Tournament information | |
---|---|
Location | Portland, Oregon |
Established | 1944 |
Course(s) | Columbia Edgewater Country Club |
Par | 72 |
Length | 6,435 yards (5,884 m) [1] |
Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Format | Stroke play |
Prize fund | US$50,000 |
Month played | September |
Final year | 1966 |
Tournament record score | |
Aggregate | 261 Ben Hogan (1945) |
To par | –27 as above |
Final champion | |
Bert Yancey | |
Location map | |
Location in the
United States Location in
Oregon |
The Portland Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament in the northwest United States on the PGA Tour, played in Portland, Oregon. Established by Robert A. Hudson with a $10,000 purse in 1944, it was played from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1966. The event was hosted eight times at the Portland Golf Club, [2] and four times at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club. [3] First played as the Portland Open, the revived 1959 event played as the Portland Centennial Open Invitational, in honor of Oregon's centennial of statehood. [4]
Sam Snead won the inaugural event in 1944, [5] and Ben Hogan won in 1945 by fourteen strokes, [6] [7] and also won the 1946 PGA Championship, then a match play event, held at the Portland Golf Club. [8] The club also hosted the Ryder Cup in 1947; the U.S. team was captained by Hogan and won 11–1. Hogan was a runner-up in 1948, a stroke back in an 18-hole playoff. [9] [10]
The tournament was dominated by three-time winners Billy Casper (1959–61) [11] and Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1964–65). [12] [13] Nicklaus' $3,500 win during his rookie season in 1962 concluded three weeks of victories; [14] he took the massive winner's share of $50,000 in the exhibition World Series of Golf in Ohio, [15] [16] and then won his second tour title at the Seattle Open Invitational, which paid $4,300. [17] [18] Both Casper and Nicklaus won at both courses.
Bert Yancey won the last edition in 1966 and took only 102 putts. [19] It stood as the tour's 72-hole record for fewest putts for over a decade, until Bob Menne had only 99 at the Tournament Players Championship in 1977, [20] but tied for 47th. [21]
Venue | Years |
---|---|
Portland Golf Club | 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965 |
Columbia Edgewater Country Club | 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966 |
Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Purse ( US$) |
Winner's share ($) |
Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portland Open Invitational | |||||||||
1966 | Bert Yancey | 271 | −17 | 3 strokes | Billy Casper | 50,000 | 6,600 | [19] | |
1965 | Jack Nicklaus (3) | 273 | −15 | 3 strokes | Dave Marr | 50,000 | 6,600 | [13] | |
1964 | Jack Nicklaus (2) | 275 | −13 | 3 strokes | Ken Venturi | 40,000 | 5,800 | [12] | |
1963 | George Knudson | 272 | −16 | Playoff | Mason Rudolph | 30,000 | 4,300 | [22] | |
1962 | Jack Nicklaus | 269 | −19 | 1 stroke | George Bayer | 25,000 | 3,500 | [14] | |
1961 | Billy Casper (3) | 273 | −15 | 1 stroke | Dave Hill | 25,000 | 3,500 | [11] | |
1960 | Billy Casper (2) | 266 | −22 | 2 strokes | Paul Harney | 27,500 | 2,800 | [23] | |
Portland Centennial Open Invitational | |||||||||
1959 | Billy Casper | 269 | −19 | 3 strokes |
Bob Duden Dave Ragan |
20,000 | 2,800 | [4] | |
Portland Open Invitational | |||||||||
1949–1958: No tournament | |||||||||
1948 | Fred Haas | 270 | −18 | Playoff |
Ben Hogan (2nd) Johnny Palmer (3rd) |
15,000 | 2,450 | [9] [10] | |
1947 | Charles Congdon | 270 | −18 | 6 strokes |
Clayton Heafner Herman Keiser Johnny Palmer George Payton |
10,000 | 2,000 | [24] | |
1946: No tournament' | |||||||||
1945 | Ben Hogan | 261 | −27 | 14 strokes | Byron Nelson | 14,333 | 2,666 | [6] [7] | |
Portland Open | |||||||||
1944 | Sam Snead | 289 | +1 | 2 strokes | Mike Turnesa | 16,000 | 2,675 | [5] |