Tucson Open

The Tucson Open was a golf tournament in Arizona on the PGA Tour from 1945 to 2006, played annually in the winter in Tucson. It was last held at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort in late February, with a $3 million purse and a $540,000 winner's share.^[1]

Chrysler Classic of Tucson

Tournament information
Location	Tucson, Arizona
Established	1945
Course(s)	Omni Tucson National Golf Resort (Catalina Course)[1]
Par	72
Length	7,193 yards (6,577 m)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$3,000,000
Month played	February
Final year	2006
Tournament record score
Aggregate	263 Lloyd Mangrum (1949) 263 Phil Rodgers (1962) 263 Johnny Miller (1975)
To par	−25 Johnny Miller (1975)
Final champion
Kirk Triplett
Location map
Omni Tucson National Golf Resort Location in the United States Show map of the United States Omni Tucson National Golf Resort Location in Arizona Show map of Arizona

History

Since the event's inception in 1945, it had been played at a series of courses in Tucson. The first eighteen editions were at El Rio Golf & Country Club, which was purchased by the city in 1968 and is now El Rio Golf Course. In 1963, the event moved to Forty Niner Country Club in 1963 for two years, then began its lengthy relationship with its last location, known at the time as Tucson National Golf Club, which hosted through 1978. It moved to Randolph Park Golf Course in 1979, returned to Tucson National in 1980, then back to Randolph Park for the next six.

From 1984 to 1986, the Tucson Open was contested at match play and was held concurrently with a Senior PGA Tour match play event, the Seiko-Tucson Senior Match Play Championship The 1986 event was played using a Medal match play format.

In 1987 and 1988 the event was played at the TPC at Starr Pass but was not held in 1989. When the event resumed in 1990, it was played at two courses each year from that year's event until 1996. One used every year was the TPC at Starr Pass (renamed Starr Pass Golf Club before the 1993 event). The TPC at Starr Pass shared time with Randolph Park in 1990; from 1991–96 the Tucson National GC was the other course used.

In 1997, the event changed to the more traditional format of 72 holes played at only one course, and has been played since that year at the renamed Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa.

In later years, it was an alternate event, opposite the WGC Match Play championship, then held at La Costa in Carlsbad, California. Because the top 64 ranked players in the world are invited to the WGC event, it weakened the field considerably for Tucson. The match play tournament moved to Tucson in 2007 as a "merging" of sorts between the two tournaments, and stayed through 2014.

On the PGA Tour Champions, the Tucson Conquistadores Classic made its debut in 2015, and is held at the Omni Tucson National Resort in mid-March.

