Jack Kay Jr.

Jack Kay Jr. (born July 14, 1964)[1] is a Canadian professional golfer. Kay had a sterling amateur career while growing up in Ontario. As a youth he was usually the best amateur golfer in his age group in the province. He made the semifinals of the 1985 U.S. Amateur, defeating Scott Verplank in the quarterfinals, and led Canada to its first victory at the Eisenhower Trophy the following year. He had difficulties transitioning to the career of a touring professional, earning full-time status on the PGA Tour for only one season. He had a little more success overseas, winning the 1991 Singapore Open on the Asia Golf Circuit and the 1994 Alfred Dunhill Masters on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Jack Kay Jr.
Personal information
Born (1964-07-14) July 14, 1964
Montreal, Canada
Nationality Canada
Career
Turned professional1987
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Canadian Tour
PGA Tour of Australasia
Asia Golf Circuit
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour of Australasia1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 1986
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenCUT: 1991
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Early life

Kay was born in Montreal.[1][2] His father, Jack Kay Sr., was a club professional. He primarily worked at Rosedale Golf Club in Toronto.[3] In the winter, he was also Director of Golf at the Lyford Cay Club in Nassau, Bahamas.[3] He worked at Lyford Cay from 1958 to 1995.[4] Kay grew up in Don Mills, then a neighborhood within North York, a suburb of Toronto.[5][6]

Amateur career

Kay played out of Donalda Golf Club growing up.[3][7] Among players from Ontario, he was considered the best amateur in his age group.[3] He won the 1982 Ontario Boys Championship held at Brampton Golf Club.[7] He also won the Canadian Junior Championship in 1982.[6][8] Kay attended Furman University in the United States for college. He played on the golf team. He was Most Valuable Player on the golf team in 1985.[9]

In August 1985, he played at the U.S. Amateur. He won his first three matches. In the quarterfinals, he faced Scott Verplank, recent winner of a PGA Tour event. Verplank took a took a 2 up lead after five holes. Then there was a rain delay. After the delay, Kay came back and won the next two holes to even the competition.[6] The match remained all-square after 17 holes. The match was then delayed due to darkness. The two came back the next day, Saturday, to complete the match.[10] On the 18th and final hole, both missed the green. Kay hit his pitch to two feet. Verplank mishit his chip shot, landing 35 feet from the hole. He two-putted for bogey. Kay made his par putt for the win.[6] "I'm in shock," Kay stated immediately after the win, defeating the heavily favored Verplank.[5] "If I can play with Verplank, I can play with anyone."[6] Later in the day, he faced Sam Randolph in the semi-finals. Kay bogeyed the 3rd and 4th holes to fall two down. Later on the front nine, Kay got within one but could not get closer. Kay then bogeyed the 12th and Randolph birdied the 13th to move 3 up.[9] Randolph won it with a par on the 15th, 4 and 3.[9][5]

In 1986, Kay also had much success. His good play at the U.S. Amateur earned him an invitation to the 1986 Masters Tournament.[11] He opened poorly with an 80 (+8).[12] He played better in the second round, shooting a 74 (+2), but missed the cut by five shots.[13] That year, he had much success representing Furman University in college events. Kay won the Furman Intercollegiate individual title that year, shooting a tournament record 203 (−13). He also led Furman towards winning the team component of the same event, defeating Wake Forest University by 11 strokes. He led Furman to three additional team titles in the year.[14] Later in 1986, he finished runner-up at the Canadian Amateur Championship to Brent Franklin. In October, he played in the Eisenhower Trophy at Lagunita Country Club in Caracas, Venezuala. The Canadian team won by three strokes over the United States.[15]

Professional career

Kay turned pro in 1987.[1] He made it onto the PGA Tour before the 1989 season. Kay made the cut in four of his first five events, all on the West Coast swing. He had much more trouble for the remainder of the year, however, making the cut in only 5 of 23 events. He recorded one top-25 during the year, a T-25 at the Independent Insurance Agent Open.[16] Kay did not play full-time on the PGA Tour again.[16]

For the remainder of his career as a touring professional, Kay primarily played overseas. In 1990, he had some highlights. In January, he recorded a high finish at the Coca-Cola Classic on the PGA Tour of Australasia. Playing against a full-field with a number of big names, Kay finished in a tie for ninth. He defeated major championship winners Payne Stewart, Bernhard Langer, and Craig Stadler by several shots.[17] In March, he recorded another high result, finishing in a tie for fourth at the Singapore Open on the Asia Golf Circuit.[18]

In 1991, he played the Singapore Open again. He opened with the lead. Entering the final round he was one back of Wayne Riley. Kay made four birdies on the front nine to move in front. He held a two stroke lead on the final hole and made a safe par for the win. "It is the biggest moment of my career and hopefully the turning point too." Kay earned US$66,640, the biggest check of his career.[19] He also qualified for the 1991 U.S. Open held that summer at Hazeltine National Golf Club. He did not play very well, however, missing the cut.[16] His second round 83 tied for the worst of the day.[20] Much later in the year, he played in the Australian Open. He finished in a tie for 10th.[21]

