Portland Open Invitational

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,[4] and four times at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.[5] 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.[6]

Portland Open Invitational
Tournament information
LocationPortland, Oregon
Established1944
Course(s)Portland Golf Club,
Columbia Edgewater
Country Club
Par72
Length6,445 yards (5,893 m)
(PGC in 1965)[1]
6,435 yards (5,884 m)
(CECC in 1966)[2]
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fund$50,000
Month playedSeptember
Final year1966
Tournament record score
Aggregate261 Ben Hogan (1945)
To par–27 Ben Hogan (1945)[3]
Final champion
Bert Yancey
Portland
Location in the United States
Portland
Location in Oregon

Sam Snead won the inaugural event in 1944,[7] and Ben Hogan won in 1945 by fourteen strokes,[3][8] and also won the 1946 PGA Championship, then a match play event, held at the Portland Golf Club.[9] 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.[10][11]

The tournament was dominated by three-time winners Billy Casper (1959–61)[12] and Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1964–65).[13][14] Nicklaus' $3,500 win during his rookie season in 1962 concluded three weeks of victories;[15] he took the massive winner's share of $50,000 in the exhibition World Series of Golf in Ohio,[16][17] and then won his second tour title at the Seattle Open Invitational, which paid $4,300.[18][19] Both Casper and Nicklaus won at both courses.

Bert Yancey won the last edition in 1966 and took only 102 putts.[20] 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,[21] but tied for 47th.[22]

Tournament hosts
VenueYears
Portland Golf Club1944, 1945, 1947, 1948,
1959, 1960, 1964, 1965
Columbia Edgewater Country Club1961, 1962, 1963, 1966

Winners
YearDateWinnerCountryScoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner(s)-upWinner's
share ($)		Purse ($)Notes
Portland Open Invitational
1966Sep 18Bert Yancey United States271−173 strokes Billy Casper6,60050,000[20]
1965Sep 19Jack Nicklaus (3) United States273−153 strokes Dave Marr6,60050,000[14]
1964Sep 20Jack Nicklaus (2) United States275−133 strokes Ken Venturi5,80040,000[13]
1963Sep 22George Knudson Canada272−16Playoff Mason Rudolph4,30030,000[23]
1962Sep 23Jack Nicklaus United States269−191 stroke George Bayer3,50025,000[15]
1961Sep 24Billy Casper (3) United States273−151 stroke Dave Hill3,50025,000[12]
1960Sep 25Billy Casper (2) United States266−222 strokes Paul Harney2,80027,500[24]
Portland Centennial Open Invitational
1959Oct 4Billy Casper United States269−193 strokes Bob Duden
Dave Ragan		2,80020,000[6]
Portland Open Invitational
1949–1958No tournament
1948Oct 3Fred Haas United States270−18Playoff Ben Hogan (2nd)
Johnny Palmer (3rd)		2,45015,000[10][11]
1947Aug 17Charles Congdon United States270−186 strokes Clayton Heafner
Herman Keiser
Johnny Palmer
George Payton		2,00010,000[25]
1946No tournament, hosted  PGA Championship
1945Sep 30Ben Hogan United States261−2714 strokes Byron Nelson2,66614,333[3][8]
Portland Open
1944Nov 26Sam Snead United States289+12 strokes Mike Turnesa2,67516,000[7]

Playoffs
  • 1963: Knudson chipped in for eagle on the first playoff hole, a par-5, for the win; Rudolph nearly matched it, but his bounced out.[23]
  • 1948: 18-hole Monday playoff: Haas 70 (−2), Hogan 71 (−1), Palmer 75 (+3).[11]

References
  1. "Nicklaus storms into lead in Portland golf tourney". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 19, 1965. p. 7, sports.
  2. Kurtz, Larry (September 16, 1966). "Casper, trio have margin in Portland". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 2B.
  3. "Ben Hogan wins Open with new PGA record". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. August 26, 1946. p. 6.
  4. "Golf & Tournament History". Portland Golf Club. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
  5. Tradition finds new home, title sponsor Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Harvey, Paul, III (October 5, 1959). "Billy Casper Open winner by 3 strokes". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 2B.
  7. Dunlap, John W. (November 27, 1945). "Sam Snead wins Portland Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. p. 8.
  8. "Hogan's record 261 wins Portland Open tournament". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 1, 1945. p. 9.
  9. Strite, Dick (August 26, 1946). "Ben Hogan stages great comeback to take PGA title from Ed Oliver". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 2.
  10. "Portland Open ends in tie". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 4, 1948. p. 11.
  11. "Fred Haas tops Portland Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. October 5, 1948. p. 18.
  12. "Casper beats out Hill for Oregon title". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. September 25, 1961. p. 3, sec. 4.
  13. "Nicklaus overtakes Venturi to triumph". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 21, 1964. p. 4B.
  14. "Jack wins; sets PGA loot record". Spokesman-Review. (Spokesman-Review). Associated Press. September 20, 1965. p. 11.
  15. "Open won in Portland by Nicklaus". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. September 24, 1962. p. 2B.
  16. "World Series won by Jack". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 10, 1962. p. 3B.
  17. "Nicklaus wins $75,000 exhibition; Palmer fades". Chicago Daily Tribune. Associated Press. September 10, 1962. p. 1, sec. 4.
  18. "Nicklaus wins Seattle Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 17, 1962. p. 3B.
  19. "Nicklaus wins Seattle Open by 2 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. UPI. September 17, 1962. p. 4, sec. 4.
  20. Wetzel, Frank (September 19, 1966). "Putts propel Bert Yancey to Open title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 3B.
  21. Missildine, Harry (May 22, 1977). "Putting game? you want to bet?". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
  22. "While leaders stumble, Mark Hayes eases home". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 21, 1977. p. 17.
  23. "Knudson winner of Portland Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 23, 1963. p. 6B.
  24. "Casper cops first place at Portland". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 26, 1960. p. 11.
  25. Strite, Dick (August 18, 1947). "Washington golfer garners Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 5.

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