Jason Caron, PGA, Tied for 54-Hole Lead With Dream Opportunity Sunday

Jason Caron, PGA, is contending in the Senior PGA Championship as part of the Cinderella script he’s authorized since last year’s Senior PGA Championship. He finished T4 in Michigan, earning his way onto the Champions Tour full time from the breakthrough major performance. He's a round away, sitting in a four-way tie for the lead at 5-under headed into Sunday at Congressional Country Club, from writing one of the most dramatic career turnarounds in Senior PGA Championship history.

Caron catapulted off the momentum of his T4 last year in the Senior PGA into a couple top-four finishes that ultimately got him into the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. Caron’s T3 in the second playoff event—the Simmons Bank Championship last October—earned him his full card for the 2025 PGA Tour Champions season.

It was his first card on any tour in 16 years.

Caron, returning to his career-altering event, stayed steady through 36 holes with a 70-70 open, two back of the lead going into the weekend. He started slowly in his third round, standing 2-over through twelve holes with three bogeys. then put together three birdies in his closing six holes to finish at 1-under 71. His consistent play has him tied with Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera, and Phillip Archer.

“A year ago, I definitely would have said, ‘whoa, this can't happen,’ Caron explained. "Now that I've played, let's just say, maybe 20 events, I feel much more comfortable. I look at it and I go, listen, it's going to be what it's going to be. If I play my golf and if I play well, it could finish high up there, and it's happened already. I think deep down, I know it could happen. Will it happen? I have no idea. But yeah, I feel pretty comfortable with it.”

There’s a certain level of acceptance that Caron grasps now, which guides the even level of his play and results.

“I think when I was younger I wanted it so much and so bad, and I think when you're younger, I wasn't married and had kids and all that,” Caron said. “I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to, let's say, make it, if you will, on to the Tour, and I did make it on the Tour. But I never even dreamt bigger.”

Caron earned plenty of opportunities on the PGA Tour, making 65 starts. He made 21 cuts, but never finished in the top 10. On the Korn Ferry Tour, Caron found muted success, making 168 starts with two runner-up finishes and twenty top-10s.

“I have everything I need in my little home area is great, and to come out here and just let it happen,” Caron said. “I think a lot of people think that way, too, that that's maybe the reason why I've played so well is because I have such a great life at home that this is just kind of -- if it goes well, it goes well. If it doesn't, I still have a great job at Mill River, got a healthy family and can watch my kids grow up.”

Caron says he feels supported from the team he works with at Mill River, and that goes a long way with his PGA Tour Champions ambitions as well.

“We call it the Mill River family because they’ve been so supportive to us, from the president to the GM, to the membership, they’ve just been awesome,” Caron said Thursday. “So having that behind you makes you feel pretty good, especially when you’re away. And when you’re playing against these greats and to be able to hang with them, it’s pretty neat to be able to go home and say ‘man I just played some great golf and beat some of these all-time greats of this game, so it’s been really fun.”

The most enjoyable part might be how enraptured Caron’s youngest daughter, Julia, has been watching him play. On the 16th, she broke through the ropes to celebrate with her dad.

“It's just like they see you, and as soon as I birdied [No.] 16, Julia came running over to the ropes and she said, 'Daddy, you're in first,'” Caron smiled. “It's so cool to see how they react, to see how their mom or their dad is playing. (wife) Liz has played in - I think she's played in 10 majors.”

The Alfred S. Bourne Trophy might move inside the Caron’s home by the time the tournament finishes Sunday night.

Here’s to dreaming.