Steve Jones (golfer)

Last updated

Steve Jones
Personal information
Full nameSteven Glen Jones
Born (1958-12-27) December 27, 1958 (age 66)
Artesia, New Mexico, U.S.
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Tempe, Arizona, U.S.
Career
College University of Colorado
Turned professional1981
Current tour(s) PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins10
Highest ranking 14 (February 23, 1997) [1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour8
European Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament T20: 1990
PGA Championship T9: 1988
U.S. Open Won: 1996
The Open Championship T16: 1990
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
Comeback Player of the Year
1996

Steven Glen Jones (born December 27, 1958) is an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1996.

Contents

Early life and amateur career

Jones was born in Artesia, New Mexico. [2] He was a semi-finalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1976. He attended the University of Colorado. [2]

Professional career

PGA Tour

In 1981, Jones turned professional. [2] In the early years of his professional career, Jones did not have much success. He played the PGA Tour in 1982, but only made three cuts. His first top-10 finish came at the Texas Open in September 1985, and in 1986 he was medalist at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, allowing him to retain his card for the following year.

Jones won on the PGA Tour for the first time at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1988. The following year, 1989, was the winningest of his career with three PGA Tour wins. In January, he opened the season with a win in the MONY Tournament of Champions. He won again the next week, in a playoff over Paul Azinger and Sandy Lyle in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. In June he captured the Canadian Open with a two-stroke win over Mark Calcavecchia, Mike Hulbert and Clark Burroughs. He finished the season a career-best eighth on the money list.

In November 1991, Jones suffered ligament and joint damage to his left ring finger in a dirtbike accident, and he missed almost three years of play as a professional. He played in only two events in 1994.

Jones began his comeback in earnest in 1995, when he had two top-10 finishes. In 1996, he achieved three top-10 finishes by May. Considered a rank outsider in June 1996, Jones won the U.S. Open which was the only major championship of his career, defeating Tom Lehman and Davis Love III by one stroke. He was also the first sectional qualifier to win the tournament since Jerry Pate in 1976. Afterwards, Jones was selected as the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year for 1996 and he played for the United States in the 1996 World Cup of Golf.

Jones won two more PGA Tour events in 1997. In January, he shot 26-under to defeat Jesper Parnevik by an impressive 11 strokes at the Phoenix Open. [3] He followed that in September with his second career win at the Canadian Open, by one stroke over Greg Norman. [4]

In 1998, he won the Quad City Classic, his final PGA Tour victory.

Since 1999, Jones has slipped steadily down the money list. He remained exempt on the PGA Tour through 2006 because a major tournament win carried a 10-year exemption when he won in 1996. He missed part of 2003 and all of 2004 after undergoing surgery for tennis elbow, but starting playing again in 2005.

Jones was a captain's assistant for the United States team at the Ryder Cup in 2004.

In 2007, he played in nine PGA tour events and four Nationwide tour events, making the cut six times, but with no top-25 finishes. [2]

In 2008 and 2009, Jones had surgeries for tennis elbow. He made his first full golf swings in January 2011. [5] In 2011, Jones returned to playing professional golf. In January, Jones played the Bob Hope Classic on the PGA Tour.

Champions Tour

Jones began playing on the Champions Tour (now PGA Tour Champions) in April 2011, making his debut at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, where he and partner Doug Tewell tied for 10th in the Raphael Division. [4] His best individual effort among his 10 official starts was a T16 at The Senior Open Championship at Walton Heath. In 2012, he played in 12 Champions Tour events, with five top-25 finishes, earnings of $164,934, [4] and a Champions Tour personal best finish of a tie for second at the 2012 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. [6] His 11th-place finish at the National Qualifying Tournament earned him a conditional spot on the tour for the following year. In 2013, he played in 15 events with three top-25 finishes and $153,335 in earnings. In 2014, he played 11 events on the Champions Tour, making 9 cuts, and with a best finish T40 at the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship. In 2015, he played 13 events, making all the cuts and posting one top ten, T9 at the Senior PGA Championship. Jones has not played any Champions Tour events in 2016. [7]

His career on the PGA Tour Champions consists of 70 events played, making 66 cuts and two top-10 finishes. His total career earnings are over $800,000. [7]

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (8)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (7)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Feb 7, 1988 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 72-64-70-74=280−8Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Bob Tway
2Jan 8, 1989 MONY Tournament of Champions 69-69-72-69=279−93 strokes Flag of South Africa (1982-1994).svg David Frost, Flag of the United States.svg Jay Haas
3Jan 15, 1989 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic 76-68-67-63-69=343−17Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Paul Azinger, Flag of Scotland.svg Sandy Lyle
4Jun 25, 1989 Canadian Open 67-64-70-70=271−172 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Clark Burroughs, Flag of the United States.svg Mark Calcavecchia,
Flag of the United States.svg Mike Hulbert
5Jun 16, 1996 U.S. Open 74-66-69-69=278−21 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tom Lehman, Flag of the United States.svg Davis Love III
6Jan 26, 1997 Phoenix Open 62-64-65-67=258−2611 strokes Flag of Sweden.svg Jesper Parnevik
7Sep 7, 1997 Bell Canadian Open (2)71-68-67-69=275−51 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Greg Norman
8Jul 12, 1998 Quad City Classic 64-65-68-66=263−171 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Scott Gump

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1988 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Flag of the United States.svg Bob Tway Won with birdie on second extra hole
2 1989 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Flag of the United States.svg Paul Azinger, Flag of Scotland.svg Sandy Lyle Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1990 MCI Heritage Golf Classic Flag of the United States.svg Larry Mize, Flag of the United States.svg Payne Stewart Stewart won with birdie on second extra hole
Jones eliminated by par on first hole

Source: [2]

Other wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1996 U.S. Open 1 shot deficit−2 (74-66-69-69=278)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Tom Lehman, Flag of the United States.svg Davis Love III

Results timeline

Tournament198719881989
Masters Tournament T30T31
U.S. Open T46
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship T61T9T51
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
Masters Tournament T20CUTCUTT26CUT
U.S. Open T8CUT1T60CUTCUT
The Open Championship T16T64CUTT48T57
PGA Championship CUTCUTT41CUT
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006
Masters Tournament T25T27
U.S. Open T27T30CUTT57T32
The Open Championship T31CUTT43
PGA Championship T24
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000296
U.S. Open 100122128
The Open Championship 00000196
PGA Championship 00001285
Totals1001373825

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament198719881989
The Players Championship T15T48T41
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
The Players Championship T3T41T33CUTT25CUT
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006
The Players Championship T27T50CUTT62T75CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament1999
Match Play R16
Championship
Invitational
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. "Week 08 1997 Ending 23 Feb 1997" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Steve Jones – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  3. "1997 Results for Phoenix Open". Database Golf. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Steve Jones – Season". PGA Tour. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  5. Martin, Sean (January 17, 2011). "Bob Hope Classic: Steve Jones makes a surprise appearance". Golfweek . Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  6. "Steve Jones profile – 73rd Senior PGAChampionship". PGA of America. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Steve Jones – Career" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.