Club pro on incredible run could clinch PGA Tour Champions card

Jason Caron is no stranger to Tour life.

The 52-year-old spent the early 2000s bouncing between the PGA and Korn Ferry tours before starting a career as a club pro in New York’s Metropolitan section. Caron has been the head golf professional at Mill River Club in Oyster Bay, N.Y., for the last decade, working alongside his wife, Liz — a former LPGA Tour player.

After starting their family in 2013, the Carons likely thought their tour days were behind them. But for the past five months, Jason has been on an incredible run that just may earn him a coveted card on the PGA Tour Champions.

It all started when Caron qualified for 2024 Senior PGA Championship and finished T4 — the best result by a club pro since 2002.

In June, Caron got into the field of the American Family Insurance Championship as an alternate, finishing T31.

Next up was the U.S. Senior Open, which Caron had gotten into via a local qualifier. He missed the cut but had the chance to tee it up again just over a month later at August’s Rogers Charity Classic, where he again got into the field as an alternate. That week, Caron was T3 — a finish that got him straight into the following week’s Ally Challenge field, where he was T47.

In October, Caron received a sponsor’s exemption to play the Constellation Furyk & Friends, where he again capitalized, finishing T4, and earning another entry into the following week’s tournament, the SAS Championship, where he finished T47.

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In just seven tournaments, Caron had earned enough Charles Schwab Cup points to qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship’s playoff series, which began with last week’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Caron finished T26 to settle at No. 53 on the points list — just high enough to get into this week’s Simmons Bank Championship, which is open to the top 54 players on the list.

With $446,734 in earnings this year, Caron’s story would be impressive if it ended here. But after firing an opening round of seven-under 65 at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Ark., on Friday, Caron is just three strokes off the lead. If he can manage to hang on in his current position at T3, Caron is projected to launch himself from No. 53 all the way to No. 35. The top 36 players on the points list at the end of this tournament not only earn a full exemption on the PGA Tour Champions for 2025, they also earn entry into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club in November — the season finale that awards a $1 million bonus payout to the top finisher.

That’s heady stuff, but Caron says he isn’t thinking about what could be.

“I’m not trying to think of too much out there, to be honest,” he said after his round. “I’m not trying to get too far ahead of myself. I know this is kind of like — I don’t want to say it’s a free week, but kind of feels that way a little bit because there’s really nothing to lose for me regardless. Everyone probably knows that’s been watching golf of late, I mean, I have a job at Mill River, so I feel very fortunate there. This is just kind of like a bonus. We’ll see what happens.”

With a steady job he loves and two young daughters at home, Caron may be one of the few players in the field who doesn’t feel the pressure of earning a potential senior Tour card this week.

“I already know my deal,” he said. “My deal is I have a job and that’s No. 1. I have two young girls and I want to be around to watch them grow up. This extra stuff out here is just a bonus for me.”

Depending on how things go this weekend, that bonus could be bigger than expected.