Northern Trust Open

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Northern Trust Open
Tournament information
Location Pacific Palisades, California
Established 1926
Course(s) Riviera Country Club
Par 71
Yardage 7,298
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Format Stroke play
Purse $6,300,000
Month played February
Tournament record score
Aggregate 264 Lanny Wadkins (1985)
To-par -20 Lanny Wadkins (1985)
Current champion
Phil Mickelson

The Northern Trust Open, formerly known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. The tournament has been contested at the Riviera Country Club on a near-continuous basis since 1973. Chicago based Northern Trust Corporation is the current sponsor of the event.

Contents

[edit] History

Prior to World War II, the event led a nomadic existence, moving from course to course. The inaugural event in 1926 was played at Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, California; in 1927 the event moved to El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California for the only time. In 1928 the event moved again to Wilshire Country Club, also in Los Angeles. 1929 and 1930 saw the event's first foray to Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades before returning again to Los Angeles for the next decade. From 1931-33, the event alternated between Wilshire Country Club and Hillcrest Country Club, before returning to Los Angeles Country Club from 1934-36. From 1937-39 the event was played at Griffith Park before returning to Los Angeles CC in 1940. Babe Zaharias played in the 1938 event, being the first woman to play in a professional golf tournament for men.

In 1941, the event returned to Riviera CC and in 1942 was played again at Hillcrest CC before World War II intervened.

The event started up again in 1944 at Wilshire CC before spending the next 9 years (1945-53) at Riviera CC. In 1954 the event was played at Fox Hills Country Club on land that is now in Culver City, California and in 1955 moved to Inglewood Country Club in Inglewood, California. From 1956-72, the event returned to Los Angeles, being played at Rancho Park Golf Course, with the exception of 1968 when the event was played at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, California.

In 1973, the event began its current relationship with Riviera CC, where it has been played every year since except 1983 and 1998. Riviera CC played host to the 1983 PGA Championship, and the 1998 U.S. Senior Open. In an effort to preserve the course, the 1983 event was played at Rancho Park Golf Course, and the 1998 event was contested at Valencia Country Club in Valencia, California.

In 1992, the Nissan Los Angeles Open at Riviera CC was the site of Tiger Woods' first PGA Tour event as an amateur player.

In 2005, the tournament was shortened by 36 holes due to rain. Adam Scott defeated Chad Campbell on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff on a Monday. Due to the event's length, this win is counted as unofficial for Scott.

In September 2007, it was originally announced that Bearing Point, a McLean, Virginia based consulting firm, would become the new title sponsor of the tournament. However, on October 15, 2007, Northern Trust became the title sponsor of the PGA Tour's tournament at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, beginning in February 2008.

The five-year agreement, which extends through the 2012 event, was announced October 15, 2007, by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and William A. Osborn, Chairman and CEO of Northern Trust Corporation[1]. The tournament is currently known as the Northern Trust Open, and the new partnership marks the beginning of a process of transformation for this high-profile tournament.

As part of the initial move to enhance the tournament, the Northern Trust Open increased its purse to $6.2 million in 2008, an increase of $1 million over 2007. Additionally, the tournament pro-am will go from four amateurs to three per group.

In 2009, the Northern Trust Open created an exemption for a player who represents the advancement of diversity in golf; it is named in honor of pioneering black golfer Charlie Sifford and is referred to as the Charlie Sifford Exemption.[2]

Phil Mickelson won the 2008 tournament and successfully defended the title in 2009 with a 1-stroke victory over Steve Stricker.

The 2009 tournament likely gained more negative media coverage for the Northern Trust, not for the golfing itself, but for the namesake bank's lavish concerts and parties tied to the tournament, weeks after the bank got a $1.6 billion bailout from the U.S. government. Northern Trust said the expenses were part of a long-standing commitment, and days later apologized and said they were going to soon repay the government loan.[3][4][5]

[edit] Winners

Northern Trust Open

Nissan Open

Nissan Los Angeles Open

Los Angeles Open Presented by Nissan

Los Angeles Open

Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open

Los Angeles Open

[edit] Multiple winners

Fifteen men have won this tournament more than once through 2009.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Northern Trust Press Release". http://www.northerntrust.com/pws/jsp/display2.jsp?TYPE=interior&XML=primary/pressrelease/1192451368070_183.xml. Retrieved 2007-11-12. 
  2. ^ Oregon State Beavers Graduate Receives the First Sifford Exemption ESPN.com, February 2, 2009
  3. ^ "Golf After Bailout at Northern Trust Prompts Outcry". Bloomberg.com. 2009-02-25. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aQUs3vSIIvpI&refer=us. Retrieved 2009-02-25. 
  4. ^ "Northern Trust defends spending on PGA event, parties". ChicagoTribune.com. 2009-02-24. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-northern-trust-open-parties-feb24,0,6894365.story. Retrieved 2009-02-25. 
  5. ^ "After Apologizing, Northern Trust says it will give TARP funds back". ChicagoTribune.com. 2009-02-27. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-northern-trust-tarp-feb27,0,1587026.story. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 

[edit] External links

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PGA Tour Events

Other FedEx Cup tournaments in playing order: SBS Championship · Sony Open in Hawaii · Bob Hope Classic · FBR Open · Buick Invitational ·

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am · Northern Trust Open · WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship · Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya · Honda Classic · WGC-CA Championship · Puerto Rico Open · Transitions Championship · Arnold Palmer Invitational · Shell Houston Open · Verizon Heritage · Zurich Classic of New Orleans · Quail Hollow Championship · The Players Championship · Valero Texas Open · HP Byron Nelson Championship · Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial · Memorial Tournament · St. Jude Classic · Travelers Championship · AT&T National · John Deere Classic · U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee · RBC Canadian Open · Buick Open · WGC-Bridgestone Invitational · Legends Reno-Tahoe Open · Wyndham Championship
Featured event: WGC-HSBC Champions
Future tournaments: Greenbrier Classic (starting in 2010)
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