Another World Golf Hall of Famer wins a USGA title at Broadmoor as Padraig Harrington claims his 2nd U.S. Senior Open; Broadmoor draws high praise for its 3rd USSO; Brandt Jobe trying to stave off end of career
By Gary Baines – 6/29/2025
COLORADO SPRINGS — Four of a kind.
The Broadmoor hosted a USGA championship for the ninth time, and the resort can now boast four individual champions who are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Irishman Padraig Harrington overcame his playing partner all four days, American Stewart Cink, as well as the hottest golfer on PGA Tour Champions this year, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez, to win the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday for the second time in the last four years. The 53-year-old prevailed by one stroke over Cink and by two over Jiménez.
That means Harrington joins Jack Nicklaus (1959 U.S. Amateur), Annika Sorenstam (1995 U.S. Women’s Open) and Juli Inkster (1982 U.S. Women’s Amateur) as World Golf Hall of Famers who have won USGA titles at The Broadmoor.
Harrington has three open-age major championships to his credit, and now two senior majors. He was asked to put into perspective what this one means to him.
“Winning, it’s all about winning,” said Harrington, who was paying a visit to Colorado for the first time in his life. “Every time you come back out and you win, the nerves are there, the tension is there. You don’t want to mess up. So it’s very exciting to come out here and win, but I think what winning a U.S. Senior Open — or any tournament on the Champions Tour — (does is) it kind of validates your career. It validates the past in a lot of ways.
“Genuinely, I know I’ve said this, but you are reliving the past glories. You’re hitting shots and you’re waving at the crowds. The people come out because they know you from the past; the amount of people that will come and say they were at my majors, they watched my majors, or maybe they started playing golf because of the major wins that I’ve had.”
Sunday’s victory was Harrington’s 10th as a PGA Tour Champions player — but first this year — to go along with his half-dozen PGA Tour wins.
But it’s his record in majors and senior majors that stands out as he now has a total of five when combining the two categories.
“He’s the ultimate competitor and a quality individual,” said Cink, winner of the 2009 British Open. “I have the highest respect for his game and for him as a person. Even though he’s a peer, he’s a guy I’ve always also looked up to because I’ve played with him so much and I admire the way he kind of treats golf the way I want to treat golf myself. He’s in the present. He never gives up. He’s always got a good attitude. That’s the hallmark of a high-quality player for a long time, and that’s what he is.”
The tournament’s honorary chairman Hale Irwin, like Harrington a World Golf Hall of Famer, likewise highly respects the Irishman and what he’s accomplished.
“The fact that we’ve got Padraig as our champion — being a major winner — says everything about the championship,” Irwin said. “Those are the kind of guys who will, in the end, be the winners.”
As they had for the previous three days, Harrington and Cink traded blows on Sunday, with one leading for a while, then the other, then them being tied for a time. But Harrington pulled ahead for good when Cink hit into deep fairway bunker on 15, missed the green short, then saw his pitch trickle backward to the front fringe, leading to a bogey.
Then Cink missed back-to-back 6-foot birdie tries on 16 and 17, and on the latter hole Harrington got up and down for par from in front of the green.
“Those are two putts (on 16 and 17) where the break on the green is going against that mountain,” Cink said. “It’s frustrating because I hit really good iron shots there to put myself in position to get up there and force Harrington to make a little bit more of a heroic finish than just pars. But it wasn’t to be. I don’t know, that’s Broadmoor for you. I wish I could have those two putts over.”
Cink was trying to win the U.S. Senior Open in his tournament debut.
On the par-4 18th, ahead by one, Harrington utilized some advice he once received from Irwin — a winner of three U.S. Opens and two U.S. Senior Opens — for his approach shot.
Words his caddie said to him “reminded me of something that Hale Irwin told me,” Harrington said. “He said, ‘Always hit the shot you would hit if you’re one shot behind,’ and that kind of gave good clarity to what I was going to do.”
Harrington’s approach from 148 yards finished just 6 feet from the cup. Cink’s, from 123 yards, landed and slowly trickled away from the flag, leaving him a lengthy attempt at birdie, which he missed. Harrington also missed, but a tap-in par was enough for the victory — and the $800,000 that goes with it. He’ll also be exempt into the 2026 U.S. Open.
