Puerto Rico Open

Last updated

Puerto Rico Open
Puerto Rico Open logo.png
Tournament information
Location Río Grande, Puerto Rico
Established2008
Course(s)Grand Reserve Country Club
Par72
Length7,506 yards (6,863 m)
Tour(s) PGA Tour (alternate event)
Format Stroke play
Prize fund US$4,000,000
Month playedMarch
Tournament record score
Aggregate267 Chesson Hadley (2014)
267 Nico Echavarría (2023)
To par−21 as above
Current champion
Flag of the United States.svg Brice Garnett
Location Map
USA Puerto Rico topographic location map.png
Icona golf.svg
Grand Reserve CC
Location in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was first played in 2008. It is the only PGA Tour event ever held in Puerto Rico. The tournament is played at the Coco Beach Golf Course (previously Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico) which was designed by Tom Kite. From its inception through 2015, it was played in early March as an alternate event to the WGC-Cadillac Championship, but in 2016 it moved to late March, opposite the WGC-Dell Match Play. All four rounds are broadcast on the Golf Channel. [1]

Contents

The winner of the Puerto Rico Open earns 300 FedEx Cup points and 24 OWGR points, compared to 550 FedEx Cup and 70-80 OWGR points for World Golf Championships. As an alternate event, the winner does not earn a bid to the Masters, but still receives a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour (compared to three for a WGC event) and entry into the PGA Championship as a Tour winner. In 2015, the prize fund was US$3 million with $540,000 going to the winner.

The Puerto Rico Open is allocated eight additional sponsor exemptions. Four of these are designated for players from Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The other four additional exemptions are unrestricted. [2]

For 2018 only, the Puerto Rico Open was an unofficial event as a fundraiser for relief efforts after Hurricane Maria, and was played at TPC Dorado Beach. [3]

The event had been considered to have an unofficial "curse" on the PGA Tour, as no winner of the event had ever gone on to win another tournament. The only exception to this was Michael Bradley who won the Puerto Rico Open for a second time in 2011, after winning his first in 2009, but never won another PGA Tour event. [4] However, Viktor Hovland broke the "curse" when he went on to win the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December 2020, having won the Puerto Rico Open earlier in the year. [5]

History

A Puerto Rico Open was played between 1956 and 1967. It was a fixture on the PGA-sponsored Caribbean Tour until 1965, after which sponsors rescheduled the event to later in the calendar year. [6] The Puerto Rico Open was revived as a stop on the Tour de las Américas 2004 and 2005, before being reincarnated as a PGA Tour event in 2008.

Winners

YearTour [lower-alpha 1] WinnerScoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-upPurse
($)
Winner's
share ($)
Ref.
Puerto Rico Open
2024 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Brice Garnett 269−19Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Erik Barnes 4,000,000720,000
2023 PGAT Flag of Colombia.svg Nico Echavarría 267−212 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Akshay Bhatia 3,800,000684,000
2022 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Brehm 268−206 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Max McGreevy 3,700,000666,000
2021 PGAT Flag of South Africa.svg Branden Grace 269−191 stroke Flag of Venezuela.svg Jhonattan Vegas 3,000,000540,000
2020 PGAT Flag of Norway.svg Viktor Hovland 268−201 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Josh Teater 3,000,000540,000
2019 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Martin Trainer 275−153 strokes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Aaron Baddeley
Flag of the United States.svg Daniel Berger
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Roger Sloan
Flag of the United States.svg Johnson Wagner
3,000,000540,000
2018: No tournament
2017 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg D. A. Points 268−202 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Bryson DeChambeau
Flag of South Africa.svg Retief Goosen
Flag of the United States.svg Bill Lunde
3,000,000540,000
2016 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Tony Finau 276−12Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Steve Marino 3,000,000540,000
2015 PGAT Flag of Germany.svg Alex Čejka 281−7Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Jon Curran
Flag of Argentina.svg Emiliano Grillo
Flag of the United States.svg Tim Petrovic
Flag of the United States.svg Sam Saunders
3,000,000540,000
2014 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Chesson Hadley 267−212 strokes Flag of New Zealand.svg Danny Lee 3,500,000630,000
2013 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Scott Brown 268−201 stroke Flag of Argentina.svg Fabián Gómez
Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Spieth
3,500,000630,000
2012 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg George McNeill 272−162 strokes Flag of Japan.svg Ryo Ishikawa 3,500,000630,000
2011 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Michael Bradley (2)272−16Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Troy Matteson 3,500,000630,000
2010 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Derek Lamely 269−192 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Kris Blanks 3,500,000630,000
2009 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Michael Bradley 274−141 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Day
Flag of the United States.svg Brett Quigley
3,500,000630,000
2008 PGAT Flag of the United States.svg Greg Kraft 274−141 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Jerry Kelly
Flag of the United States.svg Bo Van Pelt
3,500,000630,000
2006−07: No tournament
American Express Puerto Rico Open
2005 TLA Flag of Argentina.svg Daniel Barbetti 268−20Playoff Flag of Argentina.svg Eduardo Argiró 125,00022,500 [7]
2004 TLA Flag of Argentina.svg Rodolfo González 282−61 stroke Flag of Argentina.svg Eduardo Argiró
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg David Morland IV
110,00019,890 [8]
Puerto Rico Open
1968−2003: No tournament
1967 Flag of the United States.svg Chuck Courtney 280−82 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Art Wall Jr. [9]
1966 Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg Ramón Sota 284−42 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Bill Collins [10]
1965 Flag of the United States.svg Howell Fraser 288E1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Al Besselink
Flag of the United States.svg Art Wall Jr.
[11]
1964 Flag of the United States.svg Art Wall Jr. 289+1Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Jay Dolan [12]
1963 Flag of the United States.svg Charlie Sifford 277−76 strokes Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg George Knudson [13]
1962 Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg George Knudson 280−42 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Al Geiberger
Flag of the United States.svg Tony Lema
Flag of the United States.svg Don Whitt
Flag of the United States.svg Henry Williams Jr.
[14]
1961 Flag of the United States.svg Billy Maxwell 273−117 strokes Flag of Argentina.svg Roberto De Vicenzo [15]
1960 Flag of the United States.svg Joe Jimenez 280−4Playoff Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg Stan Leonard [16]
1959 Flag of the United States.svg Pete Cooper 282−65 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Ed Oliver [17]
1958 Flag of the United States.svg Bob Toski 288E2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Ernie Vossler [18]
1957 Flag of the United States.svg Chick Harbert 281−72 strokes Flag of Argentina.svg Roberto De Vicenzo [19]
1956 Flag of Argentina.svg Antonio Cerdá 144 [lower-alpha 2] E5 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Herman Barron
Flag of Ireland.svg Dick Ferguson
[20]