Tournament highlights

• 1945: Ray Mangrum shoots a final round 64 to win the inaugural version of the tournament.^[2]
• 1947: Jimmy Demaret becomes the first Tucson champion to successfully defend a title. A final round 65 allows him to finish three shots ahead of Ben Hogan.^[3]
• 1949: Lloyd Mangrum shoots a tournament record 263. He wins by five shots over Al Smith.^[4]
• 1955: Tommy Bolt eagles the 72nd hole to successfully defend his Tucson Open title.^[5]
• 1959: Gene Littler wins for the second consecutive week on the PGA Tour. He finishes one shot ahead of Joe Campbell and Art Wall Jr.^[6]
• 1961: Controversial pro golfer Dave Hill wins for the first time on the PGA Tour. He defeats Tommy Bolt and Bud Sullivan on the third hole of a sudden death playoff.^[7]
• 1962: Phil Rodgers holes a wedge shot from 65-feet for eagle on the 72nd hole to edge Bud Sullivan by one shot.^[8]
• 1965: Only after deciding to play the tournament five minutes before its deadline for entries, New Zealand born Bob Charles makes Tucson his second ever win in the United States. He beats Al Geiberger by four shots.^[9]
• 1968: George Knudson wins for the second consecutive week on the PGA Tour. He finishes one shot ahead of Frank Beard and Frank Boynton.^[10]
• 1970: Lee Trevino successfully defends his Tucson Open title. He birdies the first hole of a sudden death playoff to defeat Bob Murphy.^[11]
• 1974: Johnny Miller becomes the first ever golfer in PGA Tour history to win three consecutive tournaments to start the season. He shoots a first round 62 on his way to a three shot triumph over Ben Crenshaw.^[12]
• 1975: Tom Weiskopf misses the 36 hole cut with scores of 70 and 78. Afterwards tournament director Biff Baker made a telephone complaint to PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman accusing Weiskopf of backhanding putts and not playing in a professional manner.^[13] Weiskopf denied the allegations by saying "All they have to do is ask my playing partners."^[14]
• 1976: Johnny Miller wins at Tucson for the third consecutive year. He finishes three shots ahead of Howard Twitty.^[15]
• 1977: Bruce Lietzke earns the first of his thirteen career PGA Tour wins by defeating Gene Littler on the fourth hole of a sudden death playoff.^[16]
• 1980: Poor weather causes the tournament to finish on a Tuesday. Jim Colbert is the winner by four shots over Dan Halldorson.^[17]
• 1981: Johnny Miller wins Tucson for the fourth time. He shoots a final round 65 to finish two shots ahead of Lon Hinkle.^[18]
• 1984: For the first of three consecutive years, Tucson is conducted as a match play event. Tom Watson wins by defeating defending champion Gil Morgan in the finals by the score of 2 and 1.^[19]
• 1986: Defending champion Jim Thorpe wins the last match play edition of Tucson. He defeats Scott Simpson 67 to 71 in the finals.^[20]
• 1990: Robert Gamez wins on the PGA Tour in his first ever event. He finishes four shots ahead of Mark Calcavecchia and Jay Haas.^[21] During the tournament's second round, 1988 Tucson champion David Frost, becomes the first PGA Tour player in 33 years to shoot a 60.^[22]
• 1991: Twenty-year-old amateur Phil Mickelson birdies the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Bob Tway and Tom Purtzer. Purtzer made double bogey on the tournament's final hole.^[23] Hal Sutton hits a six-iron for his second shot on the 9th hole directly at the green. The ball slammed into the cup without touching the green and embedded itself in the lip of the hole. Since part of the ball remained above the level of the hole, it was ruled that Sutton had not holed out. He had to replace the ball and putt it in for a birdie.^[24]
• 1992: Future two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen collects his first ever PGA Tour title. He edges Bill Britton by one shot.^[25]
• 1995: Phil Mickelson wins his second Tucson title by one shot over Jim Gallagher Jr. and Scott Simpson after Gallagher three putts the 72nd hole.^[26]
• 1997: Jeff Sluman earns his first PGA Tour title since the 1988 PGA Championship. He wins by one shot over Steve Jones.^[27]
• 2000: After playing in 292 PGA Tour events, Jim Carter finally reaches the winner's circle. He finishes two shots ahead of Jean van de Velde, Chris DiMarco, and Tom Scherrer.^[28]
• 2001: Like Robert Gamez did at the 1990 Tucson, Garrett Willis wins on the PGA Tour in his first ever event. He wins by one shot over Kevin Sutherland.^[29]
• 2005: Future U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy notches his first ever PGA Tour win. He defeats Mark Calcavecchia and Kevin Na in a sudden death playoff.^[30]

