Jonathan Kaye finally breaks through at Buick Classic

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2003 Buick Classic | Wrap | 23 Jun 2003

Jonathan Kaye finally got the job done today with his playoff win over John Rollins at the Buick Classic. Five times a runner up since joining the PGA Tour in 1995, this victory was well overdue to the talented man from Phoenix.

While he has been on tour for close to eight years, his career has been plagued with numerous problems, not the least of which was a major shoulder operation in 1996, which effectively kept him out of the game for most of 1996 and 1997.

In his very first season on the USPGA Tour, Kaye signalled what he was capable of when he led the Quad City Classic into the last hole, only to bogey and lose to D.A. Weibring. Since that near miss he has, on several occasions, threatened winning for the first time, but that much sought after victory has eluded him. His tenth place at last week’s US Open, may well have given him a boost of confidence as it was far and away his best finish in a major, in fact his previous best in six starts had been just 43rd.

Given the quality of both the field and the golf course at the Buick Classic in recent years, the tournament continues to produce players from outside the elite category. They include Kaye, who had not won on Tour prior to this week, in a playoff against one time tour winner John Rollins plus the last few years has seen players such as Chris Smith, Dennis Paulson, Duffy Waldorf and J.P.Hayes winning, in addition to the exception, Sergio Garcia.

Kaye won with an eagle on the first extra hole after a driving iron found the back of the green, twenty feet from the hole. Rollins had missed his birdie putt and so the centre stage was left to Kaye who made no mistake as his ball found the centre of the cup. $US900,000 the better off and season’s earnings of $US1,470,000, has him around fifteenth on the money list and looking like a spot at the British Open via the series of tournaments category which finishes at the Western Open. Life couldn’t be better now for the 32-year-old.

Of the more fancied players, Sergio Garcia, his swing looking better and better every week, finished third in an event he had won two years ago. Ernie Els was 11th, Tiger Woods 13th, Vijay Singh 18th, with Jim Furyk doing well, after such an historic week last week, to finish 22nd.

Peter Lonard was the best Australasian in 22nd place ahead of Rod Pampling 36th, John Senden and Paul Gow 43rd, Steve Elkington and Mathew Goggin 58th and Craig Perks 71st.

The PGA Tour now heads to Memphis for the Fed Ex St Jude Classic.