Langer added. “The rough around the greens is extremely difficult.”

And this from Irwin, who grew up in Colorado and won the 1967 Broadmoor Invitation: The greens “are confounding, they really are. … This might be the most difficult I’ve seen these greens.”

And there are other unique factors this week as well. The PGA Tour Champions allows its players to use carts for typical tour events; that’s verboten for the most part at the U.S. Senior Open. There’s the altitude as The Broadmoor sits at over 6,000 feet, which taxes the players as they walk up and down the hills and forces them to adjust their club selection with the thinner air. Also, the U.S. Senior Open is a 72-hole affair, instead of the usual 54-hole events for PGA Tour Champions.

As for Love, he and Couples were among the top American golfers for years. And in Couples’ opinion …

“I think he’s a good pick this week,” Couples said of Love. “I really do. He hits the ball so high and so far. And he doesn’t play many of our tournaments. So obviously he picks the biggest ones. … You could tell, he’s wound up for this week. And he should be because he’s one of the probably 12 or 15 guys that can win.”

Love owns 21 PGA Tour wins, and two of them came at The International at Castle Pines, most recently 15 years ago.

“I’m very excited, obviously, to play in a major championship and be back in Colorado,” Love said. “I’ve had some good luck just up the road at Castle Pines. I like playing at altitude. … I’m swinging for the fences on a lot of these holes.”

Love underwent hip replacement surgery in November, but has played in five PGA Tour events and two on PGA Tour Champions since then. There haven’t been any notable finishes — he was 49th last week in the PGA Tour Champions American Family Insurance Championship — but none of the tournaments have been majors, which should get his juices flowing.

As for Couples, he’s making just his third start of the year on PGA Tour Champions, but is playing in back-to-back weeks. He finished sixth in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January and third last week in Wisconsin. He’s constantly battling back problems, but seems to be doing OK this week. Of course, this is a minute-to-minute proposition in his case.

But when he does tee it up, Couples expects to be in contention. If that stops being the case, he’ll likely hang up the clubs for good.

“I have no interest in playing if it’s mediocre,” the 58-year-old said. “I don’t even want to leave the house as it is. Why would I want to go finish 50th? There’s no chance of that happening.”

As noted, Langer is the second-most-successful PGA Tour Champions player ever with 37 career victories, eight fewer than Irwin. This will be his 11th U.S. Senior Open and he has three top-five finishes — a win in 2010, a runner-up in 2012 and a third place in 2015.

Just a couple months shy of 61, can Langer surpass Irwin’s once-apparently-untouchable Champions victory total?

“Bernhard playing the way he’s been playing, it’s certainly a conceivable thing to do,” Irwin said. “And I’ll be the first to applaud him if he does it because I know how much it takes.”

Langer certainly thinks it’s possible to overtake Irwin.

“It’s amazing to win 45 tournaments in a span of (12 years as Irwin did),” Langer said. “That’s very difficult to do on any tour. And I’ve been very blessed to have won 37. Can I get to 45? I think I can, but I’ve got to do it soon. I can’t wait until I’m 65, expecting to win another eight tournaments. But I won seven last year. I’ve had a win and three seconds already this year. So it’s possible.

“I know that the clock is ticking. I’m going to be 61 in August. It’s not going to last forever. So I’m trying to enjoy my last few years at playing at this level and then we’ll see what I’ll do after that.”

This week marks the beginning of a stretch in which the next three tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions schedule are senior majors. The Senior Players is two weeks away and the British Senior Open is a month down the road.

Jacobsen Out of Action: Peter Jacobsen, who won the 2004 U.S. Senior Open, is the latest player to withdraw from the U.S. Senior Open, pulling out on Wednesday for personal reasons.

Jacobsen joined Tom Watson, John Daly, Steve Stricker and Steve Jones in having pulled out over the last week or so.

Replacing Jacobsen in the field will be Tim Hume, a pro from Crystal River, Fla., who was the first alternate from the Ocala, Fla., qualifying site.
 
Speaking of players who have withdrawn from the Senior Open, Daly was critical of the USGA for not allowing him to use a cart at The Broadmoor due to a bad right knee. This week, the two-time major champion told USA Today that he won’t ever play in a USGA championship again. It’s “just not worth it to me,” Daly told the newspaper.

