The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006.
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 Truist 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. In 1992, Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, was given a sponsor's exemption into the tournament, but shot rounds of 80 and 91 and missed the cut by 28 strokes. 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 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.Palmer Charges Home To Kemper Win 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.Tom Weiskopf Wins Kemper in Playoff 1972: Doug Sanders rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to edge Lee Trevino by one shot.Sanders fend Lee for Kemper cash 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.Floyd makes the circle complete 1977: Tom Weiskopf wins the Kemper Open for a third time. He beats Bill Rogers and George Burns by two shots.Weiskopf wins Kemper Open by two strokes 1980: John Mahaffey wins the first Kemper Open played at the Congressional Country Club. He beats Craig Stadler by three shots.Mahaffey's Walking Tall 1982: Craig Stadler becomes the first Kemper Open winner to successfully defend his title. He beats Seve Ballesteros by seven shots.Stadler Kemper Winner; Nicklaus Ties for Third 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.Kemper Open replay unlikely On the second hole, Couples scores a birdie to win his first PGA Tour title.Couples claims Kemper in sudden death 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.Kemper first win for Glasson 1986: Greg Norman wins the Kemper Open for a second time by defeating Larry Mize on the sixth hole of a sudden death playoff.Norman wins playoff 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.Hatalsky puts away Kite in Kemper Open playoff 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.Glasson clips foursome to claim Kemper 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.Janzen wins Kemper Open 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.GOLF Another First-Time Winner on PGA Tour 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.Leonard wins Kemper Open 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.Beem wins Kemper Open 2004: Adam Scott shoots a 72-hole tournament scoring record 263 on his way to a four-shot victory over Charles Howell III.
Winners YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-upWinner'sshare ($)VenueBooz 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 AvenelFBR Capital Open 2003 Rory Sabbatini 270 −14 4 strokes Joe Durant Fred Funk Duffy Waldorf 810,000 TPC at AvenelKemper 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 AvenelKemper 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
External links PGATOUR.com Tournament website