Monday, January 21, 2002
[MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP]
KA'UPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii >> It's not often you see a hole-in-one and a double-eagle in the same tournament, but golf fans were treated to both at this week's $1.5 million MasterCard Championship. Jacobs gets on-the-job
double-eagle trainingBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comOn Friday, Doug Tewell fired an ace at the par-3 eighth, needing a 4-iron to cover the 208 yards for the first hole-in-one in the 19-year history of this winners-only event. It was the 11th ace in Tewell' career, all of them in professional events.
John Jacobs turned around yesterday and fired a double-eagle on the par-5 10th. There were only three on the entire Senior PGA Tour last year. It was the first of Jacobs' 35-year professional career. When asked if he had managed one before, his reply was, "Are you kidding? Never, never, never. I didn't even know they existed."
Jacobs, who was playing in the final group with winner Tom Kite, hit his drive about 377 yards, leaving him 189 to the pin. He pulled out an 8-iron and landed it about 25 feet from the hole. It rolled across the green, tracking steady and true. One fan yelled out, "Go in!" And it followed orders right into the bottom of the cup for a two on the par-5.
"It was a funny 8-iron," Jacobs said. "Because you're kind of coming off a side of a hill. You don't have to hit it 180. You kind of have to hit it on the bank and let it roll down. But hell, I don't know. I couldn't even see it. I'm commenting on things I couldn't see. I don't know where it hit.
"When it went in, my caddy's eyes lit up, so I knew it was a good shot.
"He was waiting for me to hit a green, much less hit it in the hole. But that was fun. I'll tell you what, I played absolutely diabolical for six holes. I played terrible. I couldn't put any pressure on Tom. And he didn't play that good, either. From the seventh hole in, I played pretty good."
Unfortunately for Jacobs, he hit a bad drive on the 11th for a par and bogeyed the 12th to fall back some.
"But geez, what a thrill," Jacobs said, going back to his double-eagle. "I've never seen one. I've never made one. But it really shows what a champion Tom is. He knows I can make birdies. And when I did that (to cut Kite's lead to three), he's got to be like, 'Uh-oh.' And the next hole he drives it into the bunker.
"He caught a good lie, but he can't see anything, he can't do anything. And he hits it up on the green and makes birdie. That just kind of shows you what he's made of. I give him credit. He's the champion."
Kite finished with a final-round 67 to beat Jacobs, who won here in 1999, by six shots. Jacobs fired an equally impressive 68 in the windy conditions that once again shifted directions during the final round. He pocketed $154,000 for his second-place effort and will need to win a Senior Tour event this season to come back in 2003.
"I always enjoy coming over here to compete," Jacobs said. "I love Hawaii. I'm trying to convince my wife to move to Maui. But you know how wives are: If I said I hated the islands, she would want to move here right away. But because I want to come, she's not that interested."
Jacobs is a huge Oakland Raiders fan. He even roomed with Fred Biletnikoff for a while back in the day. It crushed him when the Raiders lost to the New England Patriots in overtime. And while he disagreed with the referees' ruling that Tom Brady did not fumble the ball, he didn't hold it against him.
"It was a killer, an absolute killer," Jacobs said. "My pocketbook got hurt. My bragging rights got hurt. That call was terrible. I think the referee probably feels bad about it, but what the heck. The way I look at it, they put referees out there. They are only human beings. You can't fault them. They're trying to do the best they can do."