Peter Erling Jacobsen (born March 4, 1954) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He has won seven events on the PGA Tour and two events on the Champions Tour, both majors.
Jacobsen was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Portland’s Lincoln High School.
Jacobsen played college golf at the University of Oregon. He turned professional in 1976 after winning the Oregon Open as an amateur. He is one of golf's most colorful personalities, which makes him one of the more popular players with fans.
Jacobsen qualified for the PGA Tour in his first attempt, finishing in 19th place at the 1976 qualifying tournament. He made steady progress during his first few seasons on the tour, before capturing his first title in 1980 at the Buick-Goodwrench Open. He won twice on the tour in 1984 and broke into the top-10 on the money list for the first time. Two more wins in 1995 catapulted him to a career best 7th place on the end of season money list. As a result of his performance during those two seasons, he was selected to play in two Ryder Cups, in 1985 and 1995.
Jacobsen has won seven tournaments on the PGA Tour, the last coming at the 2003 Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49, making him one of the oldest players ever to win on the PGA Tour. That year he was voted the tour's comeback player of the year.
Since turning fifty, Jacobsen has competed mainly on the Champions Tour, although he continued to play on the PGA Tour for several years. In his first year of eligibility for senior golf, he won the 2004 U.S. Senior Open, one of senior golf's major championships. The following year he added a second senior major title at the 2005 Senior Players Championship.
Away from competing, Jacobsen has presented two shows on the Golf Channel. Plugged In was a variety show, featuring music, story-telling and skit performed with co-host Matt Griesser, former star of the FootJoy SignBoy campaign, and Peter and Friends was a panel discussion show.
Jacobsen appeared as himself alongside Kevin Costner in the 1996 movie Tin Cup, where he was the winner of the fictional U.S. Open.
A self-taught guitarist, Jacobsen was a founding member and lead singer of Jake Trout & The Flounders, a band he formed in the mid-80s with Mark Lye and Payne Stewart. The group is no longer together, but they recorded two albums.
Jacobsen owns Peter Jacobsen Sports, an event management company that has run several professional golf tournaments including the JELD-WEN Tradition, one of the majors on the Champions Tour, and the CVS Caremark Charity Classic, one of the PGA Tour's Challenge Series events. Until 2002 it also organized the Fred Meyer Challenge, a three-day charity event in Oregon.
Jacobsen is known for his laid-back, humorous personality. During the Fred Meyer Challenge, he was known to do impressions of other players, such as Craig Stadler. The event was filmed and broadcast on the Golf Channel, and they have released a DVD and VHS of the footage, titled "Peter's Party." His sharp but playful humor is also evident in the video and audio commentary he provides for the player's shot, good or bad, in various versions of Golden Tee Golf, a video game from Incredible Technologies.
Jacobsen is also the face of Peter Jacobsen Challenge Keno and Peter Jacobsen Challenge Poker, two video gambling casino games.