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
Chrysler Classic of Tucson
2006	Kirk Triplett	266	−22	1 stroke	Jerry Kelly	540,000
2005	Geoff Ogilvy	269	−19	Playoff	Mark Calcavecchia Kevin Na	540,000
2004	Heath Slocum	266	−22	1 stroke	Aaron Baddeley	540,000
2003	Frank Lickliter	269	−19	2 strokes	Chad Campbell	540,000
Touchstone Energy Tucson Open
2002	Ian Leggatt	268	−20	2 strokes	David Peoples Loren Roberts	540,000
2001	Garrett Willis	273	−15	1 stroke	Kevin Sutherland	540,000
2000	Jim Carter	269	−19	2 strokes	Chris DiMarco Tom Scherrer Jean van de Velde	540,000
1999	Gabriel Hjertstedt	276	−12	Playoff	Tommy Armour III	495,000
Tucson Chrysler Classic
1998	David Duval	269	−19	4 strokes	Justin Leonard David Toms	360,000
1997	Jeff Sluman	275	−13	1 stroke	Steve Jones	234,000
Nortel Open
1996	Phil Mickelson (3)	273	−14	2 strokes	Bob Tway	225,000
Northern Telecom Open
1995	Phil Mickelson (2)	269	−19	1 stroke	Jim Gallagher Jr. Scott Simpson	225,000
1994	Andrew Magee	270	−18	2 strokes	Jay Don Blake Loren Roberts Vijay Singh Steve Stricker	198,000
1993	Larry Mize	271	−17	2 strokes	Jeff Maggert	198,000
1992	Lee Janzen	270	−18	1 stroke	Bill Britton	198,000
1991	Phil Mickelson (a)	272	−16	1 stroke	Tom Purtzer Bob Tway	180,000
Northern Telecom Tucson Open
1990	Robert Gamez	270	−18	4 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia Jay Haas	162,000
1989: No tournament
1988	David Frost	266	−22	5 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia Mark O'Meara	108,000
Seiko Tucson Open
1987	Mike Reid	268	−20	4 strokes	Chip Beck Mark Calcavecchia Hal Sutton Fuzzy Zoeller	108,000
Seiko-Tucson Match Play Championship
1986	Jim Thorpe (2)	67	−5	4 strokes	Scott Simpson	150,000
1985	Jim Thorpe	4 and 3			Jack Renner	150,000
1984	Tom Watson (2)	2 and 1			Gil Morgan	100,000
Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open
1983	Gil Morgan	271	−9	Playoff	Curtis Strange Lanny Wadkins	54,000
1982	Craig Stadler	266	−14	3 strokes	Vance Heafner John Mahaffey	54,000
1981	Johnny Miller (4)	265	−15	2 strokes	Lon Hinkle	54,000
1980	Jim Colbert	270	−22	4 strokes	Dan Halldorson	54,000
1979	Bruce Lietzke (2)	265	−15	2 strokes	Buddy Gardner Jim Thorpe Tom Watson	45,000
1978	Tom Watson	274	−14	3 strokes	Bobby Wadkins	40,000
1977	Bruce Lietzke	275	−13	Playoff	Gene Littler	40,000
NBC Tucson Open
1976	Johnny Miller (3)	274	−14	3 strokes	Howard Twitty	40,000
Dean Martin Tucson Open
1975	Johnny Miller (2)	263	−25	9 strokes	John Mahaffey	40,000
1974	Johnny Miller	272	−16	3 strokes	Ben Crenshaw	30,000
1973	Bruce Crampton	277	−11	5 strokes	George Archer Gay Brewer Labron Harris Jr. Bobby Nichols	30,000
1972	Miller Barber	273	−15	Playoff	George Archer	30,000
Tucson Open Invitational
1971	J. C. Snead	273	−15	1 stroke	Dale Douglass	22,000
1970	Lee Trevino (2)	275	−13	Playoff	Bob Murphy	20,000
1969	Lee Trevino	271	−17	7 strokes	Miller Barber	20,000
1968	George Knudson	273	−15	1 stroke	Frank Beard Frank Boynton	20,000
1967	Arnold Palmer	273	−15	1 stroke	Chuck Courtney	12,000
1966	Joe Campbell	278	−10	Playoff	Gene Littler	9,000
1965	Bob Charles	271	−17	4 strokes	Al Geiberger	6,800
1964	Jacky Cupit	274	−14	2 strokes	Rex Baxter	4,000
1963	Don January	266	−22	11 strokes	Gene Littler Phil Rodgers	3,500
1962	Phil Rodgers	263	−17	3 strokes	Jim Ferrier	2,800
Home of the Sun Open
1961	Dave Hill	269	−11	Playoff	Tommy Bolt Bud Sullivan	2,800
Tucson Open Invitational
1960	Don January	271	−9	3 strokes	Bob Harris	2,800
1959	Gene Littler	266	−14	1 stroke	Joe Campbell Art Wall Jr.
1958	Lionel Hebert	265	−15	2 strokes	Don January
1957	Dow Finsterwald	269	−11	Playoff	Don Whitt
1956	Ted Kroll	264	−16	3 strokes	Dow Finsterwald
Tucson Open
1955	Tommy Bolt (2)	266	−14	3 strokes	Bud Holscher Art Wall Jr.
1954: No tournament
1953	Tommy Bolt	265	−15	1 stroke	Chandler Harper
1952	Henry Williams, Jr.	274	−6	2 strokes	Cary Middlecoff
1951	Lloyd Mangrum (2)	269	−11	2 strokes	Jack Burke Jr. Jim Turnesa Lew Worsham
1950	Chandler Harper	267	−13	2 strokes	Sam Snead
1949	Lloyd Mangrum	263	−17	5 strokes	Al Smith
1948	Skip Alexander	264	−16	1 stroke	Johnny Palmer
1947	Jimmy Demaret (2)	264	−16	3 strokes	Ben Hogan
1946	Jimmy Demaret	268	−12	4 strokes	Herman Barron
1945	Ray Mangrum	268	−12	1 stroke	Byron Nelson

Multiple winners

Nine men won this tournament more than once.

