The Tradition is one of the five major championships recognized by the U.S.-based Champions Tour, the world's leading tour for professional golfers aged fifty and older. The inaugural event was staged in 1989.
Unlike the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior British Open, it is not recognized as a major by the European Seniors Tour, and is not part of that tour's official schedule. Unlike the mainstream major championships, some of the senior majors have title sponsors, and at present The Tradition is officially known as the "Regions Tradition". It is the only senior major where the winner does not earn an exemption into a PGA Tour or European Tour event.
From its inception in 1989 through 2001, the tournament was held at the Cochise Golf Course of the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2002 the tournament was held at the The Prospector Course of Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club Superstition Mountain, Arizona.[1] From 2003 through 2006, it was held at the South Course of The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, Oregon, just west of Portland.
In 2007 the tournament moved to the high desert of central Oregon, to the Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver. The lengthy course sits on 600 acres (242 hectares) of woodlands and preserved wetlands along the Deschutes River, at an elevation of 4170 feet (1271 m) above sea level. The par 72 layout played at 7,316 yards (6,690 m) in 2009.
NBC-TV carried the weekend coverage of the tournament in 2007, 2009 and 2010. The Golf Channel covered the early rounds (and all four rounds in 2008 while NBC carried the Olympic Games from Beijing).
In August 2010, Birmingham, Alabama-based Regions Financial Corporation announced that it was taking over sponsorship of the tournament, and as a result it was moving the tournament to the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in the Shoal Creek development south of Birmingham. The Tradition superseded the Regions Charity Classic, a regular Champions Tour event which had been played since 1992 when it began as the Bruno's Memorial Classic.[2] Shoal Creek has previously hosted two PGA Championships, in 1984 and 1990. The tournament was held May 5-8, 2011, with associated events starting on May 2.[3]
Contents |
| Year | Champion | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Regions Tradition | ||
| 2011 | Tom Lehman | United States |
| JELD-WEN Tradition | ||
| 2010 | Fred Funk | United States |
| 2009 | Mike Reid | United States |
| 2008 | Fred Funk | United States |
| 2007 | Mark McNulty | Zimbabwe Ireland |
| 2006 | Eduardo Romero | Argentina |
| 2005 | Loren Roberts | United States |
| 2004 | Craig Stadler | United States |
| 2003 | Tom Watson | United States |
| The Countrywide Tradition | ||
| 2002 | Jim Thorpe | United States |
| 2001 | Doug Tewell | United States |
| 2000 | Tom Kite | United States |
| The Tradition presented by Countrywide | ||
| 1999 | Graham Marsh | Australia |
| 1998 | Gil Morgan | United States |
| 1997 | Gil Morgan | United States |
| The Tradition | ||
| 1996 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
| 1995 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
| 1994 | Raymond Floyd | United States |
| 1993 | Tom Shaw | United States |
| 1992 | Lee Trevino | United States |
| The Tradition at Desert Mountain | ||
| 1991 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
| 1990 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
| 1989 | Don Bies | United States |
Only three men have multiple wins in The Tradition (through 2010):
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