[PHOTO: Andrew Redington]
For real ball-knowers, the name Jeff Overton always takes you back to the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. That’s where the then-27-year-old holed out from the fairway during a match and screamed “BOOM BABY!” His partner, Bubba Watson, echoed the celebration, making for one of the great viral clips in golf history.
Unfortunately for Overton, the ensuing 14 years have not been kind to him, on or off the course. After a career season in 2010 that he followed up with solid campaigns in 2011 and 2012, the tour pro from Indiana struggled during the next several years before losing his PGA Tour card in 2016. Then came a minimally invasive back surgery in 2017 that led to a life-threatening infection in his spine, keeping him out of professional golf for more than five years.
Overton made his official return at the 2022 3M Open, where he missed the cut. He’s played in only seven PGA Tour events since and 18 Korn Ferry Tour events, most recently in mid-January at the Bahamas Golf Classic. On Monday, he was seen still grinding away in the Waste Management Phoenix Open Monday qualifier at Pinnacle Peak Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, where his incredible follow through was captured by someone on the grounds:
Jeff Overton who has battled back from an infection that nearly killed him after a back surgery, now has a Arnie like finish. pic.twitter.com/TSlWX4tm0T
— Southwest PGA (@SWSectionPGA) February 3, 2025
While this appears to be a new move for Overton, one we assume is to put much less stress on his back, the Korn Ferry Tour actually posted a video of this finish last May, comparing it to the finish of Carl Yuan. So it would seem that Overton has been working on this new move for some time now.
Overton, who last played on the PGA Tour at the 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship, shot a one-under 71 on Monday, tying for 41st in a field of 86 players. That was not enough to earn a spot at the WMPO, where Overton, an Indiana University alum, once rocked the candy stripe pants that are normally reserved for the rabid Hoosier fans at Assembly Hall:
This day in history… Jeff Overton rocks the candy stripes at the Phoenix open… Instant Legend. #iubb pic.twitter.com/p5LgA6bM94
— Kevin Cochran (@thekevincochran) February 2, 2022
Sadly we won’t get to see that this week, but it’s good to see the now 41-year-old still grinding away after going through some brutal health issues that kept him off the course for quite some time.