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The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour.
The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the year the PGA of America was founded. The Western Open, organized by the Western Golf Association, was first played in September 1899 at the Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois, the week preceding the U.S. Open. At the time of its final edition in 2006, it was the third-oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after The Open (1860) and U.S. Open (1895). The tournament was held a total of 103 times over the course of 108 years. The event was not held in 1900, 1918 (World War I), and 1943–45 (World War II). Players from the U.S. won the tournament 77 times, followed by Scotland with fifteen wins. Walter Hagen had the most victories with five, and seventeen others won the event at least twice. The champions' list includes two amateurs: Chick Evans in 1910 and Scott Verplank in 1985.
Beginning in 2007, the Western Open was renamed the BMW Championship, the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup playoff series. Played with the PGA Tour's point system as the sole qualification standard, it is no longer open to amateurs.
Title sponsorship was introduced in 1987, and included Beatrice Foods, Centel, Sprint, Motorola, Wyeth, Golf Digest, and Icos.
The Western Golf Association was, in some ways, and for some years, something of a rival to the United States Golf Association, especially in the midwestern and western sections of the country."History of the PGA Tour", by Al Barkow, 1989.
From the event's inception through 1961, it was played at a variety of midwestern locations, as well as places such as Arizona (Phoenix), Utah (Salt Lake City) and California (San Francisco, Los Angeles). In 1923, it was held in Tennessee at the Colonial Country Club in Memphis.
Beginning in 1962, the Western Open settled within the Chicago metropolitan area and was held at a variety of courses through 1973. In 1974, it found an annual home at the Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, a western suburb. It was played here through 1990, when the PGA Tour adopted a policy of holding events only at clubs which allowed minorities and women to be members. It moved in 1991 to Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, southwest of Chicago. A 72-hole public complex, its Dubsdread Course hosted the Western Open for sixteen editions, through 2006.
In 1899, the prize fund was $150, and Willie Smith's winner's share was fifty dollars. The purse in 2006 was $5 million, with $900,000 to the final winner, Trevor Immelman.
During the second round of the 1975 tournament on Friday, June 27, Lee Trevino and Jerry Heard were struck by lightning on the 13th green of Butler National while waiting out a rain delay. Also struck at other parts of the course were Bobby Nichols, Jim Ahern, and Tony Jacklin.
BMW Championship
In 2007, the Western Open was renamed—and changed in terms of invitational criteria—to the BMW Championship, part of the four-event FedEx Cup Playoff Series. The Western Golf Association continues to run the tournament. The BMW Championship is the last FedEx Cup playoff event before The Tour Championship
Winners
Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Lemont, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook, Illinois Midlothian, Illinois Northfield, Illinois Olympia Fields, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Midlothian, Illinois Olympia Fields, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Medinah, Illinois Niles, Illinois Niles, Illinois Chicago, Illinois Medinah, Illinois Belmont, Michigan Redford, Michigan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Royal Oak, Michigan Southfield, Michigan San Francisco, California Portland, Oregon Cincinnati, Ohio Saint Louis, Missouri Saint Louis, Missouri Pleasant Valley, Iowa Los Angeles, California Saint Paul, Minnesota Clarence, New York Salt Lake City, Utah Saint Louis, Missouri 1943–1945: No tournament due to World War II Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix, Arizona Houston, Texas Medinah, Illinois Saint Louis, Missouri Beachwood, Ohio Pleasant Valley, Iowa South Bend, Indiana Peoria Heights, Illinois Olympia Fields, Illinois Beachwood, Ohio Dayton, Ohio Lake Orion, Michigan Mequon, Wisconsin Glenview, Illinois Olympia Fields, Illinois Indianapolis, Indiana Youngstown, Ohio Homewood, Illinois Cordova, Tennessee Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Cleveland Heights, Ohio Olympia Fields, Illinois Lyndhurst, Ohio 1918: No tournament due to World War I Wilmette, Illinois Milwaukee, Wisconsin Glen Ellyn, Illinois Edina, Minnesota Memphis, Tennessee Flossmoor, Illinois Grand Rapids, Michigan Chicago, Illinois Glencoe, Illinois Saint Louis, Missouri Clarendon Hills, Illinois Flossmoor, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Grand Rapids, Michigan River Hills, Wisconsin Cleveland Heights, Ohio Midlothian, Illinois 1900: No tournament Golf, Illinois
External links
Categories: Former Pga Tour Events, Golf Tournaments In Illinois, Golf In Chicago, Golf Tournaments In Michigan, Golf Tournaments In Pennsylvania, Golf Tournaments In Oregon, Golf Tournaments In California, Golf Tournaments In Ohio, Golf Tournaments In Missouri, Golf Tournaments In Iowa, Golf Tournaments In New York, Golf Tournaments In Utah, Golf Tournaments In Minnesota, Golf Tournaments In Arizona, Golf Tournaments In Texas, Golf Tournaments In Indiana, Golf Tournaments In Tennessee, Golf Tournaments In Wisconsin, Sports In The Midwestern United States, Recurring Sporting Events Established In 1899, Recurring Sporting Events Disestablished In 2006, 1899 Establishments In Illinois, 2006 Disestablishments In Illinois
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