“Certainly there was a lot of relief with that second shot,” he said. “It couldn’t have been close enough. I would have struggled to two-putt from 40 feet, so I was very happy to have two to win from 6 feet.”
As it turned out, after previous winners of U.S. Senior Opens at The Broadmoor had finished 6 under (2008) and 3 under (2018), Harrington (11 under par) and Cink (10 under) both ended up double digits in the red.
Ties included, Harrington went wire to wire at The Broadmoor, leading or sharing the lead after every round. He went 67-67-68-67. Cink countered with 68-66-68-68.
“I’m proud of the way I hung in there and the way I battled,” Cink said. “I fought all the way to the very finish. One day me and Padraig are going to flip places. I’m going to be getting the trophy, and he’s going to be sitting here talking to you guys (the media as the runner-up).”
Placing second in this event stings a little more than others, Cink indicated.
“I feel like this is our biggest tournament on the (senior) schedule,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve played in this one. Having played in quite a few championship events, it feels like the biggest tournament of the year — rightfully so. The crowd energy, the field is excellent, golf course setup, everything.”
Jiménez, winner of four PGA Tour Champions events so far this year, was the only other title challenger on Sunday as 54-hole co-leader Mark Hensby fell behind early on Sunday — his 54th birthday — and shot a 73, ending up six back of Harrington.
After shooting a tournament-best 64 on Sunday, Miguel Angel Jiménez (left) congratulates Harrington on Sunday.
Jiménez shot the low round of the week, a 6-under-par 64, on the final day to get close enough that when he and Harrington encountered one another immediately after the round, the Irishman told Jiménez, “I was worried about you.”
With eight birdies in the first 16 holes — after opening with a bogey — Jiménez crept within one of the lead. But on No. 18, he hooked his tee shot into the left rough and the lie was so poor that he later called it “almost unplayable” and he opted to pitch out to the fairway. He ended up missing an 18-foot par attempt and closed with a bogey
“Today I made two bogeys too many,” the Spaniard said. “I knew I needed to shoot low if I want to have an option (of winning). I made eight birdies today. I played brilliant.”
Obviously Jiménez has taken a shine to The Broadmoor as he finished second in the 2018 U.S. Senior Open and third this year.
This is “a beautiful resort, and the golf course is selective,” he said. “You need to play well to score here, you know.”
After Jiménez at 9 under par overall, you have to go back to 5 under for the two players who shared fourth place — Hensby and Dane Thomas Bjorn. Of the top five finishers in the American Senior Open, Cink was the only American.
Meanwhile, Harrington finished the final round with five birdies and two bogeys. He parred his final seven holes.
On Sunday, “it was tension filled,” he said. “All day it was tight and close. Stewart was obviously a little unlucky. He didn’t birdie 16 and 17 where he hit it in close.”
The Irishman, who got to celebrate the win with his wife (Caroline) and one of his kids (Ciaran), becomes the eighth golfer who has won the U.S. Senior Open more than once, joining, among others, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Irwin and Bernhard Langer.
Besides winning, Harrington said he’s making a point to have a good time now that he’s competing on the senior tour, where he said, “We’re so much better together at this stage of our careers. Everybody is happier and friendlier. We’re not half as grumpy as we were when we were young guys.
“I definitely make an effort to enjoy my tournaments more, enjoy what’s going on around them. It’s not all work. And having your family here is part of that. Like on Wednesday night, I went for an In-N-Out burger. I didn’t eat a french fry or a burger for 10, 15 years of my career. Everything was about getting the right diet, all that sort of thing. (But on Wednesday), I actually had two double-doubles. You might think that’s not the best in terms of everything should be perfect, but at this stage of my career, I’ve got to enjoy my life out here.”
And certainly, all things considered, Harrington did just that this week at The Broadmoor.
It was a packed house at The Broadmoor as Cink (pink shirt) and the final group concluded on Sunday.
