Kemper Open
The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006.
Perhaps more so than any other "regular" PGA Tour stop, the event wandered about, not just from course to course within a given metropolitan area, but along the East Coast. Originally sponsored by the Kemper Corporation, the inaugural event was played in 1968 at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts, before moving to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina the following year, where it stayed through 1979. (The Wells Fargo Championship is now held in Charlotte.) The event moved in 1980 to Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C., and to TPC at Avenel in 1987 in neighboring Potomac.
Kemper Insurance dropped out as sponsor after the 2002 edition and was replaced by Friedman Billings Ramsey, which renamed the event the FBR Capital Open for a single year in 2003. Booz Allen Hamilton became the main sponsor in 2004, with the tournament being titled the Booz Allen Classic. The event returned to Congressional for a year in 2005 to accommodate renovations at Avenel.
The purse in 2006 was $5.0 million, with $900,000 going to the winner; due to rain delays it concluded on Tuesday without a gallery.[1] In 1992, Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, was given a sponsor's exemption into the tournament,[2] but shot rounds of 80 and 91 and missed the cut by 28 strokes.[3][4] As the Kemper Open, it was often played two or three weeks prior to the U.S. Open, making it a prime tune-up event; later it was either the week prior or after and many top players skipped it.. For 2007, the PGA Tour announced that it would reschedule the event for the fall, and Booz Allen declined to renew its sponsorship. The fall date was in turn canceled to make way for the new AT&T National, to take place at the same time as the Classic had.
Also in 2006, the tournament ended on Tuesday due to persistent storms in the D.C. area. The conclusion of what turned out to be the final Booz Allen Classic was not televised.
A new format (invitation only), new host for the tournament (Tiger Woods), and a return to Congressional Country Club marked the July 2007 stop in Washington for the FedEx Cup, the AT&T National. For record-keeping purposes, it is not a "successor" tournament officially, even though it is the "new" tour stop in the same region.
During the 1970s, the Kemper Open was among the highest purses on tour, exceeding the majors.
Tournament highlights
- 1968: Arnold Palmer shoots a final round 67 to win the inaugural version of the tournament. He finishes four shots ahead of Bruce Crampton and Art Wall Jr.[5]
- 1971: Tom Weiskopf wins his first Kemper Open title in a four-way sudden death playoff. He makes an eight-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Dale Douglass.[6]
- 1972: Doug Sanders rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to edge Lee Trevino by one shot.[7] It would be Sanders 20th and final PGA Tour triumph.
- 1975: Raymond Floyd holes a 100-foot chip shot for eagle during the final round on his way to a three-shot victory over Gary Player and John Mahaffey. It is Floyd's first PGA Tour win since his 1969 PGA Championship triumph.[8]
- 1977: Tom Weiskopf wins the Kemper Open for a third time. He beats Bill Rogers and George Burns by two shots.[9]
- 1980: John Mahaffey wins the first Kemper Open played at the Congressional Country Club. He beats Craig Stadler by three shots.[10]
- 1982: Craig Stadler becomes the first Kemper Open winner to successfully defend his title. He beats Seve Ballesteros by seven shots.[11]
- 1983: This edition of the tournament may have been the most bizarre. Fred Couples, Scott Simpson, and Chen Tze-chung playing together in the final group finished over one hour later than the previous group on the golf course. In spite of rounds of 77, 76, and 77 all three players finished tied for first along with Gil Morgan and Barry Jaeckel who had finished their rounds several hours earlier. Jaeckel, who spent time in a bar waiting for regulation play to conclude, is eliminated on the first playoff hole after he hits a wild tee shot.[12] On the second hole, Couples scores a birdie to win his first PGA Tour title.[13]
- 1984: Greg Norman wins his first PGA Tour event, beating out Mark O'Meara by five shots, despite shooting a final round 73.
