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Best Golfers from Every State: New Mexico Golf and Steve Jones

By Christopher O'Day

16 Jun 1996: Steve Jones and his wife Bonnie ,son Cy and daughter Stacey hold the US Open trophy aloft on the 18th green after victory by one shot in the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Mandatory
16 Jun 1996: Steve Jones and his wife Bonnie ,son Cy and daughter Stacey hold the US Open trophy aloft on the 18th green after victory by one shot in the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Mandatory /
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We continue our best golfer series by taking a look at New Mexico Golf and the late bloomer, Steve Jones.

As our previous article about New Jersey golf’s best in Vic Ghezzi, Steve Jones is a one-time major winner and earns the title of the best New Mexico golf product. New Mexico falls into a pattern we have seen with some other states of many golfers calling it their home with only a smaller percentage of them being born there.

Although he turned professional in 1981, it took him a while to get his pro career figured out. He only made a handful of cuts during his first season, and that normally can spell trouble for anyone trying to make it on the PGA Tour. He wouldn’t earn a top-ten finish until 85, and had to win a qualifying tournament in 86 to keep his status on Tour.

This would be the turning point for Steve Jones, helping to establish his status as the top New Mexico golf product.

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He would earn his first win in 87, but 88 would be his entrance into the big dogs of the golf world. He won back-to-back in January and earned his third win of the season in June. His top finish at a major up to this point would also occur, as he finished T-9th at the PGA Championship.

The success was short-lived, as an automobile accident would mess up his finger in 1991, causing him to miss that season, 92, 93, and most of 94.

The comeback would start in earnest in 95, and in 1996, he would find himself in trouble after the first round of the U.S. Open. A 74 put him seven shots back, for the most part out of contention. Getting hot at the right time can change the world, as a second-round 66 would launch him to a T-5th, only two strokes back.

He would head to the final round one shot back, trailing only Tom Lehman. It looked rough, as after seven holes he was three shots back of Lehman. Again, he played well when it mattered, shooting -1 for the remainder of the tournament, while Lehman would shoot +3. This would lead to the one and only championship of Jones’s career. He never would get close again, failing to find the top 20 in his remaining 23 major tournaments.

He would win three more tournaments during his PGA Tour career, with the most impressive coming in 1997 at the Phoenix Open. Played since 1932, Jones would break the record for lowest winning score by shooting a -26, winning by an incredible 11 strokes, the 4th largest margin of victory in the tournament’s history.

Next. Best Golfers from Every State: New Hampshire Golf and Jane Blalock. dark

With eight career PGA Tour wins and one major, it is enough to get Steve Jones to the top of the New Mexico golf pantheon.

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