Motor City Open

Last updated

Motor City Open
Tournament information
Location Detroit, Michigan
Established1948
CourseKnollwood Country Club
Par71
Tour PGA Tour
Format Stroke play
Prize fund US$35,000
Month playedJuly
Final year1962
Tournament record score
Aggregate267 Bruce Crampton (1962)
To par−17 as above
Final champion
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Crampton
Location map
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Icona golf.svg
Knollwood CC
Location in the United States
Relief map of USA Michigan.png
Icona golf.svg
Knollwood CC
Location in Michigan

The Motor City Open was a PGA Tour event played at various clubs in and around Detroit, USA, eight times between 1948 and 1962.

Contents

The PGA Tour record for the longest sudden-death playoff was established at the 1949 Motor City Open. Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 holes at Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Michigan and were still stalemated when darkness arrived. Tournament officials, with their mutual consent, declared them joint winners. [1]

In 1955, the Motor City Open was originally to be played at Meadowbrook Country Club. This was abandoned however, when Meadowbrook's professional, Chick Harbert, won the PGA Championship in 1954. Meadowbrook petitioned for and won the opportunity to host the 1955 PGA Championship and, because of this development, the Motor City Open was not held in 1955. This is the only time that a defending champion of a major championship has hosted the tournament the following year.[ citation needed ]

In 2019, the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club in the city of Detroit replaced The National in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.[ citation needed ]

Tournament hosts

Winners

YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1948 Flag of the United States.svg Ben Hogan 275−9Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Dutch Harrison
1949 Flag of the United States.svg Lloyd Mangrum
Flag of the United States.svg Cary Middlecoff
273−11Title shared [a]
1950 Flag of the United States.svg Lloyd Mangrum (2)274−141 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Sam Snead
1951: No tournament
1952 Flag of the United States.svg Cary Middlecoff (2)274−14Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Ted Kroll
1953: No tournament
1954 Flag of the United States.svg Cary Middlecoff (3)278−62 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Tommy Bolt
Flag of the United States.svg Marty Furgol
Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler
1956 Flag of the United States.svg Bob Rosburg 284−4Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Ed Furgol
1957–58: No tournament
1959 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Souchak 268−169 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Billy Casper
Flag of the United States.svg Doug Ford
1960–61: No tournament
1962 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Crampton 267−173 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Dave Hill
Flag of the United States.svg Don Massengale
  1. Title shared when darkness ended play with Mangrum and Middlecoff still tied after 11 holes of a sudden-death playoff.

References

  1. "Cary Middlecoff bio". World Golf Hall of Fame. Retrieved 5 November 2007.[ dead link ]
    - Brent Kelley (1 June 2017). "Longest Sudden-Death Playoffs". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2024.