Jonathan

Kaye

In four previous starts at the Puerto Rico Open, Kaye missed the cut last year, was 71st in 2019, withdrew in 2011 and finished T-45 in 2010. The 51-year-old has two PGA Tour titles on his resume, winning the 2003 Buick Classic and the 2004 FBR Open. He battled injuries and was granted a Major Medical Extension for 2008, 2009 and again in 2012. He didn’t make any Tour starts again until the 2017-18 season, and has since made just 10 starts with two made cuts. Kaye made his PGA Tour Champions debut in 2021 and played four events with two finishes inside the top 20 (T-16 Ascension Charity Classic, T-18 Boeing Classic). He finished T-47 at the final stage of the Champions Qualifying Tournament.

The 48-year-old was playing his fourth event of the PGA TOUR season. He posted a T71 at the Puerto Rico Open while missing the cut at the Corales and Barbasol Championship. His time in Reno was cut short by nine holes after he opened the event with five bogeys and just one birdie. With a Stableford score of -6, he was near the very bottom of the leaderboard at the time he packed it up. The two-time PGA TOUR winner has not finished top 25 in a PGA TOUR event since the 2009 Reno-Tahoe Open (T9).

With the five-hour weather delay, Kaye was scheduled to begin his second round at 1:10 p.m. CT. He opened the tournament with a 7-over-par 39-40=79. Given that he’s saddled with Past Champion status and that this was just his fourth start of the year, he has virtually zero fantasy value. He did not provide an explanation for his withdrawal. Kaye is listed in the published field of next week’s Rex Hospital Open on the Nationwide Tour.

We only mention it because the 39-year-old withdrew from last week’s Texas Open during Friday’s weather delay, and did not publicize a reason why. You can take an educated guess due to his opening 79 at the tournament. At today’s event at TPC Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, Kaye hit 15 greens, but managed just three birdies. Entering the week, he’s made four starts apiece on the PGA and Nationwide Tours, and carries virtually zero fantasy value.

He earned $600,000 for the second place finish.

Kaye regained his Tour card at Q-School in 2006, but was unable to play during the 2007 season because of surgery on his right big toe. He now has 21 events to earn $785,180, which is equal 2007’s No. 125th player on the Money List and if he is able make that level of money he will play with a Major Medical Extension status for the rest of the 2008 season.

Pardon while we double-take and hold our breath. Kaye hasn’t teed it up in competition since the 2006 Q School, where he finished T-29 and earned his ’07 tour card. DailyCamera.com’s December 1 article on Kaye cites that he’s living and playing with pain in his right big toe, adding that surgery could make it even worse. “I just have to bite the bullet and live with the pain,” Kaye said. When he was healthy, the two-time winner was a steady, if not underrated fantasy player. Still, in a sport when fractions of strokes determine so much, let someone else invest into the Colorado native. “I’ll show up ready,” Kaye insists. “I’m not going there just to be an ornament.” How long he lasts is anyone’s guess.

Kaye can blame his 32 putts on Thursday (12 GIR) for his early exit this week, disappointing considering his T-11 at the Texas Open was his best finish in over three years. Today’s MC leaves him with four starts to bank $511,510 on his medical extension (Q School/Nationwide Tour category).

Kaye has had mixed results this season, with three made cuts in six starts and two of the made cuts came in his first two starts on the West Coast Swing.