Tag: PGA Tour Champions

Ernie Els earns first PGA Tour Champions title in just third appearance

In just his third start on the senior tour, Ernie Els won his first PGA Tour Champions event at the Hoag Classic.

A big win for Big Ernie.

In just his third start on the PGA Tour Champions, Ernie Els won his first senior tour event on Sunday at the Hoag Classic at Newport Beach Country Club in Newport Beach, California.

Els shot a final-round 4-under 67 thanks to birdies on the par-5 15th and 18th holes to reach 16 under.

Glen Day, Fred Couples and Robert Karlsson all finished T-2 at 14 under, followed by Scott McCarron in fifth at 13 under.

In his previous two senior tour events, Els lost in a playoff to Miguel Angel Jimenez at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship and finished T-34 at last week’s Cologuard Classic.

Hoag Classic: Leaderboard

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Bernhard Langer rallies from four back to claim first Cologuard Classic title

Bernhard Langer came from four shots back to win the Cologuard Classic title on Sunday.

Bernhard Langer remains the force that all senior players must overcome if they want to win a PGA Tour Champions title. On Sunday, the German came from four shots back to win the Cologuard Classic. By the end of the final round at Tucson National’s Catalina Course, he was 18 under and two shots ahead of runner-up Woody Austin.

The victory represents Langer’s 41st title on the senior tour. Langer, 62, is now only four victories short of all-time leader Hale Irwin.

Langer has played the Cologuard Classic five times, but this is his first win in an event where he feels like the venue fits him.

“I feel somewhat comfortable around this golf course,” he said. “It probably suits a high ball, hit it with a lot of spin because some of the greens are usually fairly firm and some of the pins are tucked behind a bunker by three yards or so and you’ve got to stop it. You know, I’m not known for that, but I can spin the ball enough to compete if I play well.”

Langer got off to a hot start with birdies on his first three holes. He added two more at Nos. 7 and 8 then sprinkled four more over the back nine before making a bogey at No. 18 that left him with an 8-under 65. By that time, it didn’t matter much. There was no catching him.

With the wins still coming now despite being in his 60s, Langer had much to say on the topic of confidence.

“Confidence is a huge part of golf, we all know that, so it’s always great to win or be happy about your game, feel like you’re close or you’re on top of it,” he said. “I still feel if I can play my best, I have a chance to win out here. But I have to play my best, I can’t play at 80 percent, there’s too many really good players nowadays that just will lap me if I don’t play my very best.”

Brett Quigley was chasing his second PGA Tour Champions title in four starts. The 50-year-old just became eligible for the senior tour. After a nearly flawless start to the tournament – he had just one bogey in opening rounds of 64-68 – Quigley’s third round was much different. He got through the front nine easily enough with two birdies and six pars but bogeyed the 10th and double-bogeyed the 12th. That effectively derailed his day.

A final-round 73 left Quigley at 14 under, in a share of third with Rod Pampling.

Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez were all another shot back in a share of fifth.

For Quigley, the near misses provide learning experiences just as much as his win earlier this year in Morocco did.

“You just keep hitting shots and shoot as low as you can because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said when asked what he had learned in Tucson.

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Why did World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite need to write for his first sponsor exemption?

After more than 1,100 career starts in his illustrious career, Hall of Famer Tom Kite pens his first letter asking for a sponsor’s exemption. Allow us to explain.

What is a World Golf Hall of Famer with 19 PGA Tour victories, more than $27 million in earnings and more than 1,100 career combined starts as a professional doing asking for a sponsor invite into the PGA Tour Champions Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona, this week?

Good question. Tom Kite, the golfer in question, provided me the answer.

“I failed the tour’s playing standard regulation last year because of how poorly I played,” he said.

There’s a playing standard on the senior circuit? Who knew? Here’s the actual language of this arcane rule that was implemented roughly 20 years ago, according to the PGA Tour Champions.

“Upon the conclusion of the season, any player who has played a minimum of six official rounds and played in a minimum of three tournaments shall have maintained a scoring average for all rounds played by such player during the previous year in tournaments awarding official money no higher than four and one-half (4.5) strokes in excess of the average score for all players in such tournaments.”

There’s two opposing schools of thought on this: you either think this rule is a joke and Kite is an all-time great, a name golf fans still care to pay money to see and he deserves our admiration that he’s still grinding and should be allowed to go out on his terms. Or you think this is a reasonable rule meant to protect the quality of the field and would tell Kite, ‘C’mon, old man, your time has passed,’ and, in what is very much a closed shop, you’re taking a spot from a more worthy player.

