The Shriners Open kicks off the fifth week of the 2017-18 PGA Tour season with Rod Pampling looking to defend his title at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
With a long and storied history as a Tour stop, the Shriners event dates back to 1983 when Fuzzy Zoeller won what was then called the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic.
Here are some historical factoids to know about the Shriners Open.
NAMES IN VEGAS, DON’T STAY IN VEGAS
There have been eight different tournament names for the Vegas PGA Tour stop.
- 1983: PANASONIC LAS VEGAS PRO-CELEBRITY CLASSIC
- 1984-88: PANASONIC LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
- 1989-99: LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
- 2000-03: INVENSYS CLASSIC AT LAS VEGAS
- 2004-05: MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT LAS VEGAS
- 2006-07: FRYS.COM OPEN
- 2008-12: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN
- 2013-PRESENT: SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN
WIRE-TO-WIRE INAUGURAL WINNER
Fuzzy Zoeller won the inaugural Las Vegas event in 1983 by holding the lead from start to finish, which back then was a 5 round event.
Zoeller opened with a 63 and then shot rounds of 70-70-64-73. His final round 73 still holds the record for worst final round by a winner.
FURYK LOVES VEGAS
Jim Furyk is the all time money winner in Vegas, raking in $2,129,619 over the years. Furyk is a 3-time winner (’95, ’98, ’99) and lost in a playoff in 2005.
His win in 1995 was worth $270,000, which is $228,000 less than what he earned ten years later with a runner-up finish ($432,000).
A VERY SMYLIE SUNDAY
In the process of winning his first PGA Tour win, Smylie Kaufman set the for record for a closing round by a winner in 2015. Kaufman posted a 10-under 61 in the final round two years ago at TPC Summerlin to beat a group of six players by a single stroke.
Kaufman also set a tournament record for biggest comeback by overcoming a 7-stroke deficit.
LOVE TRUMPS FIELD
Davis Love III holds the record for the largest winning margin. In 1993, Love lapped the field with a 29-under finish at what was then the Las Vegas Invitational, whipping runner-up Craig Stadler by 8 strokes.
BREAKING BECK
Up until 1991, Al Geiberger was the only player to shoot a 59 in a PGA Tour event. Geiberger fired a 59 during the second round of the 1977 Memphis Classic at Colonial Country Club.
But during the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, Chip Beck posted a third-round score of 13-under 59, becoming the second-ever player.
5 THINGS ABOUT TPC SUMMERLIN
The Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, designed by Bobby Weed and Fuzzy Zoeller, opened for play in 1991.
Here are 5 interesting nuggets about the TPC track in Vegas.
- BUILT-IN FANS – TPC Summerlin was built in heart of Summerlin, a 22,000-acre master-planned community on the western-most edge of Las Vegas. The community is currently home to more than 100,000 residents.
- STADIUM COURSE – TPC Summerlin is a stadium course and designed to accommodate golfing fans with unrestricted views of tee shots, fairway approaches and putting through strategically placed spectator mounds and natural amphitheaters.
- SISTER COURSE – There are two TPC Network course in Nevada – TPC Summerlin and TPC Las Vegas. The TPC network currently encompasses 25 courses in 10 states and, with the addition of non-domestic TPCs, three foreign countries. The TPC network is designed and managed by subsidiaries of the PGA TOUR.
- COURSE STATS – TPC Summerlin is a par-71 with 18 holes that stretches to 7,255 yards from the championship tees.
- BENT AND BERMUDA – The course is covered with Bermuda grass fairways, tees and roughs; and new A-5 Bent grass greens, which were completed in March 2006.
Credit: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images
