The Tradition (known as the Regions Tradition for sponsorship reasons) is an event on the PGA Tour Champions. First staged 35 years ago in 1989, the PGA Tour recognizes the event as one of the five senior major golf championships. Unlike the U.S. Senior Open, Senior PGA Championship and Senior Open Championship, it is not recognized as a major by the European Senior Tour, and is not part of that tour's official schedule. It is the only senior major where the winner does not earn an exemption into a PGA Tour or European Tour event.

The Tradition
Tournament information
LocationBirmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Established1989
Course(s)Greystone Golf and Country Club
(Founders Course)
Par72
Length7,277 yards (6,654 m)[1]
Tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$2,500,000
Month playedMay
Tournament record score
Aggregate265 Doug Tewell (2001)
265 Steve Stricker (2023)
To par−23 as above
Current champion
United States Doug Barron
Location map
Greystone G&CC is located in the United States
Greystone G&CC
Greystone G&CC
Location in the United States
Greystone G&CC is located in Alabama
Greystone G&CC
Greystone G&CC
Location in Alabama

Locations

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Arizona

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From its inception in 1989 through 2001, the tournament was held in Arizona at the Cochise Golf Course of the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale. In 2002, it was held at the Prospector Course of Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club near Gold Canyon.[2] While in Arizona, the event was played in early April.

Oregon

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In 2003, the event relocated to northwest Oregon for four years at the South Course of The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Hillsboro, Oregon, just west of Portland. Following the 2006 edition, it moved to the high desert of central Oregon for four years, to the Crosswater Club in Sunriver, south of Bend. The lengthy course sits on 600 acres (2.4 km2) of woodlands and preserved wetlands along the Deschutes River, at an average elevation of 4,170 feet (1,270 m) above sea level. The par-72 layout played at 7,316 yards (6,690 m) in 2009. During the eight years in Oregon, the event was held in mid- to late August.

Alabama

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Following the 2010 event, Birmingham, Alabama–based Regions Financial Corporation announced in August that it was taking over sponsorship of the tournament. For five years, the event was played at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in the Shoal Creek development, southeast of Birmingham. [3] The Tradition superseded the Regions Charity Classic, a regular Champions Tour event which began in 1992 as the Bruno's Memorial Classic.[4] Shoal Creek previously hosted two PGA Championships, in 1984 and 1990.

Since moving to Alabama in 2011, the event has been played in May and June. It moved from Shoal Creek to the nearby Greystone Golf and Country Club in 2016, and is held on the recently renovated Founders Course.

Winners

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Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
Venue
Regions Tradition
2024   Doug Barron 271 −17 2 strokes   Steven Alker 375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2023   Steve Stricker (3) 265 −23 6 strokes   Ernie Els
  Robert Karlsson
375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2022   Steve Stricker (2) 267 −21 6 strokes   Pádraig Harrington 375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2021   Alex Čejka 270 −18 Playoff   Steve Stricker 375,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2019   Steve Stricker 270 −18 6 strokes   Billy Andrade
  Paul Goydos
  David Toms
360,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2018   Miguel Ángel Jiménez 269 −19 3 strokes   Joe Durant
  Gene Sauers
  Steve Stricker
360,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2017   Bernhard Langer (2) 268 −20 5 strokes   Scott Parel
  Scott McCarron
345,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2016   Bernhard Langer 271 −17 6 strokes   Olin Browne 345,000 Greystone
(Founders Course)
2015   Jeff Maggert 274 −14 Playoff   Kevin Sutherland 345,000 Shoal Creek
2014   Kenny Perry 281 −7 1 stroke   Mark Calcavecchia 330,000 Shoal Creek
2013   David Frost 272 −16 1 stroke   Fred Couples 335,000 Shoal Creek
2012   Tom Lehman (2) 274 −14 2 strokes   Bernhard Langer
  Lu Chien-soon
335,000 Shoal Creek
2011   Tom Lehman 275 −13 Playoff   Peter Senior 330,000 Shoal Creek
JELD-WEN Tradition
2010   Fred Funk (2) 276 −12 1 stroke   Michael Allen
  Lu Chien-soon
392,000 Crosswater
2009   Mike Reid 272 −16 Playoff   John Cook 392,000 Crosswater
2008   Fred Funk 269 −19 3 strokes   Mike Goodes 392,000 Crosswater
2007   Mark McNulty 272 −16 5 strokes   David Edwards 390,000 Crosswater
2006   Eduardo Romero 275 −13 Playoff   Lonnie Nielsen 375,000 The Reserve
(South Course)
2005   Loren Roberts 273 −15 Playoff   Dana Quigley 375,000 The Reserve
(South Course)
2004   Craig Stadler 275 −13 1 stroke   Allen Doyle
  Jerry Pate
345,000 The Reserve
(South Course)
2003   Tom Watson 273 −15 1 stroke   Jim Ahern
  Tom Kite
330,000 The Reserve
(South Course)
The Countrywide Tradition
2002   Jim Thorpe 277 −11 Playoff   John Jacobs 300,000 Superstition Mountain
(Prospector Course)
2001   Doug Tewell 265 −23 9 strokes   Mike McCullough 255,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
2000   Tom Kite 280 −8 Playoff   Larry Nelson
  Tom Watson
240,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
The Tradition
1999   Graham Marsh 136[a] −8 3 strokes   Larry Nelson 225,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1998   Gil Morgan (2) 276 −12 2 strokes   Tom Wargo 210,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1997   Gil Morgan 266 −22 6 strokes   Isao Aoki 180,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1996   Jack Nicklaus (4) 272 −16 3 strokes   Hale Irwin 150,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1995   Jack Nicklaus (3) 276 −12 Playoff   Isao Aoki 150,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1994   Raymond Floyd 271 −17 Playoff   Dale Douglass 127,500 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1993   Tom Shaw 269 −19 1 stroke   Mike Hill 127,500 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1992   Lee Trevino 274 −14 1 stroke   Jack Nicklaus 120,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1991   Jack Nicklaus (2) 277 −11 1 stroke   Jim Colbert
  Jim Dent
  Phil Rodgers
120,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1990   Jack Nicklaus 206[b] −10 4 strokes   Gary Player 120,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)
1989   Don Bies 275 −13 1 stroke   Gary Player 90,000 Desert Mountain
(Cochise Course)

Multiple winners

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Through 2023, five men have multiple wins in the Tradition:

Notes

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  1. ^ Shortened to 36 holes due to snow.
  2. ^ Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

References

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  1. ^ "Course map". Regions Tradition. 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  2. ^ The Countrywide Tradition moves to a new home
  3. ^ al.com - How the Regions Tradition came to Shoal Creek - 2011-05-04
  4. ^ Shoal Creek will host Regions Tradition in 2011
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33°25′46″N 86°39′03″W / 33.4294°N 86.6508°W / 33.4294; -86.6508