Houston Open

Vivint Houston Open

Tournament information
Location	Houston, Texas, U.S.
Established	1946,[1] 75 years ago
Course(s)	Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course
Par	70
Length	7,432 yards (6,796 m)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$7,000,000
Month played	November
Tournament record score
Aggregate	266 Curtis Strange (1980) 266 Lee Trevino (1980) 266 Vijay Singh (2002)
To par	−22 Vijay Singh (2002)
Current champion
Carlos Ortiz
Location Map
Memorial Park Municipal GC Location in the United States Memorial Park Municipal GC Location in Texas Show map of the United StatesShow map of TexasShow all

The Vivint Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in early October. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the event will not be a part of the 2019 PGA Tour, but will be one of the first events of the 2020 PGA Tour.^[2] It is held at the Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course in Harris County near downtown Houston and the Galleria.

History[]

The event was played at several Houston venues until the 1970s, starting 75 years ago at River Oaks Country Club in 1946 before moving to Memorial Park Golf Course in 1947 and, after a year off, moving again to Pine Forest Country Club in 1949 and BraeBurn Country Club in 1950. After this period of wandering, the tournament settled in at Memorial Park from 1951 through 1963. It was at Sharpstown Country Club in 1964 and 1965, moved to Champions Golf Club in 1966 for six years, and then to Westwood Country Club in 1972.

The tournament ventured outside of the city limits in 1973 and 1974 at Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City, a southwest suburb.^[3] It relocated north to The Woodlands in 1975, at Woodlands Country Club until 1984, then at the TPC at The Woodlands through 2002. It moved to near Humble in 2003, where it stayed for 17 years; initially played at the Members Course, it changed to the Tournament Course in 2006. The facility was known as Redstone Golf Club until December 2013, and is now the Golf Club of Houston.^[4][5]

Previously held weeks later in mid-spring, the Houston Open was played the week before the Masters Tournament from 2007 through 2018 (except 2013, when it was two weeks before the Masters), and was the last chance to get into the field at Augusta through a win. The tournament also had up to four additional sponsor exemptions to enable nonmember Masters-qualified professionals from the top 100 of the OWGR to compete in the U.S. in the week prior to the Masters.^[6]

Shell Oil Company sponsored the event from 1992 through 2017. When the end of Shell's sponsorship was announced, the PGA Tour said it would seek a new sponsor for 2018.^[7] At that time, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane led a group of new sponsors who signed a five-year deal with the PGA Tour to ensure that the event stayed in Houston.^[8] The tournament is now operated under the Astros Foundation, under the umbrella Astros Golf Foundation, with a new logo inspired by the Astros' "Rainbow Guts" uniforms of the 1980s.^[9][10]

In 2019, the event moved to October (as part of the 2019–20 season) and was the last held at the Golf Club of Houston. In 2020, it will move to the renovated Memorial Park Golf Course.^[11] The Astros Foundation committed $34 million to renovate and redesign the golf course facilities with input from golfer Brooks Koepka. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA Tour announced schedule changes to the 2020–21 season schedule and moved the Houston Open to November 5–8, one week before the Masters Tournament. The tournament will be sponsored by Vivint.

Winners[]

