Loren Roberts vividly remembered how he honed his world-class putting skills shortly after college at San Luis Obispo Country Club in the late 1970s.
“I had a great club job in that nobody ever played after two o’clock in the afternoon,” he said. “The putting green was literally 20 yards out the pro shop door. I’d open the window so I could hear the phone and I’d go out there and chip and putt all afternoon.”
Those countless hours on the green shaped Roberts into one of the sport’s greatest putters, as he earned the nickname “Boss of the Moss” during his PGA Tour career. His skills served him well last year at Baltimore Country Club’s East Course, where he never three-putted during the 72-hole, Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship en route to a final score of 13-under par and his first major championship.
The victory propelled Roberts from the middle of the pack in the Charles Schwab Cup standings to the championship. He has maintained that momentum this season, as the 53-year-old is seventh in the cup standings and hopes for a similar boost in Timonium this week.
“To come here and win wasn’t just huge for my career, but huge to put me back in the [Schwab Cup] race,” Roberts said. “Different horses for different courses, and I felt like this was a course that I really, really liked.”
Roberts has one victory, three second-places and 19 top 25-finishes in 21 events this year. His $1.4 million in earnings is fifth on the tour this season after finishing second each of the past two years with more than $2.1 million annually.
If the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate is to repeat as champion, he will have to find a way to improve his iron play. His mid-range game has been his biggest weakness this season, as he ranks fifth in putting average and fourth with an average of more than 4.2 birdies per round.
But Roberts leads in the most important category of all — scoring average, firing just under a 70 each time he takes to the links.
“You have to be prepared, everything goes up a few notches, everything is magnified,” he said. “I’m just enjoying playing golf. I feel I keep myself in good physical shape and I’m continually working on my game.”
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