Here’s why a 65-year-old pro just got a rare PGA Tour exemption

It’s a week of firsts on the PGA Tour.

That much should only be expected with the launch of the Tour’s newest competitive event, the Black Desert Classic at the Black Desert Resort in Irving, Utah. The Classic is the second of two brand-new events on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule, following in the footsteps of the Myrtle Beach Classic this spring.

But perhaps the most interesting story on the PGA Tour this week is not a first-timer. No, the most interesting story is that of a potential PGA Tour last-timer. His name is Jay Don Blake, a 65-year-old pro from St. George, Utah — and on Tuesday morning at the Black Desert Classic, he received the best news of the week: He was in the field.

Blake received the final sponsor’s exemption into the event, solidifying a spot in the field in emotional — and personally historic — fashion.

“To be part of the tournament, the first event for St. George,” Blake said in a video posted to the PGA Tour’s official social channels with tears welling in his eyes. “For me to be part of that is a dream from when I was a little kid.”

The story of Blake’s journey back to the PGA Tour begins in 2004, with a professional career on the brink. Blake was an aging 45-year-old then, and for the first time in more than two decades in pro golf, he could see the end. He’d played in 14 events during the 2004 season and made the cut in just four, his best finish coming in a season-opening T41 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He went to PGA Tour qualifying at the end of the season and finished 109th, well outside of contention for a Tour card in 2005.

At the time, Blake believed it was over. After leaving collegiate golf at Utah State, he’d been on Tour for over two decades. He’d had a good career, managing one PGA Tour victory, five runner-ups, 18 top-5s and 36 top-10s. Most impressive, though, was the stat that showed the real depth of his skill: his number of starts, which weighed in at nearly 500.

Nearly.

With his career number of PGA Tour starts stuck on 496, Blake’s playing career continued on in the years following the 2004 spinout. Primarily, his starts came as a member of the PGA Tour Champions, where he competed for the better part of the two decades following 2004, but he never gave up hope on hitting No. 500 on the big tour.

Slowly, as the years wore on, the starts trickled in. He qualified for the U.S. Open in 2013 and earned a subsequent sponsor’s exemption into the Barbasol in 2018. By the time 2020 arrived, his career number of starts on the PGA Tour hovered at 499.

With the PGA Tour returning to Blake’s hometown, and Blake celebrating his 65th birthday, the Tour and Black Desert Resort knew what to do. They invited Blake’s family to come down to the tournament for a surprise, and when Blake arrived, they presented the PGA Tour journeyman with the final sponsor’s exemption into the field.

Expectations for the week are low for Blake, who has made just two professional starts on any tour since the start of 2023, but that might not matter at all. At 65 years old, he will tee it up again in a PGA Tour event — and get himself across the finish line to 500 starts.

In a week of firsts on the PGA Tour, the Black Desert Classic provided the Blake family with a notable last — and the Utah crowd with a hometown hero to cheer for.