Jobe's comeback story hits a high note at the Memorial

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Brandt Jobe's T2 finish Sunday at the Memorial was his best in six years, since before his game-changing garage accident.

The PGA TOUR's Comeback Player of the Year isn't awarded until after the season. But if you're looking for potential winners, Brandt Jobe should be on your list.

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Few professional athletes have ever come back from the gruesome injury he suffered to his left hand in late 2006.

Brandt was cleaning out his garage when the broom suddenly snapped, metal shards severing the tip of his left index finger and the bottom of his left thumb. His shirt covered with blood, Jobe had to pick up the pieces of his broken-off finger and thumb -- with his 6-year-old daughter nearby -- and place them in a baggie, enabling a surgeon to re-attach them during an emergency operation that night.

"It was gross," Jobe said. "I was just trying to hide it from my daughter. Fortunately, a microsurgeon was nearby, or I would be done (playing golf)."

Jobe showed Sunday at Muirfield Village that his career is far from over. The 45-year-old fired a final-round 65 to finish tied for second, a shot behind winner Steve Stricker, at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. It was Jobe's best finish on the PGA TOUR since he finished second twice in 2005, the year before the freak accident.

But numbers don't begin to tell what Jobe has endured the last five years. The pain. The uncertainty. The sleepless nights. The days on the golf course when he felt like a 20-handicapper.

Jobe isn't like most pro golfers who rely on their "feel" to make a living. That's because Jobe has little feeling remaining in those two fingers.

"At the top of my swing, there's nothing to tell me were my swing is," he said.

Imagine that. We're only talking about the leading hand of his swing.

Not only has he lost the feel to make those last-second adjustments, Jobe also had to change his grip and his swing because the little feeling he has remaining turns into a sharp pain if his index finger comes in contact with his right hand.

"It's like when you hit your elbow, and it zings all the way up your arm," he said.

The injury forced Jobe to stop playing with primarily a big fade and start hitting a slight draw. About the only way to make this story more improbable would be if Jobe started playing left-handed.

"I was close to being done two years ago," Jobe said. "You just get so down on yourself, wondering why this happened."

Jobe credits his wife, Jennifer, for giving him the motivation to continue playing. He had just five top-25 finishes in 33 starts on the PGA TOUR from 2007-10. But he rebuilt his swing and earned his card for this season by finishing tied for sixth at last year's q-school.

After failing to finish in the top 25 in his first six starts this year, Jobe gained traction with a seventh-place finish in Puerto Rico, followed soon thereafter by a T8 at the Shell Houston Open.

Jobe has since posted top-20 finishes in five of his last eight starts to move into 35th in the FedExCup standings. His high finish also helped secure his TOUR card through the 2012 season.

"It's been a long process," he said. "You learn a lot about yourself and your priorities. You also realize how good you had it out here. We sometimes tend to take things for granted. That's the positive that came from all of it."

Jobe has proven he can go with the flow. An All-America at UCLA who helped the Bruins win the national championship in 1988, Jobe was forced to play in Japan during the late-1990s when he lost his TOUR card.

Of course, playing in the Far East is one thing. Being forced to reinvent your swing and grip -- in your 40s, no less -- is something few pro golfers have ever done.

Although Stricker won the Memorial, it's unlikely nobody left Muirfield Village feeling better about what they accomplished than Jobe.

Nor should they.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.