Peter Jacobsen

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

Jacobsen played college golf at the University of Oregon. He turned professional in 1976 after winning the Oregon Open as an amateur. He is one of golf's most colorful personalities, which makes him one of the more popular players with fans.

PGA Tour

Jacobsen qualified for the PGA Tour in his first attempt, finishing in 19th place at the 1976 qualifying tournament. He made steady progress during his first few seasons on the tour, before capturing his first title in 1980 at the Buick-Goodwrench Open. He 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 7th 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 has won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour, the last coming at the 2003 Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49, making him one of the oldest players to win on the PGA Tour. That year he was voted the Tour's comeback player of the year.

Champions Tour

Since turning fifty, Jacobsen has competed mainly on the Champions Tour, although he continued to play on the PGA Tour for several years. In his first year of eligibility for senior golf, he won the 2004 U.S. Senior Open, one of senior golf's major championships. The following year he added a second senior major title at the 2005 Senior Players Championship.

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 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.

Jacobsen owns Peter Jacobsen Sports, an event management company that has run several professional golf tournaments including the JELD-WEN Tradition, one of the majors on the Champions Tour, and 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 known for his laid-back, humorous personality. During the Fred Meyer Challenge, he 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." His sharp but playful humor is also evident in the video and audio commentary he provides for the player's shot, good or bad, in various versions of Golden Tee Golf, a video game from Incredible Technologies.

Jacobsen is also the face of Peter Jacobsen Challenge Keno and Peter Jacobsen Challenge Poker, two video gambling casino games.

Jacobsen married in December 1976 to Jan. The couple have three children: Amy, Kristen, and Mick.

• 1974 Pacific-8 Conference Championship

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

Other wins(8)

• 1976 Oregon Open (as an amateur), Northern California Open
• 1979 Oregon Open, Western Australian 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)

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)

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1980 U.S. Open – 1984 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10 finishes – 1 (six times)

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.

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

• 2003 PGA Tour's Comeback Player of the Year
• 2003 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
• 2006 Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf
• 2012 Old Tom Morris Award
• 2013 Payne Stewart Award

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1985, 1995
• Dunhill Cup: 1995
• Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 1995, 2003 (winners), 2004 (Champions Tour)