— Very Positive Reviews for Broadmoor, With 2 More U.S. Senior Opens on Tap: By just about all accounts — course quality and set-up, player reviews, hospitality, large crowds, tournament competitiveness — the 2025 U.S. Senior Open was a hit at The Broadmoor. And, as noted above, the tournament produced a fourth USGA winner at The Broadmoor who’s now in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“For the state of Colorado, it’s a plus-plus,” said Irwin, this U.S. Senior Open’s honorary chairman, and a World Golf Hall of Famer in his own right. “For The Broadmoor it was over the top. All the players were really impressed by the hospitality. They were impressed, I think, by the golf course. I for one, being a Coloradan, I thought the players put on a great performance on a difficult golf course. And a very deserving champion emerged. That’s what you want to see — a fight to the finish — and we saw it.”
Indeed, Cink and Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, among many others, will second that.
“This course can really hold up to a lot of really good golfers,” Cink said. “… This course, it’s more of a chess match in your mind than anything else because the greens are just really, really difficult. You can never feel like you’re ahead of the game. You feel like you’re behind the 8-ball on the greens almost every hole.”
Said Jobe: “I think everyone really enjoyed (The Broadmoor). Obviously it’s a beautiful place, a beautiful facility. The golf course was as frustrating as ever for everyone — so I think they accomplished that too. But it’s in great shape and it’s difficult, and that’s what they want.”
The Broadmoor’s longtime director of golf, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Russ Miller, loved the way this Senior Open played out.
“It was a fantastic week,” he said. “A great champion, for one. It’s great to see all these Champions Tour players. I think the golf course held up fantastic. They’re mentally exhausted from the rough and the greens. I’ve never seen so many putts missed, but obviously Padraig played fantastic. You can’t get lucky and win this championship; you have to be a great player. He’s obviously a great player and he’s proven it for 40 years. It’s good to have him win.
“It was a great week. We look forward to 2031.”
Indeed, as was announced earlier this week, The Broadmoor’s East Course will host the 2031 and ’37 U.S. Senior Opens. That will be the fourth and fifth Senior Opens held at the resort — and the 10th and 11th USGA championships overall.
Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe was hoping for better than a 36th-place finish.
— Pivotal Time Awaits Frustrated Brandt Jobe: Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe hopes his tour career doesn’t soon end, but he knows he doesn’t want to keep playing at his current level.
Jobe, who lived in Colorado from 1970 to ’99 and graduated from Kent Denver, made the cut and finished 36th on Sunday at the U.S. Senior Open — what he expects to be his last time competing in a big-time championship in his old home state.
But the two-time winner on PGA Tour Champions hasn’t had a top-15 finish on the Champions circuit since September 2022, which is when he had a run of four surgeries in the next two years, including a botched hip operation that lasted 5 1/2 hours. “My hips are so screwed up,” he said. Ever since coming back, his game hasn’t been the same.
“I know it’s part of getting old, but I’m not losing my (club or ball) speed, I’m not losing anything,” he told Colorado Golf Journal on Sunday. “I’m just losing my ability to do what I’ve done. But obviously the body doesn’t work the same so I’ve got to figure out a new way to do it. But I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Jobe is playing this season on the Champions circuit on a major medical extension. If his play the rest of the season remains the same, it’s likely he’ll be limited to 10-12 events or so in 2026, he said. This year so far, he’s competed in 10 tournaments and though he plans to take off roughly the next six weeks, the Champions schedule continues into mid-fall.
“I’ll make a good run at it this next six weeks” to try to figure out how to effectively compete with a changed reality in the wake of his hip surgeries. “I’m probably going to have five weeks off. I don’t want to go play like this. I want to be able to show up and feel like if I play well, I could win. I don’t want to show up to show up. It’s not fun. I’ve been doing this for too long.
“I have some ideas and some people I’m going to talk to (and work with). I’ve got a little bit of time. I mean, I don’t want to be done (with my career), but my body is telling me it’s not cooperating. It’s hard. It’s frustrating when you go out there this week, and you know you can play so much better. You’re just not.
“I’m going to try to make a good push for the second half of the season. The short game has gotten better, putting has gotten better. I’ve gotten those back to where they’re good again. So now it’s just getting some consistency (with the full swing). It’s not acceptable if you aim down the right and it goes right. It’s getting a little bit better, but it’s not anywhere near where it needs to be. I’m manufacturing a lot. That’s not how you play good golf.”
Jobe figures he’ll probably know by the end of next year what the future might be for his competitive golf career.
