The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006.

Kemper Open
Tournament information
LocationPotomac, Maryland
Established1968
Course(s)TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
Par71
Length6,889 yards (6,299 m)
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$5,000,000
Month playedJune
Final year2006
Tournament record score
Aggregate263 Billy Andrade (1991)
263 Jeff Sluman (1991)
263 Adam Scott (2004)
To par−21 as above
Final champion
United States Ben Curtis
Location map
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is located in the United States
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
Location in the United States
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm is located in Maryland
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm
Location in Maryland

Perhaps more so than any other "regular" PGA Tour stop, the event wandered about, not just from course to course within a given metropolitan area, but along the East Coast. Originally sponsored by the Kemper Corporation, the inaugural event was played in 1968 at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Sutton, Massachusetts, before moving to the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina the following year, where it stayed through 1979. (The Wells Fargo Championship is now held in Charlotte.) The event moved in 1980 to Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C., and to TPC at Avenel in 1987 in neighboring Potomac.

Kemper Insurance dropped out as sponsor after the 2002 edition and was replaced by Friedman Billings Ramsey, which renamed the event the FBR Capital Open for a single year in 2003. Booz Allen Hamilton became the main sponsor in 2004, with the tournament being titled the Booz Allen Classic. The event returned to Congressional for a year in 2005 to accommodate renovations at Avenel.

The purse in 2006 was $5.0 million, with $900,000 going to the winner; due to rain delays it concluded on Tuesday without a gallery.[1] In 1992, Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, was given a sponsor's exemption into the tournament,[2] but shot rounds of 80 and 91 and missed the cut by 28 strokes.[3][4] As the Kemper Open, it was often played two or three weeks prior to the U.S. Open, making it a prime tune-up event; later it was either the week prior or after and many top players skipped it.. For 2007, the PGA Tour announced that it would reschedule the event for the fall, and Booz Allen declined to renew its sponsorship. The fall date was in turn canceled to make way for the new AT&T National, to take place at the same time as the Classic had.

Also in 2006, the tournament ended on Tuesday due to persistent storms in the D.C. area. The conclusion of what turned out to be the final Booz Allen Classic was not televised.

A new format (invitation only), new host for the tournament (Tiger Woods), and a return to Congressional Country Club marked the July 2007 stop in Washington for the FedEx Cup, the AT&T National. For record-keeping purposes, it is not a "successor" tournament officially, even though it is the "new" tour stop in the same region.

During the 1970s, the Kemper Open was among the highest purses on tour, exceeding the majors.

Tournament highlights

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  • 1968: Arnold Palmer shoots a final round 67 to win the inaugural version of the tournament. He finishes four shots ahead of Bruce Crampton and Art Wall Jr.[5]
  • 1971: Tom Weiskopf wins his first Kemper Open title in a four-way sudden death playoff. He makes an eight-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole to beat Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Dale Douglass.[6]
  • 1972: Doug Sanders rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to edge Lee Trevino by one shot.[7] It would be Sanders 20th and final PGA Tour triumph.
  • 1975: Raymond Floyd holes a 100-foot chip shot for eagle during the final round on his way to a three-shot victory over Gary Player and John Mahaffey. It is Floyd's first PGA Tour win since his 1969 PGA Championship triumph.[8]
  • 1977: Tom Weiskopf wins the Kemper Open for a third time. He beats Bill Rogers and George Burns by two shots.[9]
  • 1980: John Mahaffey wins the first Kemper Open played at the Congressional Country Club. He beats Craig Stadler by three shots.[10]
  • 1982: Craig Stadler becomes the first Kemper Open winner to successfully defend his title. He beats Seve Ballesteros by seven shots.[11]
  • 1983: This edition of the tournament may have been the most bizarre. Fred Couples, Scott Simpson, and Chen Tze-chung playing together in the final group finished over one hour later than the previous group on the golf course. In spite of rounds of 77, 76, and 77 all three players finished tied for first along with Gil Morgan and Barry Jaeckel who had finished their rounds several hours earlier. Jaeckel, who spent time in a bar waiting for regulation play to conclude, is eliminated on the first playoff hole after he hits a wild tee shot.[12] On the second hole, Couples scores a birdie to win his first PGA Tour title.[13]
  • 1984: Greg Norman wins his first PGA Tour event, beating out Mark O'Meara by five shots, despite shooting a final round 73.
  • 1985: Bill Glasson sinks a 50-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to finish a 7-shot comeback and earn his first PGA Tour triumph. He beats Larry Mize and Corey Pavin by one shot.[14]
  • 1986: Greg Norman wins the Kemper Open for a second time by defeating Larry Mize on the sixth hole of a sudden death playoff.[15] Less than one year later, Mize would avenge his loss to Norman at the 1987 Masters Tournament.
  • 1988: Tom Kite's bid to successfully defend his Kemper Open title is foiled when Morris Hatalsky beats him on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.[16]
  • 1992: Bill Glasson becomes the first and only tournament champion to win an edition of the tournament at both Congressional Country Club and TPC at Avenel. Glasson wins by one shot over Howard Twitty, Ken Green, Mike Springer, and John Daly.[17]
  • 1995: Lee Janzen birdies the 72nd hole to earn a spot in a sudden death playoff with Corey Pavin. Janzen then birdies the first playoff hole to earn the victory.[18]
  • 1996: Future number two ranked player in the world, Steve Stricker, wins for the first time on the PGA Tour. He beats Mark O'Meara, Grant Waite, Scott Hoch, and Brad Faxon by three shots.[19]
  • 1997: Justin Leonard wins for the second time on the PGA Tour after Mark Wiebe misses two-foot par putts on both the 71st and 72nd holes to finish one shot behind.[20]
  • 1999: Rich Beem becomes the first PGA Tour rookie to win the tournament. His four round scoring total of 274 (−10) is good enough for a one-stroke triumph over Bradley Hughes and Bill Glasson.[21]
  • 2004: Adam Scott shoots a 72-hole tournament scoring record 263 on his way to a four-shot victory over Charles Howell III.[22]

