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Jim Thorpe  |
EXEMPT STATUS: Top 31 on 2002 Champions Tour Money List FULL NAME: Jim Thorpe HEIGHT: 6-0 WEIGHT: 205 BIRTHDATE: February 1, 1949 BIRTHPLACE: Roxboro, NC RESIDENCE: Heathrow, FL FAMILY: Wife, Carol; Sheronne (3/6/77), Chera (12/3/88) EDUCATION: Morgan State University SPECIAL INTERESTS: Football, basketball, hunting TURNED PROFESSIONAL: 1972 JOINED TOUR: 1999 |
| PGA TOUR Victories |
| (3) 1985 Greater Milwaukee Open, Seiko/Tucson Match Play Championship. 1986 Seiko/Tucson Match Play Championship. |
| Champions Tour Victories |
| (5) 2000 The Transamerica, Gold Rush Classic. 2001 Kroger Senior Classic, Allianz Championship. 2002 The Countrywide Tradition. |
| Other Victories |
| 1982 Canadian PGA Championship. |
| Current Year Charles Schwab Cup Points and Positions |
| 269 (24) |
| Current Year Champions Tour Money and Positions |
| $382,485 (26) |
| Current Year Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| T4--Verizon Classic T4--Kinko's Classic of Austin |
| Current Year Champions Tour Best Round |
| 64 at Round 2, Columbus Southern Open |
| Current Year Champions Tour Highlights |
| T4 at the Verizon Classic, thanks to a final-round 68...Was also a T4 at the Kinko's Classic of Austin and T5 at the SBC Classic...Tied for the 36-hole lead at the Columbus Southern Open with Morris Hatalsky, but a closing-round 74 dropped him to T19. |
| Best PGA TOUR Finishes |
| 1--1985 Greater Milwaukee Open, Seiko/Tucson Match Play Championship. 1986 Seiko/Tucson Match Play Championship. |
| Best Champions Tour Finishes |
| 1--2000 The Transamerica, Gold Rush Classic. 2001 Kroger Senior Classic, Allianz Championship. 2002 The Countrywide Tradition. |
| Best Nationwide Tour Finishes |
| T6--1998 NIKE South Florida Open. |
| Best 2002 Champions Tour Finishes |
| T2--FORD SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, T3--ACE Group Classic, FleetBoston Classic, 4--Napa Valley Championship presented by Beringer Vineyards, T4--Farmers Charity Classic, Senior PGA Championship, T7--RJR Championship, T8--The Instinet Classic, Uniting Fore Care Classic Presented by Novell, Kroger Senior Classic, |
| 2002 Season Champions Tour |
| Tournaments Entered--32; in money--32; Top 10 finishes--11 |
| 2002 Season Highlights |
| Compiled an enviable record in the Champions Tour's biggest tournaments and won the first major championship of his career at The Tradition. Bested John Jacobs on first hole of a playoff at Superstition Mountain. Made birdie on the 72nd hole of the event and then added another birdie on the first extra hole to claim $300,000, the largest check of his professional career. Victory in Arizona was the first of his TOUR career before September 1...Was voted as the circuit's Player of the Month for April...Nearly claimed a second major title, finishing one stroke shy of Stewart Ginn at the FORD SENIOR PLAYERS Championship in July despite shooting a 7-under 65 on Sunday...Also T4 at the Senior PGA Championship at Firestone and T11 at the U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley...Closed with consecutive rounds of 68 to T3 with Jim Dent at The ACE Group Classic...Had a bizarre finish at the FleetBoston Classic. Had a chance to win outright on the final hole, but T3 after three-putting from five feet...Was 36-hole leader at The Instinet Classic before shooting a final-round 75 to finish T8...Led the Champions Tour in Total Eagles with 12. |
| Career Highlights |
| 2001: Posted back-to-back victories early in the fall. Won a playoff for the rain-shortened Kroger Senior Classic title. Made a dramatic eagle on the final hole of regulation at the Kroger event to set up a playoff with Tom Jenkins and then won with a birdie on the first extra hole. Hit 3-wood from 245 yards for a one-foot tap-in eagle putt...Then claimed the inaugural Allianz Championship the following week. Used seven birdies in an 11-hole stretch to win by two strokes at Glen Oaks...Also lost by a stroke to Tom Watson at the Senior PGA Championship. Missed an uphill six-foot birdie putt to tie on Ridgewood CC's final hole. 2000: Claimed the first two victories of his Champions Tour career and yearly winnings of $1.6 million almost matched his entire earnings total in 25 years on the PGA TOUR...Claimed back-to-back victories in northern California at The Transamerica and the Gold Rush Classic. Win in the Napa Valley ended a victory drought of just over 14 years ('86 Seiko Tucson Match Play Championship). 18-under-par 198 score at Silverado was three better than Bruce Fleisher and was a tournament record...Cruised to a two-stroke victory over Ed Dougherty at the Gold Rush Classic with a 21-under 195 total for 54 holes, a tournament record at the time, and the lowest 54-hole score on the Champions Tour for the season. His 62 in the second round at the Gold Rush event was his low round as a senior player and was a course record at Serrano. Victory near Sacramento allowed him to become the first player since Gibby Gilbert in 1992 to win consecutive starts with sub-200 scores...Recorded his second hole-in-one on the Champions Tour in the opening round of the Boone Valley Classic. 1999: Came closest to a victory at the Bell Atlantic Classic. Fired a final-round 65 on Sunday at Hartefeld National to come from four strokes off the pace and catch Tom Jenkins, but eventually lost to Jenkins on the first playoff hole...Made his first hole-in-one on the Champions Tour in the final round of the Royal Caribbean Classic. 1998: Earned full exemption for 1999 by finishing T6 at the 1998 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament at the Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort. After carding rounds of 67-76-72, fired a 3-under-par 69 on the final day to secure his top-eight finish. |
| Personal |
| Is the ninth of 12 children...Grew up next to eighth fairway at Roxboro (NC) CC, where father, Elbert Sr., was the superintendent...One of his brothers, Chuck, played for a period on the PGA TOUR and in several events on the Champions Tour in 1998, while another brother, Bill, has been through the National Qualifying Tournament a few tiimes...Earned a football scholarship to Morgan State as a running back. |
| PGA TOUR Playoff Record |
| 0-1 |
| Champions Tour Playoff Record |
| 2-1 |