St. Petersburg Open Invitational

The St. Petersburg Open Invitational, first played as the St. Petersburg Open, was a PGA Tour event that was held at three St. Petersburg, Florida area clubs for 29 years from 1930 until 1964. The clubs that hosted the event were: Lakewood Country Club (now known as St. Petersburg Country Club), Pasadena Country Club (now known as Pasadena Yacht and Country Club), and Sunset Golf Club of the Vinoy Park Hotel (now known as the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club).

Bob Goalby won the 1961 event after making eight consecutive birdies in the final round, a PGA Tour record at the time. Other golfers tied Goalby's mark but nobody surpassed it till 2009. In 1963, Raymond Floyd won the event at 20 years 6 months of age becoming the youngest player to win a PGA Tour event since 1928.

Bruce Devlin, an Australian golfer who had recently moved to the United States, won the first of his eight PGA Tour titles at the last one in 1964. The tournament succumbed to financial pressure when the St. Petersburg City Council voted to postpone a decision on sponsorship of the 1965 event, and then Jacksonville announced the resumption of the Jacksonville Open during week the tournament was to be held.

Tournament hosts

Course	Years
Lakewood Country Club	1930 (co-host), 1933 (co-host), 1936 (co-host), 1938, 1940, 1942, 1948, 1952, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1962–64
Jungle Country Club	1930 (co-host)
Pasadena Country Club	1932, 1933 (co-host), 1934, 1936 (co-host), 1937, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1949–51, 1953, 1957–58, 1961
Sunset Golf Club at Vinoy Park	1946

Winners

Year	Player	Country	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
St. Petersburg Open Invitational
1964	Bruce Devlin	Australia	272	−16	4 strokes	Dan Sikes	3,300
1963	Raymond Floyd	United States	274	−14	1 stroke	Dave Marr	3,500
1962	Bobby Nichols	United States	272	−16	2 strokes	Frank Boynton	2,800
1961	Bob Goalby	United States	261	−23	3 strokes	Ted Kroll	2,800
1960	George Bayer	United States	282	−6	Playoff	Jack Fleck	2,000
1959	Cary Middlecoff	United States	275	−13	3 strokes	Pete Cooper	2,000
St. Petersburg Open
1958	Arnold Palmer	United States	276	−8	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald Fred Hawkins	2,000
1957	Pete Cooper	United States	269	−15	4 strokes	Jack Burke Jr.	1,700
1956	Mike Fetchick	United States	275	−13	Playoff	Lionel Hebert	2,200
1955	Cary Middlecoff	United States	274	−14	2 strokes	Jay Hebert	2,200
1954	No tournament
1953	Dutch Harrison	United States	266	−18	1 stroke	Chick Harbert Dick Mayer	2,000
1952	Jack Burke Jr.	United States	266	−22	8 strokes	Al Besselink	2,000
1951	Jim Ferrier	Australia	268	−16	6 strokes	Al Brosch	2,000
1950	Jack Burke Jr.	United States	272	−12	1 stroke	Chick Harbert	2,000
1949	Pete Cooper	United States	275	−9	1 stroke	Cary Middlecoff	2,000
1948	Lawson Little	United States	272	−16	3 strokes	Bobby Locke	2,000
1947	Jimmy Demaret	United States	280	−4	3 strokes	Jim Ferrier	2,000
1946	Ben Hogan	United States	269	−15	5 strokes	Sam Snead	2,000
1943–45 No tournament due to World War II
1942	Sam Snead	United States	286	−2	3 strokes	Sam Byrd Chick Harbert Byron Nelson	1,000
1941	Sam Snead	United States	279	−5	2 strokes	Herman Barron Chick Harbert Ben Hogan Jug McSpaden	1,200
1940	Jimmy Demaret	United States	211	−2	1 stroke	Byron Nelson	700
1939	Sam Snead	United States	207	−9	Playoff	Henry Picard	700
1938	Johnny Revolta	United States	282	−2	Playoff	Chandler Harper	700
1937	Harry Cooper	United States	284	−4	Playoff	Ralph Guldahl Horton Smith	700
1936	Leonard Dodson	United States	283	−3	Playoff	Harry Cooper	500
1935	No tournament – area hosted Florida West Coast Open that season (winner: Willie Macfarlane)
1934	Paul Runyan	United States	141	−3	3 strokes	Bill Mehlhorn	200
1933	Bob Stupple	United States	144	+1	1 stroke	Denny Shute Al Watrous	275
1932	Willie Macfarlane	United States	209	−7	1 stroke	Dave Hackney	500
1931	No tournament
1930	Jock Collins	United States	141	+1	1 stroke	Horton Smith Frank Walsh	1,000