Imperial Collection Russian Open
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Imperial Collection Russian Open is currently the only golf tournament on the European Tour schedule which is played east of the former Iron Curtain. It was established in 1996 as a tournament on the second-tier Challenge Tour and was added to the European Tour schedule in 2003. From 2003 to 2005, it was an official money event on both tours.
The tournament is played near Moscow. Through 2006, it was held on the same weekend in August as the PGA Championship, which automatically made it a secondary event. In 2007, it will be held the weekend before the PGA Championship, but still remains a secondary event, this time to the Bridgestone Invitational, a World Golf Championships event. The 2005 prize fund of $500,000 was around a tenth of those of the leading events on the European Tour, even leaving aside the major championships and World Golf Championships. However, it was one of the richest tournaments of the season on the Challenge Tour. In 2006, the prize fund doubled to $1 million and it became a European Tour-only event.
[edit] Winners
Imperial Collection Russian Open
- 2006 Alejandro Cañizares - Spain
Cadillac Russian Open
- 2005 Mikael Lundberg - Sweden
BMW Russian Open
- 2004 Gary Emerson - England
- 2003 Fraser Marcus - Australia
- 2002 Iain Pyman - England
- 2001 Jamie Donaldson - Wales
- 2000 Marco Bernardini - Italy
- 1999 Iain Pyman - England
Moscow Country Club Russian Open
- 1998 Warren Bennett - England
Sovereign Russian Open
- 1997 Michele Reale - Italy
Russian Open
- 1996 Carl Watts - England
[edit] External link
- Coverage on the European Tour's official site - use the schedule browser on the left to access other years.
