Portland Open Invitational

The Portland Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament in the northwest United States on the PGA Tour, played in Portland, Oregon. Established by Robert A. Hudson with a $10,000 purse in 1944, it was played from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1966. The event was hosted eight times at the Portland Golf Club,^[2] and four times at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.^[3] First played as the Portland Open, the revived 1959 event played as the Portland Centennial Open Invitational, in honor of Oregon's centennial of statehood.^[4]

Portland Open Invitational

Tournament information
Location	Portland, Oregon
Established	1944
Course(s)	Columbia Edgewater Country Club
Par	72
Length	6,435 yards (5,884 m)[1]
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$50,000
Month played	September
Final year	1966
Tournament record score
Aggregate	261 Ben Hogan (1945)
To par	–27 as above
Final champion
Bert Yancey
Location map
Columbia Edgewater CC Location in the United States Show map of the United States Columbia Edgewater CC Location in Oregon Show map of Oregon

Sam Snead won the inaugural event in 1944,^[5] and Ben Hogan won in 1945 by fourteen strokes,^[6][7] and also won the 1946 PGA Championship, then a match play event, held at the Portland Golf Club.^[8] The club also hosted the Ryder Cup in 1947; the U.S. team was captained by Hogan and won 11–1. Hogan was a runner-up in 1948, a stroke back in an 18-hole playoff.^[9][10]

The tournament was dominated by three-time winners Billy Casper (1959–61)^[11] and Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1964–65).^[12][13] Nicklaus' $3,500 win during his rookie season in 1962 concluded three weeks of victories;^[14] he took the massive winner's share of $50,000 in the exhibition World Series of Golf in Ohio,^[15][16] and then won his second tour title at the Seattle Open Invitational, which paid $4,300.^[17][18] Both Casper and Nicklaus won at both courses.

Bert Yancey won the last edition in 1966 and took only 102 putts.^[19] It stood as the tour's 72-hole record for fewest putts for over a decade, until Bob Menne had only 99 at the Tournament Players Championship in 1977,^[20] but tied for 47th.^[21]

Tournament hosts

Venue	Years
Portland Golf Club	1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965
Columbia Edgewater Country Club	1961, 1962, 1963, 1966

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse (US$)	Winner's share ($)	Ref.
Portland Open Invitational
1966	Bert Yancey	271	−17	3 strokes	Billy Casper	50,000	6,600	[19]
1965	Jack Nicklaus (3)	273	−15	3 strokes	Dave Marr	50,000	6,600	[13]
1964	Jack Nicklaus (2)	275	−13	3 strokes	Ken Venturi	40,000	5,800	[12]
1963	George Knudson	272	−16	Playoff	Mason Rudolph	30,000	4,300	[22]
1962	Jack Nicklaus	269	−19	1 stroke	George Bayer	25,000	3,500	[14]
1961	Billy Casper (3)	273	−15	1 stroke	Dave Hill	25,000	3,500	[11]
1960	Billy Casper (2)	266	−22	2 strokes	Paul Harney	27,500	2,800	[23]
Portland Centennial Open Invitational
1959	Billy Casper	269	−19	3 strokes	Bob Duden Dave Ragan	20,000	2,800	[4]
Portland Open Invitational
1949–1958: No tournament
1948	Fred Haas	270	−18	Playoff	Ben Hogan (2nd) Johnny Palmer (3rd)	15,000	2,450	[9][10]
1947	Charles Congdon	270	−18	6 strokes	Clayton Heafner Herman Keiser Johnny Palmer George Payton	10,000	2,000	[24]
1946: No tournament'
1945	Ben Hogan	261	−27	14 strokes	Byron Nelson	14,333	2,666	[6][7]
Portland Open
1944	Sam Snead	289	+1	2 strokes	Mike Turnesa	16,000	2,675	[5]

Playoffs

• 1948: 18-hole Monday playoff: Haas 70 (−2), Hogan 71 (−1), Palmer 75 (+3).^[10]
• 1963: Knudson chipped in for eagle on the first playoff hole, a par-5, for the win; Rudolph nearly matched it, but his bounced out.^[22]

See also

• WinCo Foods Portland Open, a current event on the Korn Ferry Tour
• Cambia Portland Classic, a current event on the LPGA Tour