Long-time Tour veteran Steve Flesch has had what most would consider a successful PGA Tour career. He has earned $18 million on the Tour, with four career victories. He has also had some success playing in Asia.
However, Flesch hit a wall in his mid-40s like many do, and has played little on Tour since 2009. He now has some hopes that he will be able to make something of a return to his winning days: he turned 50 years old on Tuesday, which qualifies him to play on the Champions Tour.
Flesch is wasting no time, as he is in the field for this week’s Senior PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club in the Washington D.C. area.
Bullets
- Journeyman Beginning: Steve Flesch turned pro in 1990, but didn’t become a full time PGA Tour member until 1998 (rookie season).
- Short, Solid Career:Â In 463 career starts, he has four career victories, with his most recent one coming at the 2007 Turning Stone Resort Championship.
- Best Season: Flesch’s best season on Tour was 2007, where he won twice and earned $2.3 million.
- Semi-Retired: Flesch has not played full-time on Tour since 2011. He has made just 14 starts over the past three seasons.
- Fully Exempt: As a past champion, Flesch is fully-exempt on the Champions Tour and can enter any tournament.
- Inaugural Pairing: He is paired with Kevin Sutherland and two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal.
Quotable
“You wait four or five years and think, ‘OK, I’ve got five years until the Champions Tour. I have plenty of time,’ but it seems like it came so quickly. The last year and a half seemed to take such a long time, but the last month flew by. What all that means is that I’ve been waiting with a lot of anxiousness just to get out here and play again full-time.”
–Steve Flesch
This post appeared originally as part of the Daily Rundown.