Steve Jones (golfer)

Steve Jones
Personal information
Full name	Steven Glen Jones
Born	(1958-12-27) December 27, 1958 Artesia, New Mexico
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Tempe, Arizona
Career
College	University of Colorado
Turned professional	1981
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	10
Highest ranking	14 (February 23, 1997)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
Other	2
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.

Early life and education

Jones was born in Artesia, New Mexico. He was a semi-finalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1976. He attended the University of Colorado and turned professional in 1981.

Golf career

Early years

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.

1987–1994

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 playoff win over Bob Tway in the MONY Tournament of Champions. He won again the next week, by three strokes over Jay Haas and David Frost 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.

Comeback and U.S. Open win

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, but he was still a rank outsider when he picked up the U.S. Open title that June, which was the only major championship of his career. He defeated Tom Lehman and Davis Love III by one stroke, and was the first sectional qualifier to win the tournament since Jerry Pate in 1976.

Jones played for the United States in the 1996 World Cup of Golf. He won two more PGA Tour events in 1997. In January, he shot 26-under to defeat Jesper Parnevik by 11 strokes at the Phoenix Open. He followed that in September with his second career win at the Canadian Open, by one stroke over Greg Norman.

In 1998, he won the Quad City Classic, his last PGA Tour victory to date.

1999–2007

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.

Second comeback

In 2008 and 2009, Jones had surgeries for tennis elbow. He made his first full golf swings in January 2011. 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 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. 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, and a Champions Tour personal best finish of a tie for second at the 2012 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. 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.

His career on the Champions Tour consists of 61 events played, making 57 cuts and one top ten finish. His total career earnings are over $700,000.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (8)

Legend

Major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Feb 7, 1988	AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	72-64-70-74=280	−8	Playoff	Bob Tway
2	Jan 8, 1989	MONY Tournament of Champions	69-69-72-69=279	−9	3 strokes	David Frost, Jay Haas
3	Jan 15, 1989	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	76-68-67-63-69=343	−17	Playoff	Paul Azinger, Sandy Lyle
4	Jun 25, 1989	Canadian Open	67-64-70-70=271	−17	2 strokes	Clark Burroughs, Mark Calcavecchia, Mike Hulbert
5	Jun 16, 1996	U.S. Open	74-66-69-69=278	−2	1 stroke	Tom Lehman, Davis Love III
6	Jan 26, 1997	Phoenix Open	62-64-65-67=258	−26	11 strokes	Jesper Parnevik
7	Sep 7, 1997	Bell Canadian Open	71-68-67-69=275	−5	1 stroke	Greg Norman
8	Jul 12, 1998	Quad City Classic	64-65-68-66=263	−17	1 stroke	Scott Gump

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

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

Other wins

• 1987 JCPenney Classic (with Jane Crafter)
• 1988 Colorado Open

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
1996	U.S. Open	1 shot deficit	−2 (74-66-69-69=278)	1 stroke	Tom Lehman, Davis Love III

Results timeline

Tournament	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	T30	T31
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	T46
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	T61	T9	T51

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	T20	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T26	CUT
U.S. Open	T8	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	1	T60	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	T16	T64	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T48	T57	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	T41	DNP	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Masters Tournament	T25	T27	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T27	T30	CUT	DNP	DNP	T57	T32
The Open Championship	T31	CUT	T43	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T24	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	6
U.S. Open	1	0	0	1	2	2	12	8
The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	9	6
PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	5
Totals	1	0	0	1	3	7	38	25

• Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2000 Masters – 2001 U.S. Open)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• World Cup: 1996

See also

• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

External links

• Steve Jones at the PGA Tour official site
• University of Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame