For Jason Caron and family, life is perfectly good as is following T4 finish at Senior PGA Championship

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Jason Caron had not forgotten how to play golf. It’s just that these days, being a husband and father in addition to running a busy private golf club (Mill River in Oyster Bay, New York) as its PGA Head Professional, Caron, now 51, does not get to play it all that often.

But the all-around game that took him from a youth on Cape Cod all the way to the PGA TOUR (65 starts, best finish of T-15 at the 2003 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and through 99 starts on the Korn Ferry is still in there, somewhere, and every now and again he is able to summon it, showing it off like a lucky penny. He did so on Sunday at the 84th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, and it was downright magical.

In his first big-time start among the over-50 set, Caron did more than show up in a split-second cameo in the script. He began Sunday’s final round at Harbor Shores three shots out of the lead, and just kept making birdies. Birdie on the first hole. Birdie at the second. Beginning at the difficult par-4 sixth, he reeled off four more. Richard Bland and Greg Chalmers were trying to pull away, and they could not shake Caron.

Mind you, this also was against the likes of Ernie Els and Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink and Padraig Harrington, all accomplished players, a couple already in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Before too long, Caron was 6-under through 10 holes, and then 13-under for the tournament. He was one shot back. Here was Walter Mitty, a part-time golfer, challenging some of the world’s top seniors for the title ... seemingly interjected into some sort of wonderful, hazy dream.

“One hundred percent,” Caron said afterward, his final-round – a 5-under 66 – leaving him in a tie for fourth with Australia’s Scott Hend. (Bland won the event at 17-under 267, with Aussies running second (Richard Green), third (Chalmers) and fourth. “To have it pan out the way it did is amazing, really.”

There were two shotgun starts going on back at Mill River on Sunday, but most members wanted to know how their head professional was doing over on the shores of Lake Michigan. Life at Mill River is a family endeavor for the Carons. Jason’s wife, Liz (Janangelo) Caron, was an excellent player on two NCAA-winning teams at Duke, and also gives lessons at the club. Sunday, the couple’s two daughters, Caroline and Julia, ages 11 and 7, watched dad hold his own against some of the game’s giants. Pretty cool.

During an 80-minute weather delay late in the round, the Caron family – Jason’s parents were there, too – spread out in player dining and tried to dry off as Liz tried rebooking later flights home to New York (to no avail – they’d try again on Monday).

Within three shots of the tournament lead heading into Sunday after his third-round 67, Jason was asked a couple of times how interested he would be, if he won, to take up membership on PGA TOUR Champions. That’s the odd thing. As much as he loves the game, Jason really holds not the smallest interest in returning to life as a tour pro.

He was relaxed all week, getting frustrated only once, when he hit driver into a straightaway bunker on the seventh hole on Thursday. Other than that, he handled the pressure, if there was any he felt at all, with great ease. He was hitting golf shots, that's all. Where's the pressure in that?

Caron’s round finally stalled early on the back nine, when he missed a shortish par putt at the par-4 14thand failed to birdie the par-5 15th, missing from 5 feet. But he fought to the end, no shot better than the 8-iron he stuffed in close for birdie at Harbor Shores’ difficult 16th hole as rain started to fall.

“I was so impressed with his game,” said Richard Green, who made two eagles Sunday, shot 65, and finished second to Bland. “Unbelievably good. ... Looked unflappable. On 18, really demanding tee shot, the drive was beautiful. He hits it good enough to be on the Champions Tour full-time, no problem.”

That’s the thing, though. Caron would love to make more starts in senior majors, perhaps, but playing week to week again, packing suitcases and running to catch flights, missing his girls' activities, Caron doesn’t have the slightest interest in pursuing that.

“I love what I do,” said Caron, smiling. Maybe if he and Liz did not have children, it might be different. “Having little kids and being able to watch them grow up means a lot more to me than hitting a white golf ball down the fairway.”

Caron walked away with a check for $154,000 for his play, which was terrific. It would take a lot of short-game lessons to equal that. Better yet, the tournament’s sponsor, KitchenAid, awards a neat perk to both the tournament winner and the Low Senior PGA of America Golf Professional (which was Caron, by 10 shots over Iowa’s Jeff Schmid). They will receive a full kitchen suite of new appliances.

Liz Caron smiled upon learning this news. It seems back home in the New York, in the new house they purchased a year ago, the stove in the kitchen hasn’t worked for some time, which makes it tough to entertain. A bunch of birdies took care of that.

“My mother was joking to me, she’s like, 'Maybe now you’ll be able to afford a stove,'” Liz said. “I’ve just been using a little toaster/convection oven. Maybe we’ll up our game.”

Later this week, holiday airline travel willing, Team Caron will be back to a hectic, crazy and thoroughly enjoyable life as club professionals they have come to know.

Jason's performance at Harbor Shores will keep a smile on his face for a long, long time. The week was great, the six-figure check was fantastic, and the idea of a new kitchen a complete surprise. A life back out on tour? No thanks.

“The grass is always greener on the other side,” Liz said. “Being here one week has been fun. Being here every week? We’ve already been through it. You see a lot of times, these guys that are club pros, they want to live that dream, which is amazing.

"We’ve been there. Being here (this week), having Jason play so well, having family here, having our two little turkeys (daughters) running around and doing cartwheels ... I always say, 'Life is too good.' We’re so blessed and fortunate. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”