NEWPORT BEACH — Welcome to “March Madness” on the PGA Tour Champions.
Like the NCAA Tournament in college basketball, the first round of the 2025 Hoag Classic at Newport Beach Country Club on Friday fittingly featured some “madness” of its own.
Though there are eight World Golf Hall of Famers in the field, including two-time Hoag champions Fred Couples and Ernie Els, plus defending champion Padraig Harrington – the top golf seeds, so to speak – it was a pair of 50-year-old “rookies” on PGA Tour Champions who finished at the top of the leaderboard on a sun-kissed afternoon in Newport Beach.
In his second Champions event since turning 50 on March 3, Australian Brendan Jones shot a 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over fellow rookie Freddie Jacobson of Sweden (6-under 65) and tour veteran Michael Allen (65), with Hall of Famers Els (5-under 66) and Couples (4-under 67) lurking within three shots.
Jones and Jacobson both earned their playing status on the 50-and-over Champions Tour by finishing in the top five at PGA Tour Champions Qualifying School in Scottsdale, Arizona, in November. That makes them the Cinderella stories in the tournament, so far.
It remains to be seen whether the rookies can maintain their positions or whether they falter, like No. 15 NCAA seed Robert Morris, which put a scare into No. 2 seed Alabama on Friday before falling in the NCAA Tournament. But upsets happen in golf, too, just as No. 12 seeds McNeese State and Colorado State have demonstrated in the real March Madness this weekend.
Starting on the back nine because of his lack of status, Jones made five birdies on his first six holes Friday to rocket into the lead. Even he couldn’t believe it.
“Five under through six . . . my head was buzzing at that stage,” said Jones, who finished 60th in his only other Champions start two weeks ago in Tucson. “I couldn’t in my wildest dreams have imagined getting off to that start that I did, but I felt calm and I felt that I could have gone on with it, too.”
It wasn’t until later that Jones thought about how low he actually could have gone.
“I never got too far ahead,” he said. “Late in the round, I thought, ‘Wow, 5-under through 6, I could have shot in the 50s today.’ But I wasn’t thinking that; I was thinking, OK, next shot, hit the best shot I can. That comes with experience. Even though I’m a bit of a novice and a baby face out here (on the Champions tour), I’ve had 25 years of experience around the world (including 15 wins on the Japan Golf Tour). So it’s not unusual, but it’s unusual being on top of the leaderboard with the names that are right behind me.”
That would be names like Els, Couples and Harrington.
Couples, a two-time Hoag champion who lives in nearby Corona del Mar and is an honorary club member at Newport Beach Country Club, got off to a fast start – 4-under through six holes, including an eagle on the par-5 third hole. But he struggled with his putter, missing one short birdie putt and leaving two putts on the lip, including his birdie attempt on No. 18.
“I missed a couple of real makeable ones, one a 3-footer,” said Couples, who said he has been battling a bad head coach for several days. “But to say I don’t feel well just means putting was the hardest thing. … I putted OK; I just didn’t hit them hard enough.”
Like Jones, Jacobson said his spot near the top of the leaderboard after his bogey-free round of 65 was unexpected because he returned to his home in Sweden for a month after playing in his first two Champions events in February.
“I’m a little bit surprised,” Jacobson said. “I’m not getting much good practice in, so it’s been a little uneven. So, I’m not going to get carried away with this one (round).”
After all, it’s only one round in a 54-hole tournament, so it’s not even halftime. March Madness continues on Saturday.
NOTES
In the inaugural Newport Beach Celebrity Classic played on Sunday, March 16, the team of pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and Aaron Dexheimer won the two-man best-ball event with 9-under 62 in the gross division. NHL Hall of Famer and former Ducks star Teemu Selanne and partner Steve Johnson tied for second at 6-under. NFL MVP Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, a Dana Point resident, and partner Matt Barkley, former USC and NFL quarterback, tied for fifth. The event raised $200,000 for fire relief, benefiting Steadfast LA and its campaign to rebuild after the recent wildfires in LA, as well as the Newport Beach Fire Department Foundation. . . Former USC and NFL quarterback Matt Sanchez, whose father was a career fire captain at nearby Irvine Station 6, also participated in the event, calling the fire relief campaign “a cause close to my heart. Helping people get back on their feet after the fires, I’m all in.” . . . On Friday, local PGA club pro Steve Holmes, an instructor at Moorpark’s Rustic Canyon Golf Course in Ventura County, a sponsor’s exemption, shot a 3-under 68 and is tied for 15th . . . Champions veteran Paul Goydos of Coto de Caza shot an even-par 71, tied for 49th.
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