# Peter Jacobsen

Peter Erling Jacobsen (born March 4, 1954) is an American professional golfer and commentator on Golf Channel and NBC. He has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He has won seven events on the PGA Tour and two events on the Champions Tour, both majors.

## Early life

Jacobsen was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Portland’s Lincoln High School.

## Amateur career

Jacobsen played college golf at the University of Oregon. He turned professional in 1976 after winning the Oregon Open as an amateur.

## Professional career

Jacobsen qualified for the PGA Tour in his first attempt, finishing nineteenth at the December 1976 qualifying tournament in Brownsville, Texas. He made steady progress during his first few seasons and captured his first title in 1980 at the Buick-Goodwrench Open. Jacobsen won twice on the tour in 1984 and broke into the top-10 on the money list for the first time. Two more wins in 1995 catapulted him to a career-best seventh place on the end of season money list. As a result of his performance during those two seasons, he was selected to play in two Ryder Cups, in 1985 and 1995.
Jacobsen won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour, the last at the 2003 Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49, making him one of the oldest to win on the PGA Tour. That year he was voted the Tour's comeback player of the year.
After turning fifty, Jacobsen competed mainly on the Champions Tour, although he also played on the PGA Tour for several years. In his first year of eligibility for senior golf in 2004, he won the U.S. Senior Open, one of senior golf's major championships, shortly after hip surgery. The following year, he added a second senior major title at the Senior Players Championship.

### Broadcasting and business career

Away from competing, Jacobsen has presented two shows on the Golf Channel. Plugged In was a variety show, featuring music, story-telling and skits performed with co-host Matt Griesser, former star of the FootJoy SignBoy campaign, and Peter and Friends was a panel discussion show.
Jacobsen provided video and audio commentary for Golden Tee Golf, a video game from Incredible Technologies, including Peter Jacobson's Golden Tee 3D Golf.
Jacobsen also owns Peter Jacobsen Sports. It is an event management company that has run several professional golf tournaments including the JELD-WEN Tradition, one of the majors on the Champions Tour. The company also runs the CVS Caremark Charity Classic, one of the PGA Tour's Challenge Series events. Until 2002 it also organized the Fred Meyer Challenge, a three-day charity event in Oregon. Jacobsen is also the face of Peter Jacobsen Challenge Keno and Peter Jacobsen Challenge Poker, two video gambling casino games.

## Personal life

Jacobsen is married to Jan. The couple married in December 1976. They have three children: Amy, Kristen, and Mick.
He is known for his laid-back, humorous personality. During the Fred Meyer Challenge, Jacobsen was known to do impressions of other players, such as Craig Stadler. The event was filmed and broadcast on the Golf Channel, and they have released a DVD and VHS of the footage, titled "Peter's Party." Jacobsen also appeared as himself alongside Kevin Costner in the 1996 movie Tin Cup, where he was the winner of the fictional U.S. Open.
A self-taught guitarist, Jacobsen was a founding member and lead singer of Jake Trout & The Flounders, a band he formed in the mid-80s with Mark Lye and Payne Stewart. The group is no longer together, but they recorded two albums.

## Amateur wins (1)

* 1974 Pacific-8 Conference Championship

## Professional wins (18)
### PGA Tour wins (7)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | Aug 24, 1980 | Buick-Goodwrench Open | −12 (70-70-69-67=276) | 1 stroke | Mark Lye, Billy Kratzert |
| 2 | May 20, 1984 | Colonial National Invitation | −10 (64-71-65-70=270) | Playoff | Payne Stewart |
| 3 | Jul 29, 1984 | Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open | −15 (67-69-63-70=269) | 2 strokes | Mark O'Meara |
| 4 | Jan 21, 1990 | Bob Hope Chrysler Classic | −21 (67-66-69-66-71=339) | 1 stroke | Scott Simpson, Brian Tennyson |
| 5 | Feb 5, 1995 | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am | −17 (67-73-66-65=271) | 2 strokes | David Duval |
| 6 | Feb 12, 1995 | Buick Invitational of California | −19 (68-65-68-68=269) | 4 strokes | Mark Calcavecchia, Mike Hulbert, Hal Sutton, Kirk Triplett |
| 7 | Jul 27, 2003 | Greater Hartford Open (2) | −14 (63-67-69-67=266) | 2 strokes | Chris Riley |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
| 1 | 1981 | Buick Open | Bobby Clampett, Hale Irwin, Gil Morgan | Irwin won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1984 | Colonial National Invitation | Payne Stewart | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 1985 | Honda Classic | Curtis Strange | Lost to par on first extra hole |
| 4 | 1989 | Beatrice Western Open | Mark McCumber | Lost to par on first extra hole |

### PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | Nov 25, 1979 | Western Australian Open | −9 (71-70-70-68=279) | 5 strokes | David Graham |

### Other wins (7)

* 1976 Oregon Open (as an amateur), Northern California Open
* 1979 Oregon Open
* 1981 Johnnie Walker Trophy
* 1982 Johnnie Walker Trophy
* 1986 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Curtis Strange; Shared title with Greg Norman & Gary Player)
* 1989 Isuzu Kapalua International

### Champions Tour wins (2)

* Legend
* Champions Tour major championships (2)
* Other Champions Tour (0)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | Aug 1, 2004 | U.S. Senior Open | −12 (65-70-69-68=272) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin |
| 2 | Jul 10, 2005 | Ford Senior Players Championship | −15 (70-66-71-66=273) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin |

### Other senior wins (1)

* 2008 Wendy's Champions Skins Game (with Fuzzy Zoeller)

## Results in major championships

| Tournament | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| Masters Tournament | | | T11 | T20 | T20 | T25 | CUT | T25 | | | T34 |
| U.S. Open | | T22 | T37 | | T34 | T7 | T31 | T59 | T24 | T21 | 8 |
| The Open Championship | | | | | T12 | T22 | T11 | CUT | WD | | T30 |
| PGA Championship | T23 | T10 | T27 | T34 | 3 | T18 | T10 | 3 | 20 | 47 | T27 |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 |
| Masters Tournament | T30 | T17 | T61 | | | T31 | | |
| U.S. Open | CUT | T31 | 63 | CUT | | T51 | T23 | |
| The Open Championship | T16 | T73 | | | T24 | T31 | T44 | |
| PGA Championship | T26 | | T28 | T28 | | T23 | WD | T67 |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Masters Tournament | | | |
| U.S. Open | | T15 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | | | |
| PGA Championship | CUT | | |
CUT = missed the half-way cut WD = Withdrew "T" = tied

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 10 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 14 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 9 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 16 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 26 | 57 | 49 |
* Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1980 U.S. Open – 1984 PGA)
* Longest streak of top-10 finishes – 1 (six times)

## Results in The Players Championship

| Tournament | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| The Players Championship | T52 | T14 | T5 | CUT | T27 | T16 | T51 | CUT | T33 | CUT | T16 | T70 |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| The Players Championship | T29 | CUT | CUT | | CUT | T29 | CUT | T48 | | CUT | | | | | 80 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

## Results in World Golf Championships

| Tournament | 2003 |
| Match Play | |
| Championship | |
| Invitational | T14 |
"T" = Tied

## Senior major championships
### Wins (2)

| Year | Championship | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
| 2004 | U.S. Senior Open | −12 (65-70-69-68=272) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin |
| 2005 | Ford Senior Players Championship | −15 (70-66-71-66=273) | 1 stroke | Hale Irwin |

### Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2017.
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| The Tradition | T4 | T42 | WD | WD | | 56 | | T60 | 24 | WD | T46 | T65 | | | |
| Senior PGA Championship | | T6 | T7 | T52 | | | | CUT | CUT | T35 | CUT | CUT | | CUT | WD |
| U.S. Senior Open | 1 | T26 | T3 | T33 | CUT | CUT | WD | CUT | T17 | WD | CUT | CUT | CUT | | |
| Senior Players Championship | | 1 | T45 | | | | | T72 | T62 | T39 | 70 | | | | |
| Senior British Open Championship | | T56 | T40 | CUT | | | | | | | | | | | |
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place

## Awards

* 2003 PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year
* 2003 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
* 2006 Francis Ouimet Award
* 2012 Old Tom Morris Award
* 2013 Payne Stewart Award
* 2017 Northern Ohio Golf Charities Ambassador of Golf Award
* 2022 Golf Writers Association of America ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award

## U.S. national team appearances

Professional
* Japan vs USA Match: 1984
* Ryder Cup: 1985, 1995
* Dunhill Cup: 1995
* Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1995, 2003 (winners), 2004 (Champions Tour)