Thirteen former champions and runners-up of The International will tee off Thursday in the U.S. Senior Open.

But just one will hesitate before hitting his first drive at 1:22 p.m. on the first hole at The Broadmoor East and reflect on his “most special moment ever in golf” that occurred 40 minutes north off I-25.

When Tom Pernice Jr. sank the victorious putt at Castle Pines Golf Club in 2001, his daughters Kristen and Brooke, who had never seen him finish first in a tournament, raced, hand in hand, onto the 18th green.

While 7-year-old Kristen hugged her father, Brooke, who was 6, put her hands up to Pernice’s face, discovered a smile on his mouth and asked: “Did we really win?” He replied: “Oh, yes, we did.”

Only then did Brooke know as she made the sign of the cross on her dad’s forehead.

Brooke is blind.

The jubilant, memorable celebration was televised live on CBS as commentators Jim Nantz and Ken Venturi began to cry in the tower. At greenside, the rest of us did, too.

“That was the greatest win of my career because my kids were with me and got to experience it, and I’ve never had a more memorable tournament,” Pernice told me by phone Friday night after his round at the American Family Insurance Championship in Wisconsin.

He has shot 69-71, and is five strokes off the lead. Pernice will be in the Springs on Monday night to prepare for the Open.

His last visit to the course was almost 40 years ago.

“Beautiful resort, fantastic golf course. That’s all I remember. I was a kid in college.”

He played on the UCLA golf team with other eventual prominent professionals Corey Pavin, Steve Pate, Duffy Waldorf and Jay Delsing, and Pernice was named the Pac-12 player of the year. (Pavin and Waldorf also are competing in the Open.)

Even though he turned pro in 1983 after graduation, Pernice scuffled and scrambled around the globe for years, playing on minitours and in tournaments in Europe and Asia. The journeyman (literally) was forced to qualify and requalify for the PGA Tour four times.

The son and grandson of Kansas City, Mo., barbers, Pernice finally broke through at 39, prevailing in the 1999 Buick Open. Two years later, he captured The International by one stroke.

“It was my most special moment in golf,” said Pernice, who was divorced then. “Because of my schedule, I didn’t get to see my daughters much, but they were out of school for the summer, so I brought them out to Colorado. That was so lucky.”

At 41, Pernice was an “instant” success.

“I didn’t really become a quality player until my 40s and 50s. I scrapped a lot until I figured it out.”

Which he did. Pernice has earned $24 million on the young and the old PGA Tours. For years, he has made enough money to keep both tour cards. He won the first Champions Tour event he entered in 2009 and has added four more tournament triumphs since.

However, 20 years ago, a major portion of his income went to eye and acupuncture specialists, who treated and tried to find a cure for Brooke’s blindness.

She was born with Leber’s Amaurosis, a congenital retinal disorder. Despite all the family’s and doctors’ efforts, she still only can see a slight distant light. Pernice devotes significant time and money to the University of Iowa Foundation’s research into the disease.

Kristen, who always has been her younger sister’s rock, and Brooke are doing brilliant 17 years after their revelry in the setting sun of Castle Pines — with Pikes Peak visible in the distance.

Kristen, 24, holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Louisville, where she was on the national championship cheerleading squad, and has joined Humana Health Centers. She will be married in August.

The 23-year-old Brooke received her undergraduate degree from Belmont University and is a master of divinity student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Brooke, who plays guitar and banjo, has become a nationally recognized country and gospel singer — with several popular albums (one including the song “Help From Above.”)

Her twitter bio states: “Blind and proud of it.”

The father says: “I’m so proud of what they both have accomplished.”

The daughters won’t be with their dad this week.

“They have more important things to do than to watch me play golf, but maybe I’ll play good enough to make them proud.”

Wish Tom Pernice Jr. well in the U.S. Senior Open.