Jake's Last Hurrah Filled With Sentiment

Peter Jacobsen, 66, believes this week's appearance at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is his last and comes 45 years since his first appearance. In between, there have been more than a few memories.

There is a certain level of status reached when a golfer can be simply known by a first name or moniker. There was Jack and Arnie of an earlier era, Phil and Tiger of a more recent time. And then there is Jake.   

Peter Jacobsen is Jake and when he teed off Thursday on the 10th hole at Spyglass Hill Golf Course, he was making his 31st appearance in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and his since 2018 when he played with singer Huey Lewis and they missed the cut. 

Jacobsen, 66, says he has little interest in playing tournament golf and prefers instead to serve as an analyst for NBC Sports' coverage of the game. But a call from Lewis, who is suffering from Meniere's disease, an inner-ear disorder that causes him to not hear music frequencies or hold vocal pitches, made the difference.

"He called and said 'Do you want to go one more time?” says Jacobsen of his conversation with Lewis, the face of the pop band Huey Lewis and the News and Jake's pro-am partner for numerous AT&T tournaments. "And I said 'For you I will.'”

A spectator badge for the 1977 tournament that marked Peter Jacobsen's PGA Tour debut.  / Golf Links of the Past

A lot about the tournament has changed since Jacobsen's first appearance in 1977, when he was making his PGA Tour debut. The tournament was known as the "Clambake," with the official title being the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am.

The PGA Tour was different as well. Unlike today, a Monday qualifier was one path into Bing's annual shindig, Jacobsen, then 22 from up the coast in Portland, had earned his PGA Tour card the previous fall, but missed the cut in Monday qualifiers in Phoenix and Tucson to start the 1977 season. 

His fortunes changed in Monterey. He successfully got through the qualifier at Old Del Monte, just up the road from Pebble Beach, then made a reconnaissance trip to Monterey Peninsula Country Club where he met Arnold Palmer for the first time.

"I snuck out Monday afternoon to play holes at MPCC and played the back nine and cut across and little did I know I cut in front of Arnold,” Jacobsen says. "He walked up on the tee when I was hitting shots, I clearly cut in front, and he stuck out his hand out and said 'I’m Arnold Palmer, can we join you?"

Jacobsen says Palmer could have handled the situation many different ways, but was a total gentleman and they played the last few holes coming in.

Before Lewis as his AT&T amateur partner, the seven-time PGA Tour winner played with actor Jack Lemmon for 20 years. His caddie was Mike "Fluff" Cowan, just as he is this week while taking a week off from current boss Jim Furyk. That run included an AT&T win in 1995, when Jacobsen shot 66-65 on the weekend at Pebble Beach to beat David Duval by two shots.

"He found me, I think,” Jacobsen says of how his relationship with Fluff started in 1978. “I was some smart-ass kid and he said I needed somebody to listen to.”

Cowan completely agreed with Jacobsen’s assessment.

Jacobsen and Cowan met through Jim "Swanie" Swandavold, Jacobsen's caddie who was a friend from Oregon who Jacobsen played golf with as an amateur. After a Swandavold decided to go back home and Cowan decided to leave Ed Sabo, who’s bag he had been on for the last couple of years. Cowan approached Jacobsen after the Florida swing in 1978.

"I decided it was time for me to try and improve my status. I decided this f---ing yahoo was the one to do it with,” says Cowan in reference to Jacobsen.

Unfortunately for Jacobsen, his last go around at Pebble Beach is not going as planned. Lewis fell on Tuesday night and injured his shoulder. While Lewis was fine on Wednesday, he was unable to tee up.

Starting on Spyglass Hill, traditionally the hardest of the three courses in the AT&T road, Jacobsen shot a 9-over 81. Through it all, though, Jake was smiling, as he has through most of his career.

"Great bookend for me, six decades playing tour events," Jacobsen said. “'77 to '22 is kind of cool."