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Loren Roberts

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Loren Roberts
Roberts in 2009
Personal information
Full nameLoren Lloyd Roberts
NicknameBoss of the Moss[1]
Born (1955-06-24) June 24, 1955 (age 69)
San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight215 lb (98 kg; 15.4 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceGermantown, Tennessee, U.S.
Career
CollegeCalifornia Polytechnic State University
Turned professional1975
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins26
Highest ranking11 (February 11, 1996)[2]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour8
PGA Tour Champions13
European Senior Tour2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT3: 2000
PGA ChampionshipT5: 1990
U.S. OpenT2: 1994
The Open ChampionshipT7: 2000
Achievements and awards
Champions Tour
Byron Nelson Award		2006, 2007
Champions Tour
Charles Schwab Cup winner		2007, 2009

Loren Lloyd Roberts (born June 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.

Early life

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Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High School and California Polytechnic State University. In 1975, he turned professional after his sophomore season due to the university's dropping its NCAA Division II golf team.

Professional career

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In the late 1970s, Roberts worked for Dennis Pogue as an assistant pro at San Luis Obispo Golf and Country Club as well as Morro Bay Golf Course. He won the Foot-Joy PGA Assistant Professional Championship of 1979 and was second in 1980. The first professional tour where he briefly competed was the PGA Tour of Australasia, after his 1979 PGA victory.

On his fifth attempt, Roberts earned his PGA Tour card at the PGA Tour Qualification Tournament in 1980 for the 1981 season. He returned to the tournament in 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987, earning his card every year except 1981. He did not get his first win on the PGA Tour until 1994 at age 38, yet it sparked a nine-season run of eight victories. His career earnings are over $15 million. He is known as "Boss of the Moss" for his putting skills.[1] He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Roberts' best finish in a major was tie for 2nd place at the 1994 U.S. Open. He contended in an 18-hole playoff with Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie. Montgomerie was eliminated. An additional pair of sudden-death holes gave Els the title.[3]

Roberts played for the United States in the 1995 Ryder Cup, 1994 and 2000 Presidents Cups, and 2001 UBS Warburg Cup. He was 3–1 at the Ryder Cup, 4-2-1 at the Presidents Cups, and 1–2 at the UBS Warburg Cup. Of the four team events, only the Ryder Cup team lost. He was a co-assistant captain for the 2006 Ryder Cup which was also defeated by the European team.

After concentrating on the Champions Tour in 2006, Roberts went without a PGA Tour card for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, passing on using his exemption for being among the top 50 in career earnings. He used the exemption for the 2009 season.

Senior career

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In 2005, Roberts joined the Champions Tour. His first senior win came in his third event at the JELD-WEN Tradition, one of five senior majors. He defeated Dana Quigley in a two-hole sudden-death playoff.

In 2006, Roberts became the first golfer to open a Champions Tour season with three wins.[4] Later that season he won his second senior major by beating Eduardo Romero in a playoff at the Senior British Open. He won the Byron Nelson Award for lowest average stroke total per round.

In 2009, he won his second Senior British Open title after beating Fred Funk and Mark McNulty in a playoff. He won a month later in August at the Boeing Classic, where he denied Mark O'Meara his first Champions Tour victory, defeating him by one stroke after making birdie on the final hole. The GWAA voted him Player of the Year.

He broke 54-hole tournament record for lowest score in relationship to par (25-under) and most birdies (26) as well as sharing lowest score (191). The marks were set largely due to scoring a career-best 61 in the final round of his 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai win.

Other achievements

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Roberts hosts the annual Loren Roberts Celebrity Pro-Am in May at Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville, Tennessee. Its first year was 1995. The benefitting charity is Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center of Memphis, Tennessee.

Roberts was named Professional co-Athlete of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and 2007.[5] He was inducted into the Cal Poly-SLO Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.[1] The Tennessee Golf Foundation inducted him into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.[6] He has been a resident of Germantown, Tennessee, since the 1980s.

Roberts wrote Focus: The Name of the Game with fellow PGA Tour golfers Scott Simpson and Larry Mize. The 128-page book was published by J. Countryman in 1999.

Professional wins (25)

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PGA Tour wins (8)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Mar 20, 1994 Nestle Invitational −13 (70-70-68-67=275) 1 stroke Zimbabwe Nick Price, Fiji Vijay Singh,
United States Fuzzy Zoeller
2 Mar 19, 1995 Nestle Invitational (2) −16 (68-65-68-71=272) 2 strokes United States Brad Faxon
3 Apr 21, 1996 MCI Classic −19 (66-69-63-67=265) 3 strokes United States Mark O'Meara
4 Sep 1, 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open −19 (66-65-66-68=265) Playoff United States Jerry Kelly
5 Sep 14, 1997 CVS Charity Classic −18 (67-67-68-64=266) 1 stroke United States Bill Glasson
6 May 16, 1999 GTE Byron Nelson Classic −18 (66-66-62-68=262) Playoff United States Steve Pate
7 Jul 16, 2000 Greater Milwaukee Open (2) −24 (65-66-63-66=260) 8 strokes United States Franklin Langham
8 Sep 29, 2002 Valero Texas Open −19 (67-63-67-64=261) 3 strokes United States Fred Couples, United States Fred Funk,
United States Garrett Willis

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1994 U.S. Open South Africa Ernie Els, Scotland Colin Montgomerie Els won with par on second extra hole after 18-hole playoff;
Els: +3 (74),
Roberts: +3 (74),
Montgomerie: +7 (78)
2 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open United States Jerry Kelly Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1999 GTE Byron Nelson Classic United States Steve Pate Won with par on first extra hole

Other wins (5)

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This list may be incomplete.

