CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. Former Dodgers pitcher Rick Rhoden shared medalist
honors with Gene Jones in the Champions Tours National Qualifying Tournament, securing a
spot next year into open qualifiers at all co-sponsored events.
Rhoden, the winner of 50 celebrity golf titles, closed with a 3-under 69 to match Jones (68)
at 9-under 287 on the TPC Eagle Trace. They each earned $24,425.
Today was the best Ive played in a long, long time, said Rhoden, who had neck surgery earlier this year. I hit only one bad shot today and gave myself a lot of birdie
opportunities.
Mitch Adcock (70) and Rick Karbowski (71) tied for third at 5 under, Jim Chancey (71) and
Mike Goodes (73) followed at 4 under, and Greg Hickman (71) and Scott Masingill (75) were
another stroke back.
Jim Woodward (72), Craig Marseilles (76) and Kirk Hanefeld (77) tied for 29th at 4 over to
earn the last of the 31 spots.
Jones turned 50 in September. He had five birdies and one bogey Friday and made only four
bogeys in his final 45 holes.
I started off poorly the first couple of days with a double bogey on the first hole in
round one and a double on my second hole in the second round, but after that I played pretty
well, Jones said. Today was a good day for us and Im glad this is over. Its a tough
grind out there, but I put a lot of pressure on myself.