Kite, 70, has played in 426 senior tournaments since turning 50 in December 1999 and racked up 10 wins, 125 top-10 finishes and more than $14 million. But last season he played just 11 tournaments and earned $26,476. And, for our purposes here, the bigger problem was his scoring average in ‘19: 76.148, which was a differential of 4.847 compared to the fields he played against, so that’s how he missed the 4.5 stroke average.

Tom Kite won 19 times on the PGA Tour and 16 times on PGA Tour Champions.

Kite’s final tournament in 2019 was the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach, where he won his lone major in 1992. He shot his age, 69, in his first round but followed it up with a 79 at Poppy Hills Golf Course.

“I forgot about the rule,” Kite said. “I could’ve signed my scorecard incorrectly or not signed it at all and been DQed and still have my status.”

Here’s more on the rule affecting Kite’s status this season.

“Any such player failing to meet the guidelines set forth in this Section C.1(a) of this Article III shall retain regular membership but for subsequent seasons shall no longer be exempt. The scoring average portion of the Performance Guidelines shall not be applicable for those members who have a minimum of 50 combined (PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions) victories in tournaments awarding official money, or players in the All-Time Victory Category A.1 (i)(i). There shall be no other exemption from this scoring average provision of the Performance Guidelines.”

The bar is set so high for a “get out of jail card” – a combined 50 wins between the tour’s junior and senior circuits – too high, you could argue, that even stalwart Bernhard Langer wouldn’t meet it. (Hale Irwin is one of the few, the proud, who does.)

But Kite didn’t complain about being in this no-man’s land to start the season. In fact, he said, “I endorse the policy 100%.”

As a result, Kite sent his first letter requesting a sponsor exemption to tournament officials at the Tucson tournament, which begins Friday.

Fifty years ago this June, Kite made his PGA Tour debut at the U.S. Open at Hazeltine. He passed Tour Q-School in his first attempt and made it through Monday Qualifying initially. Never did he have to ask for a handout. Well, there was one time he accepted a sponsor exemption into the old Crosby Clambake, but that was arranged by his amateur partner.

Part of the reason Kite may have accepted having his exempt status suspended – technically, he qualifies through the all-time points, all-time money and Hall of Fame categories – is that he can receive unlimited sponsor exemptions. He already has another one lined up for the Hoag Classic next week in Newport Beach, California, and then he will re-assess his plans. And there’s also this:

“A player who loses his exempt status for failing to meet the scoring average provision of the Performance Guidelines may regain exempt status immediately by finishing among the top one-half (1/2) of the starting field in any PGA Tour Champions cosponsored or approved tournament awarding official prize money, excluding official money team events.”

In other words, if he can finish inside the top half of an official, non-team event – top-39 or better this week – his status will be reinstated. It’s not a high bar and one Kite is confident he can achieve.

“I know I’m at the end of my rope,” he said. “I don’t have any super-high aspirations other than to see the guys and compete and get my status back. I didn’t play worth a darn last year, but you know what? I’m still a pretty good player.”

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Doug Barron, Scott Parel emerge as Chubb Classic leaders

Doug Barron and Scott Parel are two of the relative unknowns on the PGA Tour Champions. 

Doug Barron and Scott Parel are two of the relative unknowns on the PGA Tour Champions.

Neither had much of a career on the regular tour. Parel didn’t have one and didn’t even play college golf while attending the University of Georgia.

That hasn’t stopped either from finding success on the Champions Tour.

Both shot rounds of 7-under 64 on Friday to share the first-round lead at the Chubb Classic at The Classics at Lely Resort. Three-time winner Bernhard Langer, Fred Funk, Ken Tanigawa and Stephen Leaney are tied for second at 6 under.

Before turning 50 last year, Barron had played seven seasons on the PGA Tour with a best finish of third in 237 starts, and hadn’t played tour golf since the Korn Ferry Tour in 2012.

In his Champions Tour debut last July, he tied for fifth at the Senior British Open. Then he went all the way through prequalifying and qualifying to get into the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open. He shot a 6-under 66 to beat Fred Couples by two strokes. It was the first time in tour history a winner went through both rounds of qualifying.

