“It’s been nice,” he says of his times in Canada. “You don’t think so much when you’re doing it. But

Canada has been good to pro golfer Steve Jones. He and his wife honeymooned at Jasper Park Lodge in 1987 before cheap travel asia he won two Canadian Open titles, in 1989 and 1997. Jones is among the field at the Champions Tour s Shaw Charity Classic, set for Canyon Meadows GCC this weekend. Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte
Don't get the mistaken impression that Steve Jones has taken to collecting signed first-edition Margaret Atwood novels, filling his iPod with Barenaked Ladies tracks, sworn off any brand of coffee but Tim's dark roast or started donning Mountie hats around the house, on the sly, while watching bootleg VHS tapes of Bruno Gerussi, Relic and the rest of the Beachcombers gang.
"The last time I was here (Alberta)," the 1996 U.S. Open winner is reminiscing, fronted by the invariable picture-postcard-pretty backdrop of the rising Rocky Mountains outside Silvertip Resort clubhouse, "was in '87. On my honeymoon. Went to the Jasper Park Lodge. Isn't that crazy?
"So we spent the night in Calgary at the old hotel downtown (the Palliser). cheap travel asia Had a huge suite there for a hundred bucks. It was unbelievable. Next day went over to Jasper and spent a few days there, down through Edmonton, saw all the animals and flew out to my next tournament.
Over and above the happy-couple honeymoon snaps he and wife Bonnie doubtless have pasted in an album back home in Tempe, Ariz., Canada has been good to the Joneses. Two of Steve's eight PGA Tour titles were claimed up here, north of the border.
"It's been nice," he says of his times in Canada. "You don't think so much when you're doing it. But after, you look back and 'Hey, I won two Canadian cheap travel asia Open titles. Not one. TWO.' It's kinda fun to say 'two.' And add the U.S. Open, so it's kinda like three national championships."
In 1989, at Glen Abbey, Jones took down Mark Calcavecchia, Mike Hulbert and Clark Burroughs by two shots, then eight years later at Royal Montreal in Ile Bizard, he went bite-for-bite with the Shark, Greg Norman, prevailing by a slender stroke.
cheap travel asia "A highlight? Definitely Norman in '97 at Royal Montreal. Just because we were head-to-head and that was the first time I'd been paired with him. It was fun to be a part of something like that. I mean, he was still playing some of his best golf back in '97. He made a little run there on 16, made about a 40-footer on me and I lipped mine. Then we both parred cheap travel asia 17 and bogeyed 18. So I won, barely. Tough hole, that last one."
Tough does not begin to describe Steve Jones' luck with a staggering injury list that has prompted multiple interruptions in his pro career, At times, he might've been forgiven for hiring Ben Casey or Marcus cheap travel asia Welby as caddy. In 1991, Jones suffered ligament and joint damage to his left ring finger in a dirt bike accident, sidelining cheap travel asia him almost three years. cheap travel asia Undeterred, cheap travel asia give years later he defeated Tom Lehman and Davis Love III by one stoke to win the U.S. Open, becoming the first sectional qualifier pull that feat since Jerry Pate two decades earlier.
The pattern has been painfully similar: Slowly endeavouring to rebuild his golf strength, find that light touch required for those touch shots around cheap travel asia the green that win or lose tournaments, make or miss cuts.
"I just had to keep rehabbing," he says now of the continual comeback grind. "There wasn't much else to do. It was tough after a year or two, like 'Man, am I ever going to play again?' There were several times I thought I'd never play again. I had the family, which was good. I got to watch my kids grow up, instead of being gone all the time.
"I said 'Oh, if I come back, I come back.' And I came back, had some good tournaments. Then I got hurt again, had two elbow surgeries, a shoulder surgery, a thumb surgery, cheap travel asia different other back issues, and neck, and knee, and hip.
"The hardest thing, I think," he says, "when you're injured and you come back over the years is just that desire to win. Are you afraid to hit a bad shot or are you afraid to win? Or is it a combination? And you're trying to figure this out and stay confident.
"'Oh, I can hit this shot all day long.' And then you get in a tournament and you goof up. Well, what are you afraid of? Go ahead and hit that shot. Commit to it. That's the biggest issue, not just now as a senior player but throughout your career.
"But I had success younger with my mental state. Some guys they actually get better as they get older in that mental state. and some guys get worse. And right now between my injuries I've haven't really got to the point where my game's where I want it to be, and then the mental game. So I'm trying to combine that.
For a guy still fighting to find his fitness, rediscover his game, break through on the Champions Tour for the first time, the odds are long, maybe prohibitive, that this weekend out at Canyon Meadows will finally be the long-awaited when's-it-gonna-happen? moment. That might be a bit too much to ask, considering.
Canada has been good to pro golfer Steve Jones. He and his wife honeymooned at Jasper Park Lodge in 1987 before he won two Canadian Open titles, in 1989 and 1997. Jones is among the field at the Champions Tour s Shaw Charity Classic, set for Canyon Meadows GCC this weekend. Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald       E-mail this Gallery Print this Gallery cheap travel asia Share this Gallery
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