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)	Purse ($)
Vivint Houston Open
2020	Carlos Ortiz	267	−13	2 strokes	Dustin Johnson Hideki Matsuyama	1,260,000	7,000,000
Houston Open
2019	Lanto Griffin	274	−14	1 stroke	Mark Hubbard	1,350,000	7,500,000
2018	Ian Poulter	269	−19	Playoff	Beau Hossler	1,260,000	7,000,000
Shell Houston Open
2017	Russell Henley	268	−20	3 strokes	Kang Sung-hoon	1,260,000	7,000,000
2016	Jim Herman	273	−15	1 stroke	Henrik Stenson	1,224,000	6,800,000
2015	J. B. Holmes	272	−16	Playoff	Jordan Spieth Johnson Wagner	1,188,000	6,600,000
2014	Matt Jones	273	−15	Playoff	Matt Kuchar	1,152,000	6,400,000
2013	D. A. Points	272	−16	1 stroke	Billy Horschel Henrik Stenson	1,116,000	6,200,000
2012	Hunter Mahan	272	−16	1 stroke	Carl Pettersson	1,080,000	6,000,000
2011	Phil Mickelson	268	−20	3 strokes	Chris Kirk Scott Verplank	1,062,000	5,900,000
2010	Anthony Kim	276	−12	Playoff	Vaughn Taylor	1,044,000	5,800,000
2009	Paul Casey	277	−11	Playoff	J. B. Holmes	1,026,000	5,700,000
2008	Johnson Wagner	272	−16	2 strokes	Chad Campbell Geoff Ogilvy	1,008,000	5,600,000
2007	Adam Scott	271	−17	3 strokes	Stuart Appleby Bubba Watson	990,000	5,500,000
2006	Stuart Appleby (2)	269	−19	6 strokes	Bob Estes	990,000	5,500,000
2005	Vijay Singh (3)	275	−13	Playoff	John Daly	900,000	5,000,000
2004	Vijay Singh (2)	277	−11	2 strokes	Scott Hoch	900,000	5,000,000
2003	Fred Couples	267	−21	4 strokes	Stuart Appleby Mark Calcavecchia Hank Kuehne	810,000	4,500,000
2002	Vijay Singh	266	−22	6 strokes	Darren Clarke	720,000	4,000,000
2001	Hal Sutton	278	−10	3 strokes	Joe Durant Lee Janzen	612,000	3,400,000
2000	Robert Allenby	275	−13	Playoff	Craig Stadler	504,000	2,800,000
1999	Stuart Appleby	279	−9	1 stroke	John Cook Hal Sutton	450,000	2,500,000
1998	David Duval	276	−12	1 stroke	Jeff Maggert	360,000	2,000,000
1997	Phil Blackmar	276	−12	Playoff	Kevin Sutherland	288,000	1,600,000
1996	Mark Brooks	274	−14	Playoff	Jeff Maggert	270,000	1,500,000
1995	Payne Stewart	276	−12	Playoff	Scott Hoch	252,000	1,400,000
1994	Mike Heinen	272	−16	3 strokes	Tom Kite Jeff Maggert Hal Sutton	234,000	1,300,000
1993	Jim McGovern	199[a]	−17	Playoff	John Huston	234,000	1,300,000
1992	Fred Funk	272	−16	2 strokes	Kirk Triplett	216,000	1,200,000
Independent Insurance Agent Open
1991	Fulton Allem	273	−15	1 stroke	Billy Ray Brown Mike Hulbert Tom Kite	144,000	800,000
1990	Tony Sills	204[a]	−12	Playoff	Gil Morgan	180,000	1,000,000
1989	Mike Sullivan	280	−8	1 stroke	Craig Stadler	144,000	800,000
1988	Curtis Strange (3)	270	−18	Playoff	Greg Norman	126,000	700,000
Big "I" Houston Open
1987	Jay Haas	276	−12	Playoff	Buddy Gardner	108,000	600,000
Houston Open
1986	Curtis Strange (2)	274	−14	Playoff	Calvin Peete	90,000	500,000
1985	Raymond Floyd	277	−11	1 stroke	David Frost Bob Lohr	90,000	500,000
Houston Coca-Cola Open
1984	Corey Pavin	274	−10	1 stroke	Buddy Gardner	90,000	500,000
1983	David Graham	275	−9	5 strokes	Lee Elder Jim Thorpe Lee Trevino	72,000	400,000
Michelob-Houston Open
1982	Ed Sneed	275	−9	Playoff	Bob Shearer	63,000	350,000
1981	Ron Streck	198[a]	−15	3 strokes	Hale Irwin Jerry Pate	47,250	262,500