It was his first career victory in 377 events across three sanctioned tours.

On Friday, Barron left an 8-footer for birdie on No. 18 one revolution short, but otherwise was more than solid. He made four birdies on the front nine, then holed out for eagle on the par-5 11th from 30 yards before adding another birdie on No. 17.

“I played really good,” Barron said. “I drove it great today. And I didn’t do anything special. I missed a couple short putts, as a matter of fact. I made two good pars all day, but I hit it really nice. I didn’t really have to struggle for pars. I had a lot of good looks all day, so it was an easy 7 under, if there’s such a thing.”

Parel, 54, worked as a computer programmer and database administrator for 10 years after college, and didn’t turn pro until he was 31. He hasn’t won yet on the tour but was second three times and had 10 top-10 finishes last year on his way to finishing eighth on the Charles Schwab Cup points list.

Friday, he had eight birdies, including a pair of three straight – Nos. 2, 3, 4, and Nos. 10, 11, 12 – but it was a bogey at No. 7 that stood out to him.

“I lost the ball in a palm tree,” he said. “Hit a good tee shot, hit it in front, and chipped in for a 5, so that was a huge momentum. Even though it was a bogey, it could be six or seven easily. And I wasn’t that concerned.”

Langer closed with a 12-foot birdie on No. 9. Langer, who is going for his 41st Champions Tour victory, has gotten off to another good start. He tied that into making Florida his home years ago.

“I noticed it early in my career, when I lived in Germany, I always had a slow start to every season and it took me to May or June to get my stride,” he said. “And when I moved to Florida, I was ready to go from the get-go. So that helps. That’s probably the main thing.”

Barron has made himself home all week. On Tuesday, he spoke at the Men’s Golf Fellowship at Pelican Bay.

“Me and Larry Mize and Larry Moody, our Tour chaplain,” Barron said. “And they do that every year. So we had a good time. I like to tell it like it is, so I like to entertain the guys and be real. I think everyone had a good time, so it was cool.”

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Tim Herron ready to make debut on ‘casual’ PGA Tour Champions

Tim Herron will make his senior circuit debut at the Chubb Classic in Naples, Florida, this week.

NAPLES, Fla. — Tim Herron can’t wait to take some new lumps after joining the PGA Tour Champions.

And Herron, who turned 50 on Feb. 6, is absolutely fine with that. He is nicknamed “Lumpy” after all.

“It’s still somewhat casual out here and I’m going to kind of take that and not get too intense with it,” Herron said Wednesday at the Chubb Classic, where he’ll make his tour debut at The Classics at Lely Resort this week. “I know these guys can still play and there’s a lot of guys that take it serious.

“It’s a time in life to play some serious golf but also have some fun. That’s what I’m looking forward to do. I think it’s a perfect fit for me.”

It pretty much encompasses Herron, who won four times on the PGA Tour, has embraced the nickname, and is more than ready to do some damage on the 50-and-over tour. He even made a hype video on YouTube, featuring Herron hitting a tee shot and then putting on glasses to try to track the ball.

“He’s got a great personality,” Champions Tour player John Daly said. “He’s great with people. He’s going to fit this tour just perfect.”

Herron has not shied away from the nickname he got from a job he had in Wayzata, Minnesota, as a kid.

In fact, he’s marketed it, well, to a T (or tee).

“The nickname is a brand, so we’re going to keep it like that,” Herron said.
Herron was working at a golf pro shop when his fellow workers asked if he had a nickname. He said no, then went to pick balls at the driving range. He had one when he came back.

“I came up after picking the range, and they said ‘Lumpy, how are you doing? Do you like your nickname?’ I said ‘No,'” Herron said. “Because I said ‘No’ I learned from right there that it was probably going to stick. It stuck all the way through all of the years.”

And Herron has taken it all the way to the bank.

LumpCo.com has everything from apparel to a best-of awards (and that includes snacks and even his favorite ATM at a tour stop) and has an advice section. His last piece of advice was from November, and concerned the easily-tied-into-golf subject of romance.

“DEAR LUMPY: My dad golfs. Anyway, I’m a seventh grader at Cedar Creek Middle School. ThereTim H’s a super cute boy named Josh in my science class that I like, but I don’t even think he knows I exist. What should I do?

DEAR BEAKERS & BOYS: Take him to Arby’s and make him a Justin Bieber mix. My World and Believe; JB’s strongest records, display his vocal range and passion for going steady, while 2010’s, My World 2.0 left me feeling empty inside.”