Winners

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Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Winner's
share ($)
Venue
Booz Allen Classic
2006   Ben Curtis 264 −20 5 strokes   Billy Andrade
  Nick O'Hern
  Pádraig Harrington
  Steve Stricker
900,000 TPC at Avenel
2005   Sergio García 270 −14 2 strokes   Ben Crane
  Davis Love III
  Adam Scott
900,000 Congressional
(Blue Course)
2004   Adam Scott 263 −21 4 strokes   Charles Howell III 864,000 TPC at Avenel
FBR Capital Open
2003   Rory Sabbatini 270 −14 4 strokes   Joe Durant
  Fred Funk
  Duffy Waldorf
810,000 TPC at Avenel
Kemper Insurance Open
2002   Bob Estes 273 −11 1 stroke   Rich Beem 648,000 TPC at Avenel
2001   Frank Lickliter 268 −16 1 stroke   J. J. Henry 630,000 TPC at Avenel
2000   Tom Scherrer 271 −13 2 strokes   Greg Chalmers
  Kazuhiko Hosokawa
  Franklin Langham
  Justin Leonard
  Steve Lowery
540,000 TPC at Avenel
Kemper Open
1999   Rich Beem 274 −10 1 stroke   Bill Glasson
  Bradley Hughes
450,000 TPC at Avenel
1998   Stuart Appleby 274 −10 1 stroke   Scott Hoch 360,000 TPC at Avenel
1997   Justin Leonard 274 −10 1 stroke   Mark Wiebe 270,000 TPC at Avenel
1996   Steve Stricker 270 −14 3 strokes   Brad Faxon
  Scott Hoch
  Mark O'Meara
  Grant Waite
270,000 TPC at Avenel
1995   Lee Janzen 272 −12 Playoff   Corey Pavin 252,000 TPC at Avenel
1994   Mark Brooks 271 −13 3 strokes   Bobby Wadkins
  D. A. Weibring
234,000 TPC at Avenel
1993   Grant Waite 275 −9 1 stroke   Tom Kite 234,000 TPC at Avenel
1992   Bill Glasson (2) 276 −8 1 stroke   John Daly
  Ken Green
  Mike Springer
  Howard Twitty
198,000 TPC at Avenel
1991   Billy Andrade 263 −21 Playoff   Jeff Sluman 180,000 TPC at Avenel
1990   Gil Morgan 274 −10 1 stroke   Ian Baker-Finch 180,000 TPC at Avenel
1989   Tom Byrum 268 −16 5 strokes   Tommy Armour III
  Billy Ray Brown
  Jim Thorpe
162,000 TPC at Avenel
1988   Morris Hatalsky 274 −10 Playoff   Tom Kite 144,000 TPC at Avenel
1987   Tom Kite 270 −14 7 strokes   Chris Perry
  Howard Twitty
126,000 TPC at Avenel
1986   Greg Norman (2) 277 −11 Playoff   Larry Mize 90,000 Congressional
1985   Bill Glasson 278 −10 1 stroke   Larry Mize
  Corey Pavin
90,000 Congressional
1984   Greg Norman 280 −8 5 strokes   Mark O'Meara 72,000 Congressional
1983   Fred Couples 287 −1 Playoff   Chen Tze-chung
  Barry Jaeckel
  Gil Morgan
  Scott Simpson
72,000 Congressional
1982   Craig Stadler (2) 275 −13 7 strokes   Seve Ballesteros 72,000 Congressional
1981   Craig Stadler 270 −10 6 strokes   Tom Watson
  Tom Weiskopf
72,000 Congressional
