Brandt

Jobe

For Jobe, 2012 has been a bit of a disappointment. He had a nice run in early March when he posted a T16 at The Honda followed by a T9 in Puerto Rico, and he’s coming off a T69 at the Wells Fargo, but in all he’s missed seven (of 12) cuts. If there is a bright spot to be found, he ranks 15th in total driving.

Jobe missed his first four cuts of the year, but has shown better form recently. He’s cashed in his last two starts including a 16th place tie at The Honda last week. Jobe will need to do better than his 147th All-Around Ranking if he hopes to make noise in Puerto Rico.

Jobe’s score of 10-under 76-69-67-66=278 was anchored by hitting 79.2 percent of his greens for the week including 16 in the final round. His ninth place tie edges out his 16th place tie at The Honda for his best of the season. He has made three cuts in a row after starting with four misses so his game is in the best shape it’s been in all year.

Jobe has cashed in 10 of 18 starts this year, the last of which a T34 at the AT&T National ending on July 1. He’s currently 143rd in FedExCup points. On a more serious note, it was reported earlier this week that his home was one of three burglarized, including the residence of 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, Herschel Walker. “It appears the individual who broke into [the home of Dr. Gabriel Shahwan] broke into other homes. We determined that by looking at how they got in,” said Lt. Brenda Slovak. “We’re looking at if there’s any correlation between the three houses, any kind of correlation between service workers, maids or that kind of thing.”

Jobe has failed to maintain the kind of above-average form he flashed last year, but he’s fully exempt and still deserves a spot deep in rosters. At TPC River Highlands today, he missed only one fairway and two greens in regulation. While walking off with only three birdies seems disappointing, he converted everything he saw inside 13 feet. Jobe also poured in a putt from 32'10" at the 11th for his second birdie of the round.

The Texas ball-striker has enjoyed some success at this venue over the years. He’s 8-for-9 with two top 35s; both were top-six paydays. Today he landed 16 greens in regulation and circled four birdies, the longest of which dropping in from 37'1" at the seventh hole.

While he’s not scoring extremely well of late, he arrived at Congressional having cashed in his last four starts. However, none went for a top 35. Today he split 11 (of 14) fairways and hit 12 greens. While he swallowed three bogeys, he posted a red number thanks to birdie conversions of 26'2" and 29'1" at the eighth and 13th holes, respectively, as well as an eagle-3 from 11'2" at the 16th.

Jobe was the fifth alternate at the start of the week. He received a tee time when Brad Fritsch withdrew today. Jobe exhausted his medical extension last week and was demoted in status, but the Colonial is an invitational with a specialized pecking order to fill fields. This explains why he was bumped from his spot among the alternates. He’s cashed in 10 of 11 starts at Colonial, but his last top 40 was in 2005 (T6). He fills Fritch’s slot in the last threesome off the 10th tee at 1:50 p.m. CT on Thursday.

Since a T23 at the U.S. Open, Jobe is 5-for-7 but hasn’t posted at top 25 since that week at Congressional. Simply put, he’s struggled connecting four solid rounds. To wit, he opened the BMW with a 75 after hitting only 10 greens and requiring 32 putts. However, today’s effort was sublime. He landed 16 GIR and needed only 27 putts. Among his seven birdies were conversions of 14'7", 28'9" and 15'3" at the fifth, ninth and 15th holes, respectively. He’s 3-under 139 at the midpoint.

The 46-year-old played Disney’s Palm Course today, hitting 12 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation. At the time he signed his card, he ranked inside the top 20 in fairways, GIR and putting; his 12 birdies also co-led the field. Jobe is looking to cap off a rebound season on the PGA TOUR with his first-ever victory.