Notable: Among the honorary starters on the first tee for Wednesday’s practice round was Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Christie Austin (left), a former member of the USGA Executive Committee. … World Golf Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie (below) conducted a short-game clinic for kids at the junior pavilion on the first green of the West Course on Wednesday morning. … Wildlife roaming around The Broadmoor grounds is certainly not unusual. On Wednesday, a deer (below) crossed the 18th fairway and went behind the fourth green of the East Course before making its way up the hill. … Parking right around The Broadmoor isn’t cheap during U.S. Senior Open week, but the sign below certainly caught our attention.

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For all the essentials regarding this week’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, CLICK HERE.

The USGA accepted 2,738 entries for the tournament — including 106 from Colorado — with 75 being exempt from qualifying. The entry deadline for the event was Wednesday.

Joining Irwin (20 PGA Tour victories, including three U.S. Opens) among World Golf Hall of Famers who have entered the championship at The Broadmoor’s East Course are Tom Watson (39 PGA Tour wins), Vijay Singh (34), Davis Love III (21), Tom Kite (19), Mark O’Meara (16), Fred Couples (15), Bernhard Langer (3, including two majors) and Colin Montgomerie (41 international victories).

Besides Irwin, players who grew up in Colorado and are in the field are 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones and fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe.

In all, 11 U.S. Senior Open champions have entered the event at The Broadmoor: Irwin (1998 and 2000), Kenny Perry (2013 and ’17), Langer (2010), Montgomerie (2014), Jeff Maggert (2015), Peter Jacobsen (2004), Fred Funk (2009), Gene Sauers (2016), Olin Browne (2011), Brad Bryant (2007) and Roger Chapman (2012).

Others among the exempt players who are planning to play at The Broadmoor are John Daly, Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Stricker, John Cook, Tom Lehman (who won the 2010 Senior PGA Championship at Colorado Golf Club), Corey Pavin, Lee Janzen, Billy Mayfair, Rocco Mediate, Gil Morgan, Jesper Parnevik, Tom Pernice Jr., Loren Roberts, David Frost, Jay Haas, David Toms, Scott Hoch, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Scott Verplank and Kirk Triplett.

The Broadmoor is hosting its second U.S. Senior Open and its eighth USGA championship, with winners at the resort including Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster. The Broadmoor is celebrating its 100th anniversary on the Friday of the championship, June 29.

Thirty-four qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Senior Open will be held starting Monday. The Broadmoor will host a qualifier on May 28, with Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway among those competing.

In all, the U.S. Senior Open field will feature 156 players.

One golfer with strong Colorado ties who won’t be playing is Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and former Aurora resident Mark Wiebe. Wiebe said on Twitter this week that he withdrew from the exempt list due to a lingering neck injury.
 

Bernhard Langer, the second-winningest player in PGA Tour Champions history — behind former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin — will compete in a Senior Open at The Broadmoor for the second time. The German tied for sixth place in Colorado Springs in 2008.

Joining him in the exempt field for this year’s event — set for June 28-July 1 — will be fellow World Golf Hall of Famers Fred Couples and Vijay Singh. Another Hall of Famer, Davis Love III, was previously announced as a competitor, and Tom Watson has also indicated he plans to play at The Broadmoor. Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen has likewise entered.

As for the entrants announced on Monday, they have 52 PGA Tour victories among them, including six majors. Singh has 34 PGA Tour wins, with a Masters and two PGA Tour Champions titles. Langer won three times on the PGA Tour — including two Masters — plus has claimed 36 PGA Tour Champions wins. Couples owns 15 PGA Tour victories, with a Masters, plus 13 wins on PGA Tour Champions. Langer (pictured with Couples) won the U.S. Senior Open in 2010.

All three are in the field for this week’s Masters.

Online entries for the U.S. Senior Open are being accepted through May 16.

The HealthOne Colorado Open will be contested for the 50th time this year, so a recent e-mail I received particularly piqued my interest.

