The Byron Nelson
 The TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas Golf Course, partially designed by Byron Nelson and home of the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship. | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Irving, Texas, U.S. |
| Established | 1944,[1] 80 years ago |
| Course(s) | Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 7,166 yards (6,553 m) |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | $7.3 million |
| Month played | May |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 261 Rory Sabbatini (2009) |
| To par | −20 Sam Snead (1957) |
| Current champion | |
 Steven Bowditch | |
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The AT&T Byron Nelson is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The tournament is held in May at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, U.S. It is one of two PGA tournaments held in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – the only metropolitan area to host two PGA tournaments. The tournament is the leading fundraiser for charity on the PGA Tour and has raised more than $121 million. For much of its history, it was the only PGA Tour stop named after a professional golfer; it remains one of only two such events, along with the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Nelson commonly made an appearance during the tournament. It is organized by the Salesmanship Club of Dallas.[2]
For the tournament's first several decades, it was played at a variety of courses in Dallas. Byron Nelson was the tournament's first winner in 1944,[3] when it was played at Lakewood Country Club. The following year it was played at Dallas Country Club, and then in 1946 moved to Brook Hollow Golf Club. For the better part of the next decade the event was not contested, until two iterations of it were held in 1956, both at Preston Hollow Country Club. In 1957 the event moved to Glen Lake Country Club before it began a decade-long relationship with Oak Cliff Country Club from 1958–67. In 1968, fifty-six years ago, the event was renamed the Byron Nelson Golf Classic[4][5] and its name, through a series of sponsors, has always subsequently been in conjunction with Nelson's name. That same year the event moved to Preston Trail Golf Club,[5] where it was played through 1982. The event then moved to venues in Irving: Las Colinas Sports Club (1983–85) and TPC at Las Colinas (1986–93).
Beginning in 1994 the tournament was played at two courses, the Tournament Players Course and the Cottonwood Valley Course, both located at the Four Seasons. Previously only the TPC was used, but since the tournament was played in May (during the height of the North Texas storm season), the weather played havoc with the tournament in some years, causing several delays and shortened tournaments. Therefore, the decision was made to add the Cottonwood course in order to shorten the amount of time needed to complete the first two rounds. The first two rounds were played on both courses (each player played one round on each course); after the cut was determined, the TPC is used exclusively for the final two rounds. However, in 2008 the tournament reverted to using only the TPC course, which was significantly renovated.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) bought the previous title sponsor, Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in mid-2008.[6] The agreement ran through 2014, with AT&T becoming the title sponsor beginning in 2015.[7]
In 2019, the tournament will move from the Four Seasons course in Irving to the yet-built Trinity Forest Golf Course in Dallas.[8]
Winners
** Par for final three rounds lowered to 69 due to course flooding
* Indicates weather-shortened to 54 holes
^ Indicates weather-shortened to 36 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Main sources[3][15][16][17]
Multiple winners
Four men have won this tournament more than once through 2015.
- 4 wins
- Tom Watson: 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980
- 3 wins
- Sam Snead: 1945, 1957, 1958
- 2 wins
- Jack Nicklaus: 1970, 1971
- Bruce Lietzke: 1981, 1988
Tournament highlights
- 1956: Peter Thomson, a five-time winner of The Open Championship shoots a final round 63, then makes birdie on the first two holes of sudden death to defeat Gene Littler and Cary Middlecoff. It was his one and only PGA Tour victory in the United States.[18]
- 1976: Mark Hayes becomes the first wire to wire winner of the Nelson.[19]
- 1981: Bruce Lietzke defeated Tom Watson in a playoff spoiling Watson's bid for a 4th straight Nelson triumph.[20]
- 1985: Bob Eastwood defeated Payne Stewart in a playoff after coming to the 72nd hole trailing Stewart by three shots. Eastwood made birdie on the final hole while Stewart made double bogey. Stewart made yet another double bogey on the first hole of sudden death to give Eastwood the title.[21]
- 1994: Neal Lancaster won the first ever six-player sudden death playoff in PGA Tour history. He made a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Tom Byrum, Mark Carnevale, David Edwards, Yoshi Mizumaki, and David Ogrin.[22]
- 2005: Tiger Woods' record streak of 142 cuts made came to an end at this tournament.
- 2008: Australian Adam Scott sank a 48 foot putt on the third playoff hole to clinch victory over American Ryan Moore.
- 2010: At age 16, Jordan Spieth (the defending U.S. Junior Amateur champion, and a student at nearby Jesuit College Preparatory School) became the youngest player to play in the tournament, courtesy of a sponsor's exemption (the first one granted since 1995). Spieth would make the cut (becoming the sixth-youngest person in PGA Tour history to make a professional tour event cut) and finish 16th overall. (In 2011 Spieth would again be granted a sponsor's exemption and would again make the cut, finishing 32nd overall.)
- 2013: Keegan Bradley hits a course-record 60 (−10) in the first round. Bradley leads the first three rounds, but Bae Sang-moon earned the win.[23]
References
- ^ History
- ^ Our Charity
- ^ a b 2012 HP Byron Nelson Championship Media Guide
- ^ "Tourney named for Lord Byron". Schenectady Gazette. New York. UPI. April 23, 1968. p. 22.
- ^ a b "Byron Nelson Classic in color from Dallas". Schenectady Gazette. New York. April 27, 1968. p. 7, TV.
- ^ "HP becomes new sponsor of Byron Nelson Championship". PGA Tour. October 2, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (May 11, 2013). "Nichols: Byron Nelson's new home should be ready when the contract with TPC expires in 2018". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
- ^ Durrett, Richard (May 15, 2013). "Byron Nelson plots 2019 move". ESPN. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
- ^ "Sam Sneads Wins Dallas Tourney By 10 Strokes". Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. Associated Press. September 16, 1957. p. 9. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Peter Thomson Wins His First U.S. Golf Match". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. June 4, 1956. p. 5. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Don January Eyes Second Big Golf Prize". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. May 28, 1956. p. 4. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Little Ben Hogan Takes Dallas Open". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Lewiston, Maine. Associated Press. September 30, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Sammy Snead Wins Dallas Open Golf". Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, California. United Press. September 10, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Nelson Adda To Bankings". San Jose Evening News. San Jose, California. International News Service. September 11, 1944. p. 6. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ AT&T Byron Nelson Championship – Winners – at www.pgatour.com
- ^ HP Byron Nelson Championship – Winners – at golfobserver.com (1970–2009)
- ^ Johnson, Sal; Seanor, Dave, eds. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.
- ^ Australian Thomson Texas Open Champ
- ^ Wire To Wire, It's Hayes
- ^ Lietzke holds off Watson
- ^ Eastwood takes playoff victory
- ^ Journeyman golfer wins big playoff
- ^ Hawkins, Stephen (May 20, 2013). "Sang-Moon wins the HP Byron Nelson Championship". PGA of America. Associated Press. Retrieved May 23, 2013.