Last summer, Denver native Jonathan Kaye proved in his part-time home state that he still has some game.
The former University of Colorado golfer, competing in his first tournament in two years, led the CoBank Colorado Open during the final nine holes. And while he didn’t emerge his second Colorado Open victory, the two-time PGA Tour winner finished second with a 20-under-par 268 total at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, which isn’t bad considering his competitive rust.
This week, Kaye (pictured) will put his game to a bigger test as the 46-year-old competes in his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event in almost three years. The part-time Boulder resident, who beat Phil Mickelson in a playoff to win a 1992 college tournament, is scheduled to tee it up starting Thursday (Feb. 9) at the Web.com Tour’s Club Colombia Championship in Bogota.
Prior to this week, the last time Kaye played in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event was at the Web.com’s Rex Hospital Open in May 2014. The former CGA Public Links champion last competed on the PGA Tour in 2011.
Overall, Kaye played in 318 PGA Tour events from 1995 to 2011, winning more than $10.5 million. His two Tour wins came at the 2003 Buick Classic and the 2004 FBR Open (now the Waste Management Phoenix Open).
Kaye isn’t the only Colorado resident who is in the midst of a return to big-league golf after a prolonged layoff:
— Denver-area resident David Duval, who has competed in a grand total of three PGA Tour events since the summer of 2015, is in the field for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which also begins on Thursday.
Duval, a 13-time PGA Tour winner who’s now a regular on the Golf Channel broadcast team, finished second at the 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, matching his best PGA Tour finish since 2001.
However, Duval did team up with stepson Nick Karavites to win the nationally televised PNC Father/Son Challenge in December.
Also in the Pebble Beach field are former Coloradans Mark Hubbard, Martin Laird and Sam Saunders.
(Feb. 12 Update) Hubbard (69-70-75-73–287) finished 62nd at Pebble Beach, while Laird (71-73-71–215) made the cut but didn’t qualify for the final round individually, and Saunders (69-75-72–216) and Duval (73-71-75–219) missed the cut.
— Meanwhile, joining Kaye in the Web.com Tour’s Club Colombia Championship will be Shane Bertsch of Parker, who last month competed in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event for the first time in 11 months. Bertsch, who is on a medical extension from the PGA Tour, was sidelined most of last year with a shoulder injury.
When Bertsch does return to the PGA Tour, he’ll have 11 tournaments left on his medical extension, needing to earn $612,397 in those events to keep his exempt status.
Also playing in Bogota will be Jim Knous of Littleton, former Golden resident Andrew Svoboda and former Colorado Open champions Jimmy Gunn and Nate Lashley. Knous Monday qualified for the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open last week.
(Feb. 11 Update) All the local players missed the 36-hole cut in Bogota:
Kaye 74-73–147
Svoboda 71-76–147
Knous 75-73–148
Bertsch 79-71–150
Kaye, Bertsch, Knous and Svoboda are also in the field for the Web.com Tour’s Panama Claro Championship, which begins Feb. 16 in Panama City.
