Five prior tournaments at the Champions Golf Club in Houston

Champions Golf Club (Wikimedia Commons)

The 2020 United States Women’s Open begins on Thursday. Yes, it is weird to have the fourth and final major in women’s golf in December. Over the years, there have been some great moments at the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, the site of this year’s championship. Here are five notable events.

5) The Southern Amateur—This annual golf tournament is recognized as one of the top amateur golf tournaments in the United States. Twice during stroke play, it has been held at the Champions Golf Club and won by a future major champion. The 1973 winner was two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, and the 1980 winner was 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway.

4) Houston Champions International–Five times (1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1971), the Houston Champions Golf Club hosted an event during the PGA Tour regular season. The event, which is known today as the Houston Open, was won by major champions on three occasions. The 1966 winner was in fact Arnold Palmer, the seven-time major champion. The other two major winners who won the Houston Champions International were former British Open champion Robert De Vicenzo of Argentina (1968), and former US. Open champion and PGA Championship winner Hubert Green (1971).

3) Tour Championship–Today, the PGA Tour Championship is regularly held in Atlanta, but for a period of time, it was in Houston. The Champions Golf Club hosted the events in 1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003. During that time, the champions were Jodie Mudd (1990), former British Open champion David Duval (1997), 15-time major champion Tiger Woods (1999), former Masters champion Mike Weir of Canada (2001), and Chad Campbell (2003).

2) 1967 Ryder Cup–In a dominant performance by the United States, the Americans hammered Great Britain 23 1/2 to 8 1/2. It is the most points one team has ever won at a single Ryder Cup, and the 15 points is the largest margin of victory. Arnold Dickinson and Palmer each had perfect records of 5-0 for the United States.

1) 1969 U.S. Open-–For the third time, the U.S. Open was held in Texas and the first time in Houston. After Craig Wood won at Colonial in Fort Worth in 1941, and Julius Boros won in Dallas in 1952, Orville Moody was the victor at the Houston Champions Golf Club in 1969. Moody, who won the only major title of his career, won the U.S. Open over par at +1. He beat Al Geiberger, Deane Beman, and Bob Rosburg by a stroke.

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