Information AboutWestern Open |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WESTERN OPEN | |
| former pga tour events | |
| sports in chicago | |
| 1899 establishments | |
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The Western Open, a professional Golf tournament, was first played in 1899. At the time of its 2006 playing, the Western Open was the 3rd oldest active PGA Tour tournament, after the British Open (began 1860) and U.S. Open (began 1895). Beginning 2007, the Western Open will be renamed the BMW Championship , part of the FedEx Cup playoff series, and played through 2012 with the PGA Tour's point system as the sole qualification standard. It will not be open to amateurs. Western Open title sponsors have included Beatrice, Centel, Sprint, Motorola, Advil, Golf Digest and Cialis. HISTORY The Western Open, founded and run by the the Western Golf Association , was first played in 1899. Like the U.S. Open , in its early days it was usually won by visiting professionals from the United Kingdom . In its early decades it was widely regarded as a Major Championship , although this designation was unofficial and it is generally not included in tallies of golfers' major championship wins. From the event's inception until 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, the Western Open was held at the Colonial Country Club in Memphis , Tennessee . Beginning 1962, the Western Open settled into the Chicago , Illinois area, being played at different courses in and around the city. In 1974 the Western Open found an annual home at the Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois . It stayed this way until shortly after the 1990 tournament, when the PGA Tour adopted a policy of holding events only at clubs which allowed minorities and women to be members. This resulted in Butler National being replaced by the Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont, Illinois . The Dubsdread Course at Cog Hill played host to the Western Open from 1991 to 2006. In 1899, the prize fund was $150, and the winner's share was $50. In 2006, the purse was $5,000,000, and the winner took home a 1st prize of $900,000. BMW CHAMPIONSHIP In 2007, the Western Open is being renamed - and changed in terms of invitational criteria - by the BMW Championship , part of the four-event FedEx Cup Playoff Series. The Western Golf Association will continue to have input in the running of the tournament. The BMW Championship is to be played the weekend after Labor Day , and will be the last FedEx Cup playoff event before The Tour Championship . The event will go on a rotation of courses in the Upper Midwest, including Cog Hill Golf & Country Club , Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana , and Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri . WINNERS: 1974-2006 Cialis Western Open
100th Western Open presented by Golf Digest
Advil Western Open
Motorola Western Open
Sprint Western Open
Centel Western Open
Beatrice Western Open
Western Open
WINNERS: 1899-1973 EXTERNAL LINKS
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