Windsor golf pro Jason Schmuhl finished in a tie for third place this week at the Senior PGA Professional Championship in Arizona.
The impressive showing comes on the heels of his win at the Northern California Senior PGA Professional Championship back in August — and earned him a spot in next year’s premier tournament for players 50 and older.
The first round of this past weekend’s tournament went incredibly well for Schmuhl, 54, who carded a 62 that tied the course record at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon. His 10-under-par day also broke the event’s record for a single-round match.
“I came in with a good game plan and I was just going to not worry about my score,” Schmuhl said. “I was just going to play golf, play free, play aggressive and everything went just perfectly through the first 10 holes.”
Windsor golfer Jason Schmuhl hits his tee shot on the 14th hole during the final round of the Senior PGA Professional Championship on Sunday at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona. (Kelsey Grant – PGA of America)
He finished the first round with eight birdies and an eagle.
“I wasn’t even thinking about my score at all. I knew I was playing well. We had a guy going around with a group keeping score for everybody and he’s going through the front nine scores and he goes, “Schmuhl, you shot 29 on the front,” and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I did,’” Schmuhl recalled about realizing how well things were going for him that first day.
On the second and third days of the Oct. 22-25 event that featured a field of more than 260 golfers, Schmuhl — the head pro at Windsor Golf Club when he’s not competing — shot even-par 72s.
“I would say I got a little bit tentative in the second and third rounds because I was playing with the lead,” Schmuhl said. “I just was a little bit off on the speed of my putts. I was leaving putts short. I was not playing quite as free as I did the first day.”
But he was pleased with his final round of play on Sunday, shooting a 68 to tie for third with Chris Moody of Utah.
“I had a good mental approach and I played a really nice solid round of golf where I never even came close to making a bogey. I didn’t make as many birdies as I would like, but I had a good attitude and I played really steady in the final round,” he said.
He noticed a difference when playing with the lead compared to when he was trailing.
“Golf is such a weird mental game and I think the switch was, I was behind and my goal was obviously to try to win. So I set a goal for myself to try to shoot a low score because I thought if I went out and shot 67 or 66, I would have a really good chance to win,” Schmuhl said. “Because I had the lead, it was kind of like playing to hold on to the lead. It’s like prevent defense in football.”
By the end of the weekend, Schmuhl recorded a 14-under-par 274 to finish just three strokes behind the leaders.
Warren Pineo and Justin Hicks finished tied atop the leaderboard at 17-under-par, with Pineo eventually winning the championship after three playoff holes.
Schmuhl defeated Pineo at the Northern California senior event back in August.
“It seems like it’s a little bit of a rivalry. I’ve been in the section a lot longer than Warren has, but he’s a great player,” Schmuhl said.
Schmuhl took home $20,800 for his share of the purse, but joked he won’t be purchasing anything exciting with his winnings.
“Maybe a new roof on the house or something,” he said.
By finishing in the top 35 this past weekend, Schmuhl qualified for the Senior PGA Championship in April. The event takes place at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida, from April 15-18.
“I have to have the same mental approach I had that first round. It’s got to be relaxed. It’s got to be free. It’s got to be not worrying about the outcome or results and just just playing golf,” Schmuhl said about the mindset he’ll take into that tournament, which will feature top golfers from around the globe age 50 and older.
But first, he’ll tackle the Northern California Tournament of Champions event Nov. 16 at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City.
Schmuhl has already clinched Senior Player of the Year honors for the Northern California PGA chapter and is still in contention for Player of the Year, which includes all age ranges. He can win it at next month’s tournament.