Danny_Thomas_Memphis_Classic

St. Jude Classic

St. Jude Classic

Golf tournament held in Memphis, U.S.


The FedEx St. Jude Classic was a professional golf tournament held in Memphis, Tennessee, as a regular event on the PGA Tour. The tournament was held annually from 1958 through 2018, and was played in June at TPC Southwind (since 1989).

Quick Facts Tournament information, Location ...

In 2019, FedEx took over sponsorship of the WGC Invitational and relocated the tournament to Memphis in late July. The relocated WGC event continues the charitable relationship with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The new name for the relocated event is the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational[4][5] For the 2021–22 season, the WGC Invitational was discontinued, and the first FedEx Cup playoff event was relocated to TPC Southwind with FedEx as the new title sponsor; the event will be named the FedEx St. Jude Championship.[6]

History

The tournament debuted 66 years ago in May 1958 as the Memphis Open and was played annually at Colonial Country Club in Memphis through 1971, then at the club's new home in Cordova through 1988. The late Vernon Bell, a Memphis restaurateur, co-founded the tournament and served as the tournament's general chairman for 22 years.[7] He is also the father of the late Chris Bell.[8]

St. Jude

In 1969, entertainer Danny Thomas (1912–1991) agreed to lend his name to the tournament in exchange for his St. Jude Children's Research Hospital becoming the tournament's charity. Accordingly, the tournament changed its name the next year to the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.

In 1977, President Gerald Ford, who had left office in January, made a hole-in-one during the tournament's celebrity pro-am while playing with Thomas and Ben Crenshaw.[9][10] Two days later, Al Geiberger shot a PGA Tour record 59 (−13) in the second round with eleven birdies and an eagle.[11][12] He needed a rally on Sunday to win by three strokes at 273 (–15).[13]

Federal Express

In 1986, Memphis-based courier Federal Express became the title sponsor. For the first three years of their sponsorship, FedEx increased the purse one dollar for each package they shipped on the Friday of the tournament.[14][15][16] The purses went from $500,000 to $605,912 in 1986, from $600,000 to $724,043 in 1987, and from $750,000 to $953,842 in 1988.

The Stanford Financial Group took over as the tournament's title sponsor in 2007, and it was renamed Stanford St. Jude Championship. In 2009, the tournament changed its name to St. Jude Classic,[17] following accusations that the Stanford Financial Group was a Ponzi scheme. FedEx returned as title sponsor in 2011, and has remained though the standard tournament era, the WGC version (2019–2021), and Playoffs era (since 2022).[18]

TPC Southwind

The event's final edition at Colonial Country Club in Cordova was 36 years ago in 1988. It moved to its present location at TPC Southwind in Memphis in 1989.

The purse in 2018 was $6.6 million, with a winner's share of $1.188 million.

Tournament highlights

Course

TPC Southwind in 2013

More information Hole, Out ...

Source:[3]

Winners

More information Year, Winner ...

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Sources:[39][40][16][15][14]


References

  1. "Inside the course:TPC Southwind". PGA Tour. June 4, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  2. "Course: TPC Southwind". PGA Tour. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  3. "PGA Tour to relocate first FedEx Cup Playoffs event to TPC Southwind in Memphis". PGA Tour. September 14, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  4. "Vernon Bell profile". Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  5. Mehr, Bob (December 28, 2008). "Chris Bell's passion for music still rings true". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee.
  6. "Sports briefing: Ford finds ace in the hole". Chicago Tribune. June 9, 1977. p. 1, section 10.
  7. "Sure shot". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (AP wirephoto). June 9, 1977. p. 4.
  8. "'Incredible' 59 for Geiberger". Chicago Tribune. wire services. June 11, 1977. p. 1, section 2.
  9. "Geiberger fires PGA mark 59, 11 birds, eagle". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 11, 1977. p. 11.
  10. "Geiberger needs rally to win". Chicago Tribune. wire services. June 13, 1977. p. 5, section 6.
  11. "Length bothers Zoeller". Rome News-Tribune. Rome, Georgia. Associated Press. August 28, 1986. p. 5-B. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  12. "Strange, Dillard share St. Jude lead". The Modesto Bee. Modesto, California. August 2, 1987. p. F-3. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  13. "Memphis' 2009 Tour stop renamed St. Jude Classic". PGA Tour. March 19, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  14. Ross, Helen (December 2, 2010). "2011 schedule includes key change during the Playoffs". PGA Tour. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  15. "Begay Is Steady At the End". The New York Times. Associated Press. June 26, 2000. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
  16. FedEx St. Jude Classic – Winners Archived 2010-05-29 at the Wayback Machine – at www.stjudeclassic.com

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