Gold for sure.

The site also has a “Masters” link, and it does concern that Masters, the major championship golf tournament played each April, but not exactly.

As Herron describes in the section, he dropped some marinara sauce on the practice green in 1998 and hasn’t been invited back. So while some apparel-driven golfers may post what their outfits are going to be during certain tournaments, like majors, Herron does the same.

Last year? A green body suit for getting body-mapped for “Full Shoulder Turn 2020” on Thursday, a full coat with a hood for cleaning his garage on Friday, a full swim suit, floppy hat and flip flops after getting a Groupon for the water park Saturday, and an old-age European-looking green outfit complete with tights to hand out samples at his friend’s wife’s cheese shop on Sunday.

Herron also is active on Twitter, and has more than 11,000 followers. Of course, he had to have fun with his Twitter profile too. “Led the tour in backspin and follow-through in 2008. Once ate a whole Bloomin’ Onion,” it says in part.

Last year, he tweeted at Lakers star LeBron James that he would teach James to get out of a bunker, if James could teach the 5-foot-10, 250-pound Herron how to windmill dunk. And he did it on a Tuesday, so he had to play into James’ creation of Taco Tuesday by placing a taco — after taking a bite out of it — next to a ball on a tee and hitting both.

“I didn’t get anything back (from James) I don’t think,” he said. “I showed him how to hit a shot off a taco, so …”

Now Herron has the perfect pairing for tacos — his own beer, called Lumpy’s Lager from Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis. Herron said the beer is “course tested” and recently debuted a commercial on social media.

All kidding aside, Herron has kept himself ready, playing on both the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour. He missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last week.

“I played anywhere from 12 to 18 events out on the tour (the past few years),” he said. “I felt that was probably good enough.”

In addition to spreading the Lumpy name, he also got some quality family time with the more abbreviated schedule.

“I really got to know my kids (Carson, Mick and Patrick) in the last six years, so that’s been good. I think they’re ready for me to be on the road a little bit. My goal is to get every kid out, just one-on-one and have them come out every so often.”

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Brett Quigley, winless in 408 PGA Tour starts, wins Morocco Champions

Brett Quigley never won in 408 tries on the PGA Tour. On Saturday, he won his 2nd start on the PGA Tour Champions at the Morocco Champions.

Brett Quigley never won in 408 tries on the PGA Tour.

On Saturday, he won his second start on the PGA Tour Champions at the Morocco Champions.

Quigley last won a tournament at the 2001 Arkansas Classic on the now Korn Ferry Tour.

“It’s been so long since I won a tournament,” Quigley told pgatour.com. “Just incredible. It’s weird, I had a peace all week, I was pretty comfortable all week. I wouldn’t say I was nervous until the last hole here on my second putt, but just felt comfortable and just felt comfortable here in Marrakesh.”

Quigley did finish second five times in those 408 starts and has earned more than $11 million in his playing career.

Morocco Champions: Leaderboard

But he finally won another tournament after rallying from a three-stroke deficit to start the final round.

Stephen Ames entered the day with the lead but Quigley shot a second straight 66 to finish at 15 under. Ames shot a 70 to finish a shot back. Doug Barron and Scott Parol were T-3 at 11 under.

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19th hole: Senior tour’s problem is one Phil is unlikely to address

Phil Mickelson turns 50 this year, but there’s little chance he’ll be showing up on the senior circuit any time soon.

This ought to have been an outstanding week for Miller Brady. The PGA Tour Champions, of which Brady is president, began its season in Hawaii with more fanfare than usual thanks to the debut of Hall of Famer Ernie Els. Nor is Els the only major winner who will slather on the Bengay and saddle up for the senior circuit in 2020. Jim Furyk and Mike Weir both turn 50 on May 12, with Rich Beem following in August.

Yet for all the promise this year holds for Brady, it presents a problem too: Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson turns 50 on June 16. That’s Tuesday of U.S. Open week at Winged Foot, a tournament he may need — and would almost certainly receive — an exemption into. The first old guys event for which he’s eligible is the U.S. Senior Open, held one week later at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. Since Mickelson remains focused on completing the career grand slam at the U.S. Open, what are the chances he’s going to pitch up at the geriatric version of the event?

Slim and none, and slim just left town, as Curtis Strange used to say.

