Jason Bohn

When Jason Bohn was seven years old he dreamed of winning on the PGA Tour. For the first thirty-odd years of his life he pursued that goal but failed to attain it. He had spent years on mini-tours, on the Canadian Tour, and Nationwide Tour chasing that dream but it had eluded him. After a long struggle he earned his card in 2003 by finishing 9th on the Nationwide money list. In the process he won the Chattanooga Classic by posting a 263, a new tournament record.

After a lackluster performance in 2004 he faced certain elimination from a place he had hoped would become home. He had entered 29 events and made the cut 21 times, his only top-ten finish coming at the Buick Championship where he finished T6. It sounds strange but the $567,930 he earned wasn’t enough to get him into the top-125 on the money list. He finished 131st, six places away from another Tour card.

In his early thirties, Bohn had been there before. He had been fighting and scraping long enough to know that a setback didn’t have to mark the end. After failing to secure his card Bohn was off to PGA Tour Q-School in December. When the dust settled he was tied for 9th, good enough for another year on the PGA Tour.

When the 2005 season got under way Bohn’s started fairly well. His first four starts were average: T33 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T11 at the Buick Invitational, T26 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and T59 at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. After making the cut four times, he missed eight out of the following twelve cuts before he stopped the bleeding with a win at the B.C. Open. With $540,000 in his pocket from that one win he was almost certainly on his way to play in 2006.

Jump back to 2001 and Jason was on the Canadian Tour, struggling to find success in a game he loved. When he entered the Bayer Championship there were few who could have imagined what he would do. There are only a handful of people who have shot a 59 on the PGA Tour and one on the LPGA Tour. Longer and more difficult courses are making that number even more difficult. As if 59 wasn’t enough, Bohn shot a 58 in 2001 to win the Bayer Championship. 58 is thirteen strokes under-par and an impressive number anywhere.

In 2005 Bohn has been in the top-10 three times and has earned a total of $1,888,568. During the middle of October it looked like he might make it into the Tour Championship as he was 24th on the money list. Unfortunately he finished 34th. “If I get in the Tour Championship, I’ve met every goal I’ve set out to achieve this year,” Bohn said in early October. “But to tell you the truth, I’m tired.” He has nothing to be ashamed of. He’s played his heart out, snagged a win, and will be back to try again in 2006.

Bohn’s dream of winning on Tour came true this year at the B.C. Open at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott, N.Y. “To win on the PGA Tour [has been] my ultimate goal since I was seven years old,” said Bohn after the final round. “I’m overwhelmed with thoughts running through my head about what this is going to do for me.”

Recently the question, “Is a no-name winning on the PGA Tour good for the Tour?,” has been asked here at the Sand Trap. I it was good for Jason Bohn earlier this year. I support under-dogs (which, incidentally, makes me a perfect Seattle sports fan) and will always be glad for guys like Bohn who win. What he accomplished this year showed massive improvement. He proved to himself that he can do it.

While he’s had a great sophomore year on Tour, Jason Bohn has his work cut out for him. He’ll face a fantastic group of golfers again next year who all want to win as badly as he does. He’s going to have to improve his game again. He needs to elevate it. He can’t miss ten cuts a year and expect to retain his Tour card. He can score well, he just has to learn to steady them nerves and play like he belongs on the PGA Tour. Well, he needs to keep proving that he belongs because he’s already done that for one year.

Photo Credit: © AP, Titleist.