Western Open

Western Open
Tournament information
LocationLemont, Illinois
Established1899
Course(s)Cog Hill Golf & Country Club
(Dubsdread Course)
Par71
Length7,309 yards (6,683 m)[1]
Organized byWestern Golf Association
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$5,000,000
Month playedJuly
Final year2006
Tournament record score
Aggregate267 Scott Hoch (2001)
267 Tiger Woods (2003)
To par−21 as above
Final champion
South Africa Trevor Immelman
Location map
Cog Hill G&CC is located in the United States
Cog Hill G&CC
Cog Hill G&CC
Location in the United States
Cog Hill G&CC is located in Illinois
Cog Hill G&CC
Cog Hill G&CC
Location in Illinois

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, Centel, Sprint, Motorola, Advil, Golf Digest, and Cialis.

  1. ^ "Scoreboard: PGA Tour". Eugene Register-Guard. July 10, 2006. p. D4.