“I’m going to be 60 (on Aug. 1) and I’ve had a good run,” he said. “I think if I hadn’t gotten hurt, things would be a lot different. If I didn’t have that (hip) surgery in Colorado — and would have gone to the guy in Dallas (that did his later hip operations) — all of this would have never happened.”
Jobe has earned almost $6.5 million in his PGA Tour Champions career, to go with the $9 million from his PGA Tour years and the money from his days competing primarily in Asia.
Former Aspen resident Justin Leonard placed 22nd at The Broadmoor.
— How Other ‘Locals’ Fared: Meanwhile, as for how other players with major Colorado ties who made the cut at the U.S. Senior Open fared overall, former Aspen resident Justin Leonard finished 22nd and Shane Bertsch of Parker tied Jobe for 36th.
Leonard, who lived in Aspen from 2015-22, has placed 12th and 22nd the last two weeks in senior majors. But he was hoping for more.
“I struggled with the greens all week (at The Broadmoor), like quite a few guys,” Leonard said. “Putts that are think are good (end up not being). I wasn’t in sync with it this week.
“I like where my game is, but I’m not hitting it exactly the way I want to. Last week I didn’t drive the ball great, but my irons were very good. This week is kind of the opposite. I hit my driver very nicely, but the irons weren’t as good. It’s all in there, but I’ve got to put a few things together.”
Leonard went 72-71-68-72 for a 3-over-par total.
Shane Bertsch of Parker relished teeing it up in his home state for a senior major.
Bertsch, competing a little over an hour’s drive from his home, was happier with Sunday’s 72 than with Saturday’s.
“Today was a great 2-over. Yesterday was a poor 2-over,” said Bertsch, who ended up at 7 over par overall. “It was nice to make the cut because we don’t have many cuts anymore. … All in all, it was a week that I know what I need to do going forward to get my year back on track. So this week just kind of confirmed that.”
And, of course, it was a unique pleasure competing at such a high-level championship in his home state.
“It’s my first time ever (playing in a major in my home state), so it felt different in that regard,” Bertsch said.
How players with strong Colorado ties fared in this week’s U.S. Senior Open:
22. Former Aspen resident Justin Leonard 72-71-68-72–283
36. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe 73-72-69-73–287
36. Shane Bertsch of Parker 69-74-72-72–287
Missed 36-Hole Cut
72. Chris DiMarco of Denver 71-76—147
117. Former CSU golfer Darrin Overson 80-73–157
129. Matt Schalk of Erie 76-79—155
For all of the scores from the U.S. Senior Open, CLICK HERE.
Friends — and competitors — Harrington (left) and Cink weren’t afraid to chat it up during the final round despite the stakes.
Notable: With the weather forecast indicating threatening weather was possible on Sunday, the USGA moved tee times two hours earlier for the final round. And it was probably a good thing that happened as, almost immediately after the awards ceremony concluded, the air horns blew, indicating the golf course should be evacuated due to lightning in the area. The players were just happy to get the final round in without interruption. “We were looking at that cloud all day, there’s no doubt about it,” champion Padraig Harrington said. “I was going well myself and Stewart (Cink) was going well, and you never want to stop when you’re going well. You don’t want to lose that momentum and have to restart.” … No player posted a bogey-free round at the 2025 U.S. Senior Open. … The scoring average for the week was 73.24 after a 71.53 norm on Sunday. … Tim Petrovic, a runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, made a hole-in-one Sunday at the 127-yard eighth hole with a wedge. He finished tied for ninth after a final-round 66.
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(NOTE: Some of the previously published stories related to the 2025 U.S. Senior Open:)
— Matt Schalk of Erie a U.S. Senior Open qualifying medalist for 2nd straight year; Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Brandt Jobe, Denver resident Chris DiMarco, former CSU golfer Darrin Overson and Utahn Steve Schneiter also headed to USSO at The Broadmoor
— As U.S. Senior Open approaches, The Broadmoor is set to once again present one of the toughest tests in senior golf
— Ranking of the previous 8 USGA championships held at The Broadmoor
— U.S. Senior Open record book brimming with Colorado-related superlatives
— Fully exempt players for 2025 U.S. Senior Open
— Highlights of the three previous times Colorado has hosted the U.S. Senior Open
— Hale Irwin named honorary chair for 2025 Senior Open
— Senior Open going to a 2-stage qualifying process in 2025)
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com