It was perfectly understandable that Mark Wiebe has been wondering of late why the golfing gods had it in so badly for him.
Hampered by “devastating” elbow and foot injuries for much of the past four years, the Denver-area resident had lost his status on the PGA Tour. Trying to make a comeback on the minor-league Nationwide Tour circuit, Wiebe played 11 events this year. And although he said he had played well of late, making five cuts in his past six events, he had won less than $21,000 overall.
However, fortune finally smiled upon Wiebe. Having turned 50 just 10 days ago, he became eligible for the Champions Tour, also known in some circles as the sport’s ultimate mulligan. If that’s true, Wiebe struck his second shot right down the middle.
Granted a sponsor’s exemption into the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C., Wiebe dominated play from the start. On Sunday, he began his final round with a bogey but nonetheless shot a 5-under-par 67 and finished with a tournament-record 18-under 198 to win by three shots over Dana Quigley.
It was Wiebe’s first victory since the 1986 Hardee’s Golf Classic on the PGA Tour. He also became just the 12th Champions Tour player to win in his first start, and he matched Bobby Wadkins in becoming the tour’s youngest winner.
“Oh, Lordy, all this just blows my mind,” Wiebe said in a telephone interview not long after his triumph.
There was also the matter of the winner’s check of $300,000. While Wiebe has earned more than $4 million during his 23-year PGA Tour career, he has won only $25,435 of that over the past six years. Last season he won just $9,867 in 15 Nationwide Tour events.
“That money will fit really nice in my pocket right now,” Wiebe said. “I’ve won money, but a lot that is tied up in retirement, and you don’t want to have to go into that. I golf to make a living. I mean, I love the game, but I have to earn a living, and I have a family to support, so this is way cool.”
The victory also gave Wiebe an exemption for the next calendar year on the Champions Tour, as well as a berth for the next two years in the season- opening MasterCard Championship in Hawaii.
More immediately, Wiebe became eligible to compete in the Constellation Energy Seniors Players Championship in Baltimore in two weeks. However, he still couldn’t help but think about the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, to be played at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
“I love the course, and I’m hoping in a big way to play in it,” Wiebe said. “I don’t know if I’m eligible yet or what I’ll have to do to get in, but I’ll be scratching and clawing to do it.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