Dennis Lyon, the retired manager of golf for the city of Aurora, pointed out that he remembered Jimmy Walker — winner of three PGA Tour events this wraparound season, and the leader in the FedEx Cup playoff standings — playing in the Colorado Open back when it was held at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora.

I’ve been fortunate enough to cover every Colorado Open since 1983, and I still have much of the year-to-year material that’s handed out. And, after poking around a little, I confirmed that Lyon’s recollections were accurate.

Walker, in the summer before his junior season at Baylor, competed in the 1999 Colorado Open, the second of the three Opens Saddle Rock hosted. Former University of Colorado golfer Bill Riddle won that year, but I had to go far down the list of results — into the “missed cut” category — to find Jimmy Walker’s name.

For the record, the four-time All-Big 12 golfer, then 20 years old, shot 77-74 and missed the 36-hole cut by two.

But it brought to mind — especially given the milestone the Colorado Open will reach this summer (July 24-27 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver) — the amazing number of golf greats who have played in the tournament since it debuted in 1964.

The great majority of the most recognizable names made their appearances at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen in the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s, but there have been a smattering since then at Inverness Golf Club, Saddle Rock, Sonnenalp Golf Club and Green Valley Ranch.

Perhaps the most notable participant, from a historical perspective, played in 1978 at Hiwan. Look at the Open’s all-time money list — starting from the bottom — and you’ll quickly come across the name of a certain Sam Snead (despite a small typo), who won a grand total of $62.50 at the Colorado Open. And, by the way, he rode a cart in the final round.

Snead (pictured at top) is one of a handful of current World Golf Hall of Famers who have been contestants in the Colorado Open. Among the others are Phil Mickelson (pictured at left), Billy Casper, Hale Irwin and Fred Couples.

Mickelson posted two top-10 finishes at Hiwan shortly after winning NCAA titles in 1989 and ’90. In ’89, he placed third and was low amateur in the Colorado Open, and in ’90 he tied for 10th shortly before winning the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.

Irwin likewise was low amateur (fourth place overall) in the Colorado Open the same year he won the NCAA title (1967).

Casper finished second in the 1978 Colorado Open. That year, the Open field featured players who now account for more than 150 PGA Tour victories, including Snead (82), Casper (51), Dave Hill (13), Steve Jones (8), Fred Wampler (1) and Larry Mowry (1). Hill still holds the record for most Colorado Open wins, with four.

Couples only competed in the Open as an amateur as he finished fifth in 1980. The low amateur that year was another future major championship winner, Bob Tway, who placed second at Hiwan.

All told, participants in the Colorado Open have accounted for more than 35 major championship victories. The most successful in that regard are Snead (seven major wins), Mickelson (five) and Irwin (pictured at left) and Casper (three each).

Looking at it another way, there are 10 Colorado Open champions who have now won at least one PGA Tour event: Hill (Open victories in 1971, ’76, ’77 and ’81), Al Geiberger (1985), Jones (1988), Kevin Stadler (2002), Mark Wiebe (1986), Jonathan Kaye (1996), Willie Wood (1984), Bill Johnston (1973), Mowry (1979) and Dan Halldorson (1982). Stadler, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour a month ago and currently is ninth on the FedEx Cup standings, had his dad, 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler, caddying for him when he won the Colorado Open 12 years ago. Craig Stadler has also competed in the Open.

For the record, here are some of the other notable golfers who have played in the Colorado Open at some time or other: Mark O’Meara, Dave Stockton, Don January, George Archer, Dow Finsterwald, Corey Pavin, Steve Elkington, Bob Goalby, Charles Coody, Bob Murphy, former Denver-based serviceman Orville Moody, Peter Jacobsen, Bruce Devlin, Tommy Aaron, Martin Laird, Dale Douglass, Gary Hallberg, Bob Byman and 1992 Open winner Brandt Jobe. Jacobsen earned low-amateur honors in 1975, Byman in ’76, Pavin in ’82 and Elkington in ’84.

And, it should be noted, two very prominent former NFL quarterbacks — both named John — have competed in the Colorado Open as well, Brodie and Elway. And a big-time pitcher, Rick Rhoden, also gave it a go.

So Jimmy Walker is in some very good company.