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.

Notes

  1. PGAT − PGA Tour; TLA − Tour de las Américas.
  2. Shortened to 36 holes due to rain.

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References

  1. "PGA Tour adds Puerto Rico Open to '08 schedule". PGA Tour. April 9, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  2. "2015–16 PGA Tour Player Handbook & Tournament Regulations" (PDF). October 5, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2016.
  3. "Puerto Rico Open back on PGA Tour schedule in 2019 after Hurricane Maria cancels 2018 plans". ESPN. Associated Press. December 21, 2017.
  4. Myers, Alex (February 18, 2020). "Why PGA Tour pros might want to think twice about winning the Puerto Rico Open". Golf World.
  5. Woodward, Adam (December 6, 2020). "Viktor Hovland breaks PGA Tour's 'Puerto Rico Open Curse'". Golfweek.
  6. "Citrus Open tops winter golf tour" . Fort Pierce News Tribune. Fort Pierce, Florida. September 22, 1965. p. 12. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via NewspaperArchive.
  7. "Puerto Rico Open once again raises the bar" (PDF). Caribbean Golf Magazine. May 2005. p. 39.
  8. "Rodolfo González campeón en Puerto Rico". espn.com.gt (in Spanish). March 21, 2004.
  9. "Courtney Wins Puerto Rico Open". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. November 27, 1967. p. 15. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  10. "Sota Captures Puerto Rico Title". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. November 21, 1966. p. 13. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  11. "Rookie Fraser Wins Tourney". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. March 15, 1965. p. 13. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  12. "Art Wall Takes Caribbean Cup". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. UPI. March 9, 1964. p. 14. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  13. "Sifford Wins in San Juan Knudson 2nd". The Gazette (Montreal). Montreal, Canada. AP. March 4, 1963. p. 26. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  14. "Knudson Captures Puerto Rico Open". The Gazette (Montreal). Montreal, Canada. AP. March 5, 1962. p. 20. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  15. "Puerto Rico Open Win by Maxwell". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. March 6, 1961. p. 11. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  16. "Golf Victory to Jimenez". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. February 29, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  17. "Coop Claims Second Win". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. February 16, 1959. p. 10. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  18. "Toski Is Winner in Puerto Rico". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. February 10, 1958. p. 10. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  19. "Harbert Wins Puerto Rican Open Tourney". The Gazette (Montreal). Montreal, Canada. AP. February 4, 1957. p. 26. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  20. "Cerda Cards 144, Wins Puerto Rican Golf Tournament". The Gazette (Montreal). Montreal, Canada. AP. February 6, 1956. p. 22. Retrieved May 8, 2020 via Google News Archive.

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