Nov. 19, 2007 | By Dave Senko, Champions Tour Staff | PGATOUR.com
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Rick Rhoden (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) and Gene Jones (Orlando, Fla.) shared medalist honors at the Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament at TPC Eagle Trace. The pair finished with a 72-hole total of 9-under-par 279 and each earned a check for $24,425.
Rick Rhoden is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. (Condon/PGA TOUR)
Mitch Adcock (Apopka, Fla.) and Rick Karbowski (Frisco, Texas), both of whom have previous experience on the Champions Tour, shared third place, four strokes behind Jones and Rhoden. Adcock and Karbowski each won $15,000.
This was Jones' first trip to the National Qualifying Tournament. He turned 50 in September and has been prepping for the Champions Tour on the Sunbelt Senior Tour where he was the leading money winner in both 2006 and 2007.
"I started off poorly the first couple of days with a double bogey on the first hole in round one and a double on my second hole in the second round, but after that I played pretty well," said Jones, who was battling a cold the last couple of days. "Today was a good day for us and I'm glad this is over. It's a tough grind out there, but I put a lot of pressure on myself."
Jones' final-round 4-under-par 68 included five birdies and just one bogey. He made just four bogeys in his final 45 holes.
It was a very satisfying week for Rhoden, who is coming back from neck surgery earlier in the year. He was the leader or co-leader in three of the four rounds and finished with a 3-under-par 69 on Friday.
"Today was the best I've played in a long, long time," said the former major league pitcher with the Dodgers, Pirates, Yankees and Astros. "I hit only one bad shot today and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities."
The top-30 and ties (31 players) earned spots into weekly open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events on the Champions Tour in 2008.