“I haven’t thought too much about it and I won’t until I see how the first six months of this year go,” Mickelson said earlier this week while hosting The American Express stop on the PGA Tour. “It’s nice to have the option to move over to another Tour, but it’s also nice to have the challenge of competing out here.”

“When I stop hitting bombs I’ll play the Champions Tour, but I’m hitting some crazy bombs right now,” he added with an impish grin. “No, I still have speed. There’s no reason I couldn’t play out here. I hit the ball every bit as far.”

Mickelson’s comments can’t have been comforting for Brady, who may find himself running a 50s-and-over Tour that the world’s best 50-year-old considers beneath his competitive level. When I asked his reaction to Mickelson’s breezy dismissal of senior golf, Brady remained typically upbeat.

“Phil has been one of the biggest stars in all of sports for nearly three decades, and it has been amazing to see how competitive he’s remained in his late 40s. When he’s ready to compete on the PGA Tour Champions, I think he will enjoy the competition and camaraderie while playing alongside the guys he grew up with,” he replied. “If that’s this year, next year or further down the line, his presence will create a tremendous level of excitement for our fans.”

Except Mickelson doesn’t seem too excited at the prospect of playing alongside guys he grew up with. He’d rather be schooling the kids. He wants to trash talk with guys like Justin Thomas, not compare orthopedic inserts with Colin Montgomerie. And his likely absence can’t help but weaken the PGA Tour Champions. Sure, Els might play well consistently and elevate the circuit’s profile, but senior events are often glorified pitch and putt contests, and Ernie’s putter left him years ago. Brady is staring at another year of trying to build a compelling product around the Scott McCarrons of the world.

On the face of it, the PGA Tour Champions is robust. There are 27 stops on the ‘20 schedule with a total prize fund nearing $60 million. Viewership on Golf Channel averages 133,000, equal to LPGA events and better than the Korn Ferry Tour (figures are skewed since Champions events are usually measured over three days versus four for other Tours). But 40 years after it was founded, the PGA Tour Champions has long since ceased being a showcase for fading legends and is instead an annuity for journeymen who couldn’t draw a crowd if they were playing in thongs amid the many vigorous widows at The Villages.

This won’t present as a problem to players currently reaping the benefits of the Tour — and there are surely some who will be happy not to have greater competition at the trough — but Mickelson matters simply because there aren’t any more with his star power waiting in the wings. This is where we see the trickle-down effect of Tiger Woods having impoverished the trophy cases of a generation. Every Tour needs its superstar, and Mickelson is the last undisputed legend the PGA Tour Champions will see this side of Woods getting his AARP card six years hence. And a man with young kids and a broken body who doesn’t need the money probably isn’t a great bet to play either.

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Miguel Angel Jimenez beats Ernie Els, Fred Couples in playoff, wins PGA Tour Champions’ opener

Miguel Angel Jimenez won a playoff against Ernie Els and Fred Couples to claim the PGA Tour Champions’ opener in Hawaii.

What’s better than a victory cigar in Hawaii?

Miguel Angel Jimenez made a clutch 12-foot birdie putt on a second playoff hole Saturday night, taking down Ernie Els to win the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualala, the season opener for the PGA TOUR Champions.

Fred Couples made bogey and lost in the first playoff hole.

“I said to my caddie, `The winning score is going to be 15-under par and we need to hurry up and make birdie,'” said Jimenez, who went on to make clutch birdies on holes 13-15 to get into contention.

The 56-year-old now has won in each of his seven seasons on the senior tour, with nine victories total, including a previous win at Hualalai in 2015.

Leaderboard: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai

“Played well every year here and it’s nice to have a second win,” Jimenez said.

“Disappointing, obviously,” Els said of his debut on the senior circuit. “I would have loved to got it through, but I had a couple of chances, didn’t quite get the right speed or the right line, but all good. Congrats to Miguel.”

The PGA Tour Champions tee off again Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Morocco Champions at Samanah Golf Club in Marrakech, Morocco.

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2020 PGA Tour Champions schedule, results

Here is the upcoming schedule and the results for the 2020 PGA Tour Champions season.

Here is the 2020 PGA Tour Champions schedule, with each of the 29 events listed with its date, name, course, location, purse and, once determined, winner.