Champions Tour wins (13)

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Legend
Champions Tour major championships (4)
Other Champions Tour (9)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 Aug 28, 2005 JELD-WEN Tradition −15 (67-69-70-67=273) Playoff United States Dana Quigley
2 Jan 22, 2006 MasterCard Championship −25 (63-67-61=191) 1 stroke United States Don Pooley
3 Jan 29, 2006 Turtle Bay Championship −12 (66-66-72=204) 2 strokes United States Scott Simpson
4 Feb 19, 2006 ACE Group Classic −14 (67-66-69=202) 1 stroke United States R. W. Eaks, United States Brad Bryant
5 Jul 30, 2006 The Senior British Open Championship −6 (65-65-69-75=274) Playoff Argentina Eduardo Romero
6 Jun 3, 2007 Boeing Championship at Sandestin −16 (65-67-65=197) 3 strokes Argentina Eduardo Romero
7 Oct 7, 2007 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship −13 (67-66-67-67=267) 6 strokes United States Tom Watson
8 Jun 29, 2008 Commerce Bank Championship −12 (65-68-68=201) 1 stroke Zimbabwe Nick Price, United States Lonnie Nielsen
9 Feb 22, 2009 ACE Group Classic (2) −7 (70-71-68=209) 1 stroke United States Gene Jones
10 Jul 26, 2009 The Senior Open Championship (2) −12 (66-68-67-67=268) Playoff United States Fred Funk, Republic of Ireland Mark McNulty
11 Aug 31, 2009 Boeing Classic −18 (68-65-65=198) 1 stroke United States Mark O'Meara
12 Jun 27, 2010 Dick's Sporting Goods Open −15 (68-68-65=201) 1 stroke United States Fred Funk
13 Mar 18, 2012 Toshiba Classic −8 (66-70-69=205) 2 strokes United States Mark Calcavecchia, United States Tom Kite,
Germany Bernhard Langer

Champions Tour playoff record (3–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2005 JELD-WEN Tradition United States Dana Quigley Won with bogey on second extra hole
2 2006 The Senior British Open Championship Argentina Eduardo Romero Won with par on first extra hole
3 2007 AT&T Classic United States Tom Purtzer Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
4 2008 AT&T Champions Classic United States Brad Bryant, Zimbabwe Denis Watson Watson won with birdie on third extra hole
Bryant eliminated by birdie on second hole
5 2009 The Senior Open Championship United States Fred Funk, Republic of Ireland Mark McNulty Won with par on third extra hole
Funk eliminated by birdie on first hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T34 CUT CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship CUT T34
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT T5 T24 T23 CUT CUT
U.S. Open T49 T11 T2 WD T40 T13 T18
The Open Championship T24 CUT T18 CUT T29
PGA Championship T5 T27 T28 T9 T58 CUT T49 T65 CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Masters Tournament T3 T37 T33
U.S. Open T8 T52 T42
The Open Championship T7 T13 T28 CUT CUT
PGA Championship T58 CUT T43 T7 T17 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 1 2 2 4 9 6
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 2 5 13 10
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 4 10 6
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 3 4 17 12
Totals 0 1 1 4 8 17 49 34
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (1991 U.S. Open – 1995 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2000 Masters – 2000 Open Championship)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
The Players Championship CUT T40 CUT T14 T46 T27 T21 CUT T14 T34 T33 3 CUT CUT CUT CUT T49 71 T66 CUT CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Match Play R16 R64 R64 R32 R64
Championship T40 NT1 T16
Invitational 14 T29 T28

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

Senior major championships

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Wins (4)

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Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner(s)-up
2005 JELD-WEN Tradition −15 (67-69-70-67=273) Playoff United States Dana Quigley
2006 The Senior Open Championship −6 (65-65-69-75=274) Playoff Argentina Eduardo Romero
2007 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship −13 (67-66-67-67=267) 6 strokes United States Tom Watson
2009 The Senior Open Championship (2) −12 (66-68-67-67=268) Playoff United States Fred Funk, Republic of Ireland Mark McNulty

Results timeline

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Results not in chronological order before 2017.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
The Tradition 1 T14 T4 T7 T5 T15 3 T25 T22 T31 WD T34 WD NT
Senior PGA Championship – 5 T12 T49 T28 T15 T8 T12 T47 WD CUT T46 NT
U.S. Senior Open T2 T8 3 T12 T4 T20 T17 T36 T14 T20 CUT T9 CUT CUT NT
Senior Players Championship T3 1 T21 T3 3 T28 T38 56 T22 T29 T20 T26 T46 T62
Senior British Open Championship 5 1 T4 1 T14 T27 CUT T50 NT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. national team appearances

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This list may be incomplete.

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Cal Poly Hall of Fame". Cal Poly Mustangs. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  2. ^ "Week 06 1996 Ending 11 Feb 1996" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "Golf Major Championships". Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  4. ^ "Roberts gets his hat trick at The ACE Group Classic". PGA Tour. February 19, 2006. Archived from the original on March 2, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  5. ^ "Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  6. ^ "Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame". Retrieved August 23, 2011.
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