Jay Don

Blake

Blake was the 11th alternate at the start of the week. He gained entry due to a trio of withdrawals this morning. The 53-year-old has been a fixture on the Champions Tour and hasn’t pegged it on the PGA TOUR since the 2005 B.C. Open. His lone TOUR victory occurred in 1991.

He lasted about 90 minutes before pulling the plug. Given he hasn’t played the PGA TOUR in seven years, it’s not a surprise. David Gossett and John Morse also withdrew as alternates.

This is not unexpected. He’ll tee it up at the 3M Championship on the Champions Tour instead. Willie Wood and David Gossett also withdrew as alternates.

He’s also scheduled to compete in the 3M Championship on the Champions Tour this week. Two weeks ago, he climbed into the field at the True South Classic, only to withdraw shortly thereafter.

The 54-year-old hasn’t competed in a PGA TOUR event since 2005 and he hasn’t teed it up in a U.S. Open since Olympia Fields hosted in 2003, but as the old saying goes, the golf ball doesn’t care how old you are. He negated six bogeys with nine birdies today. Mackenzie Hughes (even-par 72-70=142) eliminated Travis Johns (even-par 69-73=142) in a playoff for the other exemption into next week’s field at Merion. The only other notable in the 42-man field was University of Illinois men’s golf coach Mike Small, but he withdrew after 22 holes at 4-over.

NOTE: Barry Jaeckel also withdrew as an alternate. Blake remained in the field overnight but withdrew this morning. We reported in his blurb yesterday that there were only eight alternates remaining; however, a full slate of 10 is now visible at PGATOUR.com. The last four on the list are eligible via Priority Ranking No. 34, which is the comprised of those that finished 151-200 on the money list in 2010. (It’s the lowest form of status on TOUR.) This grouping was needed at last year’s Reno-Tahoe Open where Bob Heintz and Tim Wilkinson gained entry through that portal. Interestingly, the RTO reserved tee times for 132 golfers (just like this week’s Viking), but could only fill 126 despite exhausting all of those eligible in the final merit category.

Blake has played only on the Champions Tour in recent years, and if he tees it up this week at the Viking Classic, it will be his first start on the PGA Tour since 2005. It is worth noting that David Gossett has withdrawn from the alternate list and that there are only eight players left on the list.