Date Tournament Course Location Purse Winner
Jan. 16-18 Mitsubishi Electric Championship Hualalai GC Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii $1.8 million TBD
Jan. 30-Feb. 1 Morocco Champions Samanah GC Marrakech, Morocco $2 million TBD
Feb. 14-16 Chubb Classic The Classics at Lely Resort Naples, Florida $1.6 million TBD
Feb. 28-March 1 Cologuard Classic Omni Tucson National Tucson, Arizona $1.7 million TBD
March 6-8 Hoag Classic Newport Beach CC Newport Beach, California $1.8 million TBD
March 27-29 Rapiscan Systems Classic Fallen Oak Biloxi, Mississippi $1.6 million TBD
April 17-19 Mitsubishi Electric Classic TPC Sugarloaf Duluth, Georgia $1.8 million TBD
May 1-3 Insperity Invitational The Woodlands CC The Woodlands, Texas $2.25 million TBD
May 7-10 Regios Tradition Greystone Golf & CC Birningham, Alabama $2.4 million
May 21-24 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship Harbor Shores Benton Harbor, Michigan $3.25 million TBD
May 29-31 Principal Charity Classic Wakonda Club Des Moines, Iowa $1.85 million TBD
June 5-7 American Family Insurance Championship University Ridge GC Madison, Wisconsin $2.4 million TBD
June 12-14 Mastercard Japan Championship Narita GC Narita-shi, Chiba, Japan $2.5 million TBD
June 25-28 U.S. Senior Open Newport CC Newport, Rhode Island $4 million TBD
July 9-12 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship Firestone CC Akron, Ohio $2.8 million TBD
July 23-26 The Senior Open Championship Sunningdale GC Bershire, England $2 million TBD
July 31-Aug. 2 The Ally Challenge Warwick Hills Grand Blanc, Michigan $2 million TBD
Aug. 14-16 DICK’S Sporting Goods Open En-Joie GC Endicott, New York $2.05 million TBD
Aug. 21-23 Boeing Classic The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge Snoqualmie, Washington $2.1 million TBD
Aug. 28-30 Shaw Charity Classic Canyon Meadows Calgary, Alberta, Canada $2.35 million TBD
Sept. 11-13 Sanford International Minnehaha CC Sioux Falls, South Dakota $1.8 million TBD
Sept. 18-20 PURE Insurance Championship Pebble Beach Monterey Peninsula, California $2.2 million TBD
Oct. 2-4 Ascension Charity Classic Norwood Hills CC St. Louis, Missouri $2 million TBD
Oct. 9-11 SAS Championship Prestonwood CC Cary, North Carolina $2.1 million TBD
Oct. 16-18 Dominion Energy Charity Classic Country Club of Virginia Richmond, Virginia $2 million TBD
Oct. 30-Nov. 1 Boca Raton Championship The Old Course at Broken Sound Boca Raton, Florida $2 million TBD
Nov. 5-8 Charles Schwab Cup Championship Phoenix Country Club Phoenix, Arizona $2.5 million TBD
Nov. 17-20 2021 PGA Tour Champions Qualifying-Final Stage TPC Tampa Bay Lutz, Florida $2 million TBD
Dec. 17-20 PNC Father Son Challenge Ritz-Carlton GC Orlando, Florida $1.085 million TBD

 

Two-time PGA Tour winner J.L. Lewis loses battle with cancer on New Year’s Eve

John Lee Lewis, 59, was a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and had been battling multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, since 2012.

J.L. Lewis, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour in the late 1990s and early 2000s, died on New Year’s Eve at age 59, according to a post on his Facebook account.

Lewis, whose full name was John Lee, had been battling multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, since 2012. He is survived by his wife, Dawn, and two children, Cole and Sherry.

A star athlete in high school, Lewis earned a scholarship to Emporia State and then transferred to Texas State University, where he was a member of the 1983 Division II national championship team and finished runner-up as an individual. Lewis turned pro in 1984 and earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 1999 John Deere Classic. He earned his second win at the 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania in 2003.

Two years later, Lewis led the John Deere Classic heading into the final round. According to the tournament, because Lewis was the leader after 54 holes, he was able to donate $50,000 in his name to a charity of his choice. Lewis chose Gilda’s Club of the Quad Cities in Davenport, which assists cancer patients and their families.

https://www.facebook.com/JLLewisGolf/posts/10218518548907113

Lewis continued his professional career on the Champions Tour in 2010 and played in nine events in 2012 before being diagnosed.

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