Buick Open

Buick Open
Tournament information
Location	Grand Blanc, Michigan
Established	1958
Course(s)	Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club
Par	72
Length	7,085 yards (6,479 m)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$5,100,000
Month played	July/August
Final year	2009
Tournament record score
Aggregate	262 Robert Wrenn (1987)
To par	−26 as above
Final champion
	Tiger Woods
Location Map
	Warwick Hills G&CC Location in the United StatesShow map of the United StatesShow map of MichiganShow all

The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. Regardless, many prominent players used it as a "tune-up" for the subsequent major.

For the event's first decade, the Buick Open Invitational was played at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan. After 1969, professional golf events in the area fell off the PGA Tour schedule and a series of pro-ams and other similarly unofficial events took place, mostly at Flint Golf Club in Flint, Michigan.

Flint native, and PGA touring professional Larry Mancour had returned to Michigan to play in the Buick Open and stayed to build the Grand Blanc Golf Club. He then added nine holes at the Flint Elks Golf Club where he remained the professional for 20 years. He rescued the Buick Open when General Motors dropped sponsorship of the tournament. With local Buick dealers Mancour started the Little Buick Open in 1969. It drew players and fans and led to the rebirth of the Buick Open in 1977.

The Buick Open officially made its return to the PGA Tour in 1977 at the Flint Elks Club, and in 1978 the event returned to Warwick Hills G&CC, where it remained until its demise.

The Associated Press reported July 28, 2009 that General Motors would end its sponsorship of the Buick Open after the 2009 tournament, in order to devote its marketing resources to cars and trucks.^[1] The PGA Tour replaced the tournament with the Greenbrier Classic at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.^[2]

As in the 1970s, a series of pro-ams and other unofficial events now take place in Grand Blanc, with the AJGA's Randy Wise Open taking place at Warwick Hills and most pro-ams and a golf festival at the Jewel of Grand Blanc (the former Grand Blanc Golf Club).

In 2014, an unrelated tournament with the same name was started in China. The event is played on PGA Tour China.

In 2018, the former General Motors financing arm, now Ally Bank, returned to Warwick Hills to sponsor a PGA Tour Champions event, The Ally Challenge. Jim Furyk is the only player to have won both, winning the 2003 Buick Open, and the 2020 Ally Challenge, which also was the Champions' return after the pandemic, winning in his first tournament.

Fans[]

The 17th hole at Warwick, a par 3, is known for having one of the rowdiest galleries in professional golf. Fans often created chants directed at particular golfers. The famed 17th hole was also known by locals as the second largest outdoor cocktail party in the world (presumably deferring to the annual Florida–Georgia college football game as the largest). Players at the tournament loved the hole because of the atmosphere it creates. "This is a great tournament to play in, it's a beer drinkers tournament," said John Daly.

Long hitters[]

In its final years, the tournament was dominated by long hitters. Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Brian Bateman, and Kenny Perry combined for eight wins in its final nine years. Several other players ranked highly in driving distance finished second during that span, including Woods, Jason Gore, Geoff Ogilvy, Bubba Watson, and John Daly.^[3]

Winners[]

