Jay Don Blake will play on this week’s Black Desert Basic.
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It’s per week of firsts on the PGA Tour.
That a lot ought to solely be anticipated with the launch of the Tour’s latest aggressive occasion, the Black Desert Basic on the Black Desert Resort in Irving, Utah. The Basic is the second of two brand-new occasions on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule, following within the footsteps of the Myrtle Seaside Basic this spring.
However maybe essentially the most attention-grabbing story on the PGA Tour this week isn’t a first-timer. No, essentially the most attention-grabbing story is that of a possible PGA Tour last-timer. His identify is Jay Don Blake, a 65-year-old professional from St. George, Utah — and on Tuesday morning on the Black Desert Basic, he acquired the most effective information of the week: He was within the area.
Blake acquired the ultimate sponsor’s exemption into the occasion, solidifying a spot within the area in emotional — and personally historic — style.
“To be a part of the event, the primary occasion for St. George,” Blake stated in a video posted to the PGA Tour’s official social channels with tears welling in his eyes. “For me to be a part of that may be a dream from once I was a little bit child.”
The story of Blake’s journey again to the PGA Tour begins in 2004, with an expert profession on the brink. Blake was an getting old 45-year-old then, and for the primary time in additional than twenty years in professional golf, he might see the top. He’d performed in 14 occasions through the 2004 season and made the lower in simply 4, his greatest end coming in a season-opening T41 on the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am. He went to PGA Tour qualifying on the finish of the season and completed 109th, nicely exterior of competition for a Tour card in 2005.
On the time, Blake believed it was over. After leaving collegiate golf at Utah State, he’d been on Tour for over twenty years. He’d had a great profession, managing one PGA Tour victory, 5 runner-ups, 18 top-5s and 36 top-10s. Most spectacular, although, was the stat that confirmed the actual depth of his talent: his variety of begins, which weighed in at almost 500.
Practically.
Together with his profession variety of PGA Tour begins caught on 496, Blake’s enjoying profession continued on within the years following the 2004 spinout. Primarily, his begins got here as a member of the PGA Tour Champions, the place he competed for the higher a part of the twenty years following 2004, however he by no means gave up hope on hitting No. 500 on the massive tour.
Slowly, because the years wore on, the begins trickled in. He certified for the U.S. Open in 2013 and earned a subsequent sponsor’s exemption into the Barbasol in 2018. By the point 2020 arrived, his profession variety of begins on the PGA Tour hovered at 499.
With the PGA Tour returning to Blake’s hometown, and Blake celebrating his sixty fifth birthday, the Tour and Black Desert Resort knew what to do. They invited Blake’s household to return right down to the event for a shock, and when Blake arrived, they introduced the PGA Tour journeyman with the ultimate sponsor’s exemption into the sphere.
Expectations for the week are low for Blake, who has made simply two skilled begins on any tour because the begin of 2023, however that may not matter in any respect. At 65 years previous, he’ll tee it up once more in a PGA Tour occasion — and get himself throughout the end line to 500 begins.
In per week of firsts on the PGA Tour, the Black Desert Basic supplied the Blake household with a notable final — and the Utah crowd with a hometown hero to cheer for.