1980	Curtis Strange	266	−18	Playoff	Lee Trevino	63,000	350,000
Houston Open
1979	Wayne Levi	268	−16	2 strokes	Mike Brannan	54,000	300,000
1978	Gary Player	270	−18	1 stroke	Andy Bean	40,000	200,000
1977	Gene Littler	276	−12	3 strokes	Lanny Wadkins	40,000	200,000
1976	Lee Elder	278	−10	1 stroke	Forrest Fezler	40,000	200,000
1975	Bruce Crampton (2)	273	−15	2 strokes	Gil Morgan	30,000	150,000
1974	Dave Hill	276	−12	1 stroke	Rod Curl Steve Melnyk Andy North	30,000	150,000
1973	Bruce Crampton	277	−11	1 stroke	Dave Stockton	41,000	205,000
1972	Bruce Devlin	278	−10	2 strokes	Tommy Aaron Lou Graham Doug Sanders	25,000	125,000
Houston Champions International
1971	Hubert Green	280	−4	Playoff	Don January	25,000	125,000
1970	Gibby Gilbert	282	−2	Playoff	Bruce Crampton	23,000	115,000
1969: No tournament - club hosted the 1969 U.S. Open
1968	Roberto De Vicenzo	274	−10	1 stroke	Lee Trevino	20,000	100,000
1967	Frank Beard	274	−10	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer	23,000	115,000
1966	Arnold Palmer (2)	275	−9	1 stroke	Gardner Dickinson	21,000	110,000
Houston Classic
1965	Bobby Nichols (2)	273	−11	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin Chi-Chi Rodríguez	12,000	75,000
1964	Mike Souchak (2)	278	−6	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus	7,500	50,000
1963	Bob Charles	268	−12	1 stroke	Fred Hawkins	10,000	50,000
1962	Bobby Nichols	278	−2	Playoff	Jack Nicklaus Dan Sikes	9,000	50,000
1961	Jay Hebert	276	−4	Playoff	Ken Venturi	7,000	40,000
1960	Bill Collins	280	−8	Playoff	Arnold Palmer	5,300	35,000
1959	Jack Burke Jr. (2)	277	−11	Playoff	Julius Boros	4,300	30,000
Houston Open
1958	Ed Oliver	281	−7	1 stroke	Roberto De Vicenzo Jay Hebert	4,300	30,000
1957	Arnold Palmer	279	−9	1 stroke	Doug Ford	7,500	36,000
1956	Ted Kroll	277	−11	3 strokes	Jack Burke Jr. Dave Douglas	6,000	30,000
1955	Mike Souchak	273	−15	2 strokes	Jerry Barber	6,000	30,000
1954	Dave Douglas	277	−11	2 strokes	Cary Middlecoff	6,000	30,000
1953	Cary Middlecoff (2)	283	−5	Playoff	Jim Ferrier Shelley Mayfield Earl Stewart	4,000	20,000
1952	Jack Burke Jr.	277	−11	6 strokes	Frank Stranahan	2,000	10,000
1951	Marty Furgol	277	−11	1 stroke	Jack Burke Jr.	2,000	10,000
1950	Cary Middlecoff	277	−11	3 strokes	Pete Cooper	2,000	10,000
1949	Johnny Palmer	272	−16	1 stroke	Cary Middlecoff	2,000	10,000
1948: No tournament
1947	Bobby Locke	277	−11	5 strokes	Johnny Palmer Ellsworth Vines	2,000	10,000
1946	Byron Nelson	274	−10	2 strokes	Ben Hogan	2,000	10,000

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Sources:^[12][13][14]

Multiple winners[]

Nine men have won this tournament more than once through 2016.

• 3 wins
  • Curtis Strange: 1980, 1986, 1988
  • Vijay Singh: 2002, 2004, 2005
• 2 wins
  • Cary Middlecoff: 1950, 1953
  • Jack Burke Jr.: 1952, 1959
  • Mike Souchak: 1955, 1964
  • Bobby Nichols: 1962, 1965
  • Arnold Palmer: 1957, 1966
  • Bruce Crampton: 1973, 1975
  • Stuart Appleby: 1999, 2006

See also[]

• Houston Open (early PGA Tour), an earlier Houston event recognized by the PGA Tour

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site

Coordinates: 29°55′26″N 95°15′40″W / 29.924°N 95.261°W / 29.924; -95.261