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
Buick Open
2009	Tiger Woods (3)	268	−20	3 strokes	Greg Chalmers John Senden Roland Thatcher	918,000
2008	Kenny Perry (2)	269	−19	1 stroke	Woody Austin Bubba Watson	900,000
2007	Brian Bateman	273	−15	1 stroke	Woody Austin Jason Gore Justin Leonard	882,000
2006	Tiger Woods (2)	264	−24	3 strokes	Jim Furyk	864,000
2005	Vijay Singh (3)	264	−24	4 strokes	Zach Johnson Tiger Woods	828,000
2004	Vijay Singh (2)	265	−23	1 stroke	John Daly	810,000
2003	Jim Furyk	267	−21	2 strokes	Briny Baird Chris DiMarco Geoff Ogilvy Tiger Woods	720,000
2002	Tiger Woods	271	−17	4 strokes	Fred Funk Brian Gay Mark O'Meara Esteban Toledo	594,000
2001	Kenny Perry	263	−25	2 strokes	Chris DiMarco Jim Furyk	558,000
2000	Rocco Mediate	268	−20	1 stroke	Chris Perry	486,000
1999	Tom Pernice Jr.	270	−18	1 stroke	Tom Lehman Ted Tryba Bob Tway	432,000
1998	Billy Mayfair	271	−17	2 strokes	Scott Verplank	324,000
1997	Vijay Singh	273	��15	4 strokes	Tom Byrum Russ Cochran Ernie Els Brad Fabel Naomichi Ozaki Curtis Strange	270,000
1996	Justin Leonard	266	−22	5 strokes	Chip Beck	216,000
1995	Woody Austin	270	−18	Playoff	Mike Brisky	216,000
1994	Fred Couples	270	−18	2 strokes	Corey Pavin	198,000
1993	Larry Mize	272	−16	1 stroke	Fuzzy Zoeller	180,000
1992	Dan Forsman	276	−12	Playoff	Steve Elkington Brad Faxon	180,000
1991	Brad Faxon	271	−17	Playoff	Chip Beck	180,000
1990	Chip Beck	272	−16	1 stroke	Mike Donald Hale Irwin Fuzzy Zoeller	180,000
1989	Leonard Thompson	273	−15	1 stroke	Billy Andrade Payne Stewart Doug Tewell	180,000
1988	Scott Verplank	268	−20	2 strokes	Doug Tewell	126,000
1987	Robert Wrenn	262	−26	7 strokes	Dan Pohl	108,000
1986	Ben Crenshaw	270	−18	1 stroke	J. C. Snead Doug Tewell	90,000
1985	Ken Green	268	−20	4 strokes	Wayne Grady	81,000
1984	Denis Watson	271	−17	1 stroke	Payne Stewart	72,000
1983	Wayne Levi	272	−16	1 stroke	Isao Aoki Calvin Peete	63,000
1982	Lanny Wadkins	273	−15	1 stroke	Tom Kite	63,000
1981	Hale Irwin	277	−11	Playoff	Bobby Clampett Peter Jacobsen Gil Morgan	63,000
Buick-Goodwrench Open
1980	Peter Jacobsen	276	−12	1 stroke	Billy Kratzert Mark Lye	45,000
1979	John Fought	280	−8	Playoff	Jim Simons	27,000
1978	Jack Newton	280	−8	Playoff	Mike Sullivan	20,000
Buick Open
1977	Bobby Cole	271	−17	1 stroke	Fred Marti	20,000
1970–1976: No tournament
Buick Open Invitational
1969	Dave Hill	277	−11	2 strokes	Frank Beard	25,000
1968	Tom Weiskopf	280	−8	1 stroke	Mike Hill	25,000
1967	Julius Boros (2)	283	−5	3 strokes	Bob Goalby R. H. Sikes Bert Yancey	20,000
1966	Phil Rodgers	284	−4	2 strokes	Johnny Pott Kermit Zarley	20,000
1965	Tony Lema (2)	280	−8	2 strokes	Johnny Pott	20,000
1964	Tony Lema	277	−11	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald	8,000
1963	Julius Boros	274	−14	5 strokes	Dow Finsterwald	9,000
1962	Bill Collins	284	−4	1 stroke	Dave Ragan	9,000
1961	Jack Burke Jr.	284	−4	Playoff	Billy Casper Johnny Pott	9,000
1960	Mike Souchak	282	−6	1 stroke	Gay Brewer Art Wall Jr.	9,000
1959	Art Wall Jr.	282	−6	Playoff	Dow Finsterwald
1958	Billy Casper	285	−3	1 stroke	Ted Kroll Arnold Palmer

Unofficial events in the 1970s[]

Flint Elks Open

1976
1975
1974

Lake Michigan Classic

1973 Wilf Homenuik

Vern Parsell Buick Open

1972 Gary Groh

References[]

^ "AP Source: GM to End Sponsorship of Buick Open". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-28.^{[dead link]} (Defunct prior to 7/10)
^ "Greenbrier Classic Announcement". Bloomberg. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
^ "Buick Open Winners". Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.

External links[]

[1] "AP Source: GM to End Sponsorship of Buick Open". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-28.^{[dead link]} (Defunct prior to 7/10)

[2] "Greenbrier Classic Announcement". Bloomberg. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-05.

[3] "Buick Open Winners". Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2008-06-23.

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