- 1985: Bill Glasson sinks a 50-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to finish a 7-shot comeback and earn his first PGA Tour triumph. He beats Larry Mize and Corey Pavin by one shot.[14]
- 1986: Greg Norman wins the Kemper Open for a second time by defeating Larry Mize on the sixth hole of a sudden death playoff.[15] Less than one year later, Mize would avenge his loss to Norman at the 1987 Masters Tournament.
- 1988: Tom Kite's bid to successfully defend his Kemper Open title is foiled when Morris Hatalsky beats him on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.[16]
- 1992: Bill Glasson becomes the first and only tournament champion to win an edition of the tournament at both Congressional Country Club and TPC at Avenel. Glasson wins by one shot over Howard Twitty, Ken Green, Mike Springer, and John Daly.[17]
- 1995: Lee Janzen birdies the 72nd hole to earn a spot in a sudden death playoff with Corey Pavin. Janzen then birdies the first playoff hole to earn the victory.[18]
- 1996: Future number two ranked player in the world, Steve Stricker, wins for the first time on the PGA Tour. He beats Mark O'Meara, Grant Waite, Scott Hoch, and Brad Faxon by three shots.[19]
- 1997: Justin Leonard wins for the second time on the PGA Tour after Mark Wiebe misses two-foot par putts on both the 71st and 72nd holes to finish one shot behind.[20]
- 1999: Rich Beem becomes the first PGA Tour rookie to win the tournament. His four round scoring total of 274 (−10) is good enough for a one-stroke triumph over Bradley Hughes and Bill Glasson.[21]
- 2004: Adam Scott shoots a 72-hole tournament scoring record 263 on his way to a four-shot victory over Charles Howell III.[22]
Winners
References
- ^ "Curtis finally wins title after rain delays". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. wire reports. June 28, 2006. p. C2.
- ^ "Rypien gets invitation to Kemper". Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. wire reports. March 31, 1992. p. B1.
- ^ "Rypien gets strokes from fans". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. wire reports. May 29, 1992. p. C3.
- ^ Ginsburg, David (May 30, 1992). "Rypien misses Kemper cut". Kentucky New Era. Hopkinsville. Associated Press. p. 2B.
- ^ Palmer Charges Home To Kemper Win
- ^ Tom Weiskopf Wins Kemper in Playoff
- ^ Sanders fend Lee for Kemper cash
- ^ Floyd makes the circle complete
- ^ Weiskopf wins Kemper Open by two strokes
- ^ Mahaffey's Walking Tall
- ^ Stadler Kemper Winner; Nicklaus Ties for Third
- ^ Kemper Open replay unlikely
- ^ Couples claims Kemper in sudden death
- ^ Kemper first win for Glasson
- ^ Norman wins playoff
- ^ Hatalsky puts away Kite in Kemper Open playoff
- ^ Glasson clips foursome to claim Kemper
- ^ Janzen wins Kemper Open
- ^ GOLF Another First-Time Winner on PGA Tour
- ^ Leonard wins Kemper Open
- ^ Beem wins Kemper Open
- ^ "Scott staves off Howell to win Booz Allen". Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
External links
- PGATOUR.com Tournament website
- v
- t
- e
- 500 Festival Open Invitation
- Agua Caliente Open
- Alameda County Open
- Alcan Open
- All American Open
- Almaden Open
- American Golf Classic
- Ardmore Open
- Arlington Hotel Open
- Atlanta Classic
- Azalea Open Invitational
- Bahamas National Open
- Bakersfield Open Invitational
- Baton Rouge Open Invitational
- B.C. Open
- Beaumont Open Invitational
- Bellevue Country Club Open
- Blue Ribbon Open
- Buick Open
- Cajun Classic Open Invitational
- California State Open
- Carling World Open
- Cavalcade Of Golf
- Chattanooga Classic
- Chicago Open
- CIMB Classic
- CJ Cup
- Cleveland Open