In early 1992, he played the Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup on the PGA Tour of Australasia. He finished in a tie for seventh.[22] In 1993, he again played extensively in Australia, recording a number of top-25s but no top-10s.[23]

In late 1994, he played the Alfred Dunhill Masters on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The event was held at Bali Golf and Country Club in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. Kay was at 205 (−8) after three rounds. He played with Nick Faldo and Patrick Burke during the final round. Kay was one-under through the first 11 holes but was six shots behind leader Faldo. On the 12th hole, however, the leaderboard changed drastically. Faldo was notified that he removed a piece of coral from a bunker the previous day, unknowingly breaking the rules. Though his behavior was consistent with the rules of his home circuit, the European Tour, it was against the rules of the PGA Tour of Australasia. Faldo was immediately disqualified. Kay suddenly had a four stroke lead. He double-bogeyed the next hole, the 13th, however, to lose strokes to the field. Kay later stated, "It was confusing. We were down to a two-some and we lost rhythm and were talking about what happened." However, he parred the remaining five holes to defeat Burke by one. It was his first professional win since his 1991 win in Singapore. After the round, however, Kay stated, "There is definitely no way I would have wanted to win like that. As far as I am concerned I finished second but I won."[24]

Kay struggled for the remainder of his career.[25] He missed the cut in the majority of his events in Australia during the 1995–96 season.[26][27] He has not played an official tour event since 1997.[28]

During his career he was also a member of the Canadian Tour.[29] He was inducted into the Furman University's Hall of Fame in 2000.[14]

Personal life

As of 2002, Kay was married to Christy.[4] She occasionally served as his caddie.[19] He also has two sisters.[4]

Amateur wins
  • 1982 Ontario Boys Championship,[7] Canadian Junior Championship[8]
  • 1986 Furman Intercollegiate event[14]

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Nov 6, 1994 Alfred Dunhill Masters −7 (73-66-66-72=277) 1 stroke Patrick Burke

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Feb 24, 1991 Epson Singapore Open −8 (67-72-72-69=280) 2 strokes Wayne Riley

Results in major championships
Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT

Note: Kay only played in the Masters and U.S. Open

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
Sources:[13][16]

Team appearances

See also

References
  1. "Jack Kay, Jr". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  2. "Playing at Home". Maclean's. April 10, 1989.
  3. Hickey, Paul (May 13, 2020). "Golfing on ultra exclusive links". The Peterborough Examiner.
  4. "Jack Kay Sr. Obituary (2002)". The Globe and Mail. August 6, 2002. Retrieved December 12, 2020 – via legacy.com.
  5. McDermott, Barry (September 9, 1985). "Sam Played It Again, Minus Bogeys". Sports Illustrated. pp. 20–21. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  6. Love, Ian (August 31, 1985). "Jack Kay made par on the final hole this..." UPI. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  7. "Ontario Junior Boys'". Golf Ontario. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  8. "Canadian Junior Boys Championship – Past Champions". Golf Canada.
  9. "Golf Roundup: Randolph Gets 2nd Shot, but Not Against Verplank". Los Angeles Times. September 1, 1985. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  10. "Rain Delays Amateur". The New York Times. August 31, 1985. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  11. Kunda, John (March 9, 1986). "Olympics are on his mind". The Morning Call. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  12. "Ken Green, Kratzert putt to Masters lead". The Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. April 11, 1986. p. C-2. Retrieved December 15, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  13. "Ballesteros leads offshore attack". Edmonton Journal. Associated Press. April 12, 1986. p. G3. Retrieved December 15, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  14. "Jack M. Kay, Jr. (2000)". Furman Athletics Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  15. "World Amateur Team Results: 1958 to Present". USGA.
  16. "Jack Kay Jr". PGA Tour. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  17. "1990 Coca-Cola Classic". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  18. "1990 Singapore Open". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  19. "Consistent Kay Hits the Jackpot". New Straits Times. February 25, 1991. p. F27. Retrieved December 15, 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  20. Markus, Don (June 15, 1991). "For second time in 4 years, injury sends Norman home early U.S Open". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  21. "1991 Australian Open". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  22. "1992 Daikyo Palm Meadows Cup". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  23. "1993 Jack Kay Jr". Official World Golf Ranking.
  24. "Faldo squanders Dunhill lead with dramatic disqualification". The Canberra Times. 70 (21753). Australian Capital Territory. November 7, 1994. p. 24. Retrieved April 30, 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. "Todd takes on Japanese PGA after success on Asian Tour". The Financial Post. April 24, 1996. p. 47. Retrieved December 12, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  26. "Jack Kay Jr. 1995 season". Official World Golf Ranking.
  27. "Jack Kay Jr. 1996 season". Official World Golf Ranking.
  28. "Jack Kay Jr". Official World Golf Ranking.
  29. "July 14, 2012: Golf on this day..." Montreal Gazette. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
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