• 4 wins
  • Johnny Miller: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981
• 3 wins
  • Phil Mickelson: 1991(a), 1995, 1996
• 2 wins
  • Jim Thorpe: 1985, 1986
  • Bruce Lietzke: 1977, 1979
  • Lee Trevino: 1969, 1970
  • Don January: 1960, 1963
  • Tommy Bolt: 1953, 1955
  • Lloyd Mangrum: 1949, 1951
  • Jimmy Demaret, 1946, 1947

References

1. Korte, Tim (February 27, 2006). "Chrysler surprise". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. C2.
2. "Mangrum Winner Of Tucson Golf". The Pittsburgh Press. Pennsylvania. UP. January 22, 1945. p. 17.
3. "Tucson Open Won By Jimmy Demaret". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UP. February 3, 1947. p. 5.
4. "Mangrum Breaks Tucson Record". The Pittsburgh Press. Pennsylvania. UP. February 7, 1949. p. 21.
5. "Tommy Bolt Wins Tucson Open Golf". Lodi News-Sentinel. California. UP. February 14, 1955. p. 8.
6. "Gene Littler Wins Tucson Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania. AP. February 16, 1959. p. 18.
7. "Tucson Won By Dave Hill". Middlesboro Daily News. Kentucky. UPI. February 20, 1961. p. 14.
8. Sinclair, Murray (February 19, 1962). "Phil Rodgers Wins Tucson". The Gettysburg Times. Pennsylvania. AP. p. 4.
9. Eger, Bob (February 22, 1965). "Charles Tops Field At Tucson". Ellensburg Daily Record. Washington. AP. p. 5.
10. "Knudson In Charge To Tucson Win". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Florida. AP. February 26, 1968. p. 17.
11. "Murphy Second In Tucson Open". The News-Dispatch. Jeannette, Pennsylvania. UPI. February 16, 1970. p. 10.
12. "Miller Wins At Tucson With Ben Crenshaw Second". The Bonham Daily Favorite. Texas. UPI. January 21, 1974. p. 6.
13. "Tucson golf director unhappy with Weiskopf". The Gadsden Times. Alabama. AP. January 19, 1975. p. 40.
14. "Weiskopf Denies Not Trying Best". The Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Florida. AP. January 20, 1975. p. 2-C.
15. "Miller Wins Tucson Open For 3rd Time". Ludington Daily News. Michigan. UPI. January 12, 1976. p. 6.
16. Sargis, Joe (January 17, 1977). "First tour win for Bruce Lietzke". Beaver County Times. Pennsylvania. UPI. p. B-2.
17. "Colbert Wins At Tucson". The Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. AP. February 20, 1980. p. 15.
18. "Johnny Miller Wins Tucson". Waycross Journal-Herald. Georgia. AP. January 12, 1981. p. P-7.
19. "In a 'dull match', Watson takestitle". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. AP. January 9, 1984. p. 2B.
20. "Thorpe Captures Match-Play Event". The New York Times. AP. November 3, 1986.
21. "Rookie Robert Gamez Tucson Open winner". The Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. January 15, 1990. p. 14.
22. "Super 12-under puts Frost on par". New Sunday Times. Malaysia. January 14, 1990. p. 18.
23. Green, Bob (January 14, 1991). "Mickelson wins as amateur in Tucson Open". The Prescott Courier. Arizona. AP. p. 6A.
24. Zullo, Allan (2001). Astonishing but True Golf Facts. Andrew McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9780740714269.
25. "Janzen stays cool in Tucson". The Milwaukee Journal. Wisconsin. AP. February 17, 1992. p. C6.
26. "Mickelson captures Tucson Open by one". Manila Standard. Philippines. January 22, 1995. p. 25.
27. "Despite bogey on 18th, Jeff Sluman captures Tucson Open". Kingman Daily Miner. Arizona. AP. February 24, 1997. p. 6.
28. "First-time winner takes Tucson Open". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, South Carolina. AP. February 28, 2000. p. B2.
29. "Willis comes of age in Tucson". BBC Sport. January 16, 2001.
30. Clayton, Michael (March 1, 2005). "Ogilvy wins US playoff". The Age. Melbourne, Australia.

32.358°N 111.023°W / 32.358; -111.023