- Colgate Hall of Fame Classic
- Connecticut Open
- Coral Gables Open Invitational
- Coral Springs Open Invitational
- Dallas Open
- Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic
- Dapper Dan Open
- Dell Technologies Championship
- Denver Open Invitational
- De Soto Open Invitational
- Doral Open
- Dow Jones Open Invitational
- Durham Open
- Eastern Open Invitational
- El Paso Open
- Empire State Open
- Esmeralda Open
- Fig Garden Village Open Invitational
- Florida Open
- Fort Wayne Open
- Frank Sinatra Open Invitational
- Gasparilla Open
- Ginn sur Mer Classic
- Glens Falls Open
- Golden Gate Championship
- Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin
- Greater Jacksonville Open
- Greater Milwaukee Open
- Greater St. Louis Golf Classic
- Greater Vancouver Open
- Greenbrier Classic
- Gulfport Open
- Haig Open Invitational
- Hale America National Open Golf Tournament
- Hershey Open
- Hesperia Open Invitational
- Houston Open
- Indian Ridge Hospital Open Invitational
- The International
- Inverness Invitational Four-Ball
- IVB-Philadelphia Golf Classic
- Kansas City Open Invitational
- Kemper Open
- Kentucky Derby Open
- Knoxville Invitational
- La Gorce Open
- Labatt Open
- Liggett & Myers Open
- Long Beach Open
- Long Island Open
- Lucky International Open
- Maryland Open
- Massachusetts Open
- Mayakoba Golf Classic
- Mayfair Inn Open
- Memphis Invitational
- Metropolitan Open
- Metropolitan PGA Championship
- Miami Beach Open
- Miami International Four-Ball
- Miami Open
- Michelob Championship
- Michigan Golf Classic
- Milwaukee Open
- Milwaukee Open Invitational
- Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational
- Motor City Open
- Mountain View Open
- Nashville Invitational
- Nassau Bahamas Open
- Nassau Open
- The National
- National Airlines Open Invitational
- National Celebrities Open
- National Team Championship
- NEC World Series of Golf
- New England Classic
- New Jersey PGA Championship
- New Jersey State Open
- New York State Open
- North and South Open
- Northern California Open
- Oakland Open
- Ohio Kings Island Open
- Ohio Open
- Oklahoma City Open Invitational
- Oklahoma Open
- Ontario Open
- Orange County Open Invitational
- Oregon Open
- Orlando Open
- Palmetto Championship
- Pasadena Open
- Pennsylvania Classic
- Pennsylvania Open Championship
- Pensacola Open
- Pepsi Championship
- Philadelphia Daily News Open
- Philadelphia Inquirer Open
- Philadelphia Open Championship
- Portland Open Invitational
- Reading Open
- Rebel Yell Open
- Rio Grande Valley Open
- Robinson Open
- Rubber City Open Invitational
- Sacramento Open
- Sahara Invitational
- St. Jude Classic
- St. Paul Open Invitational
- St. Petersburg Open Invitational
- Seattle Open Invitational
- Shawnee Open
- Sioux City Open
- Southern Open
- Southern (Spring) Open
- Southwest Golf Classic
- Sunset-Camellia Open Invitational
- Sunshine Open Invitational
- Tacoma Open Invitational
- Tallahassee Open
- Thomasville Open
- Thunderbird Classic
- Thunderbird Invitational
- Tournament of the Gardens Open
- Tucson Open
- Turning Stone Resort Championship
- U.S. Professional Match Play Championship
- Utah Open
- Virginia Beach Open
- Virginia Open
- Waco Turner Open
- Walt Disney World Golf Classic
- West End Classic
- West Palm Beach Open Invitational
- Westchester Open
- Western Open
- WGC Championship
- WGC Match Play
- WGC-HSBC Champions
- WGC Invitational
- White Sulphur Springs Open
- Wisconsin State Open
- Workday Charity Open
- World Championship of Golf
- Yorba Linda Open Invitational
38°59′20″N 77°12′07″W / 38.989°N 77.202°W / 38.989; -77.202