1980   John Mahaffey 275 −5 3 strokes   Craig Stadler 72,000 Congressional
1979   Jerry McGee 272 −16 1 stroke   Jerry Pate 63,000 Quail Hollow Club
1978   Andy Bean 273 −15 5 strokes   Mark Hayes
  Andy North
60,000 Quail Hollow Club
1977   Tom Weiskopf (3) 277 −11 2 strokes   George Burns
  Bill Rogers
50,000 Quail Hollow Club
1976   Joe Inman 277 −11 1 stroke   Grier Jones
  Tom Weiskopf
50,000 Quail Hollow Club
1975   Raymond Floyd 278 −10 3 strokes   John Mahaffey
  Gary Player
50,000 Quail Hollow Club
1974   Bob Menne 270 −18 Playoff   Jerry Heard 50,000 Quail Hollow Club
1973   Tom Weiskopf (2) 271 −17 3 strokes   Lanny Wadkins 40,000 Quail Hollow Club
1972   Doug Sanders 275 −13 1 stroke   Lee Trevino 35,000 Quail Hollow Club
1971   Tom Weiskopf 277 −11 Playoff   Dale Douglass
  Gary Player
  Lee Trevino
30,000 Quail Hollow Club
1970   Dick Lotz 278 −10 1 stroke   Lou Graham
  Larry Hinson
  Grier Jones
  Tom Weiskopf
30,000 Quail Hollow Club
1969   Dale Douglass 274 −14 4 strokes   Charles Coody 30,000 Quail Hollow Club
1968   Arnold Palmer 276 −12 4 strokes   Bruce Crampton
  Art Wall Jr.
30,000 Pleasant Valley

References

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  1. ^ "Curtis finally wins title after rain delays". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. wire reports. June 28, 2006. p. C2.
  2. ^ "Rypien gets invitation to Kemper". Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. wire reports. March 31, 1992. p. B1.
  3. ^ "Rypien gets strokes from fans". Spokane Chronicle. Washington. wire reports. May 29, 1992. p. C3.
  4. ^ Ginsburg, David (May 30, 1992). "Rypien misses Kemper cut". Kentucky New Era. Hopkinsville. Associated Press. p. 2B.
  5. ^ Palmer Charges Home To Kemper Win
  6. ^ Tom Weiskopf Wins Kemper in Playoff
  7. ^ Sanders fend Lee for Kemper cash
  8. ^ Floyd makes the circle complete
  9. ^ Weiskopf wins Kemper Open by two strokes
  10. ^ Mahaffey's Walking Tall
  11. ^ Stadler Kemper Winner; Nicklaus Ties for Third
  12. ^ Kemper Open replay unlikely
  13. ^ Couples claims Kemper in sudden death
  14. ^ Kemper first win for Glasson
  15. ^ Norman wins playoff
  16. ^ Hatalsky puts away Kite in Kemper Open playoff
  17. ^ Glasson clips foursome to claim Kemper
  18. ^ Janzen wins Kemper Open
  19. ^ GOLF Another First-Time Winner on PGA Tour
  20. ^ Leonard wins Kemper Open
  21. ^ Beem wins Kemper Open
  22. ^ "Scott staves off Howell to win Booz Allen". Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
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38°59′20″N 77°12′07″W / 38.989°N 77.202°W / 38.989; -77.202