Texas Children's Houston Open

Tournament information
Location	Houston, Texas
Established	1946[1]
Course(s)	Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course
Par	70
Length	7,432 yards (6,796 m)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$9,100,000
Month played	March
Tournament record score
Aggregate	264 Tony Finau (2022)
To par	−22 Vijay Singh (2002)
Current champion
Stephan Jäger
Location map
Memorial Park Municipal GC Location in the United States Show map of the United States Memorial Park Municipal GC Location in Texas Show map of Texas

The Texas Children's Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in March. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the event was not a part of the 2019 PGA Tour, but was one of the first events of the 2020 PGA Tour.^[2] It is held at the Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course in Harris County near downtown Houston and the Galleria.

History[edit]

The event was played at several Houston venues until the 1970s, starting 78 years ago at River Oaks Country Club in 1946 before moving to Memorial Park Golf Course in 1947 and, after a year off, moving again to Pine Forest Country Club in 1949 and BraeBurn Country Club in 1950. After this period of wandering, the tournament settled in at Memorial Park from 1951 through 1963. It was at Sharpstown Country Club in 1964 and 1965, moved to Champions Golf Club in 1966 for six years, and then to Westwood Country Club in 1972.

The tournament ventured outside of the city limits in 1973 and 1974 at Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City, a southwest suburb.^[3] It relocated north to The Woodlands in 1975, at Woodlands Country Club until 1984, then at the TPC at The Woodlands through 2002. It moved to near Humble in 2003, where it stayed for 17 years; initially played at the Members Course, it changed to the Tournament Course in 2006. The facility was known as Redstone Golf Club until December 2013, and is now the Golf Club of Houston.^[4][5]

Previously held weeks later in mid-spring, the Houston Open was played the week before the Masters Tournament from 2007 through 2018 (except 2013, when it was two weeks before the Masters), and was the last chance to get into the field at Augusta through a win. The tournament also had up to four additional sponsor exemptions to enable nonmember Masters-qualified professionals from the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking to compete in the U.S. in the week prior to the Masters.^[6]

Shell Oil Company sponsored the event from 1992 through 2017. When the end of Shell's sponsorship was announced, the PGA Tour said it would seek a new sponsor for 2018.^[7] At that time, Houston Astros owner Jim Crane led a group of new sponsors who signed a five-year deal with the PGA Tour to ensure that the event stayed in Houston.^[8] The tournament is now operated under the Astros Foundation, under the umbrella Astros Golf Foundation, with a new logo inspired by the Astros' "Rainbow Guts" uniforms of the 1980s.^[9][10]

Because of the wraparound calendar, there was no 2019 season event. The 2019 event moved to October and declared a 2020 season event, the last event held at the Golf Club of Houston. For the 2021 season (November 2020), it moved to the renovated Memorial Park Golf Course.^[11] The Astros Foundation committed $34 million to renovate and redesign the golf course facilities with input from golfer Brooks Koepka. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA Tour announced schedule changes to the 2020–21 season schedule and moved the Houston Open to November 5–8, one week before the Masters Tournament. The tournament was sponsored by Vivint and the Astros Foundation allowed spectators.

The 2022 season (November 2021) event was sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.^[12]

The 2023 season (November 2022) event was sponsored by Cadence Bank.^[13]

The 2024 event will see a return to a calendar-year format for the PGA Tour, with the event returning to a spring date in March, being sponsored by Texas Children's Hospital.^[14]

Winners[edit]

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse (US$)	Winner's share ($)
Texas Children's Houston Open
2024	Stephan Jäger	268	−12	1 stroke	Thomas Detry Tony Finau Taylor Moore Scottie Scheffler Alejandro Tosti	9,100,000	1,638,000
2023: No tournament
Cadence Bank Houston Open
2022	Tony Finau	264	−16	4 strokes	Tyson Alexander	8,400,000	1,512,000
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open
2021	Jason Kokrak	270	−10	2 strokes	Scottie Scheffler Kevin Tway	7,500,000	1,350,000
Vivint Houston Open
2020	Carlos Ortiz	267	−13	2 strokes	Dustin Johnson Hideki Matsuyama	7,000,000	1,260,000
Houston Open
2019	Lanto Griffin	274	−14	1 stroke	Scott Harrington Mark Hubbard	7,500,000	1,350,000
2018	Ian Poulter	269	−19	Playoff	Beau Hossler	7,000,000	1,260,000
Shell Houston Open
2017	Russell Henley	268	−20	3 strokes	Kang Sung-hoon	7,000,000	1,260,000
2016	Jim Herman	273	−15	1 stroke	Henrik Stenson	6,800,000	1,224,000
2015	J. B. Holmes	272	−16	Playoff	Jordan Spieth Johnson Wagner	6,600,000	1,188,000
2014	Matt Jones	273	−15	Playoff	Matt Kuchar	6,400,000	1,152,000
2013	D. A. Points	272	−16	1 stroke	Billy Horschel Henrik Stenson	6,200,000	1,116,000
2012	Hunter Mahan	272	−16	1 stroke	Carl Pettersson	6,000,000	1,080,000
2011	Phil Mickelson	268	−20	3 strokes	Chris Kirk Scott Verplank	5,900,000	1,062,000
2010	Anthony Kim	276	−12	Playoff	Vaughn Taylor	5,800,000	1,044,000
2009	Paul Casey	277	−11	Playoff	J. B. Holmes	5,700,000	1,026,000
2008	Johnson Wagner	272	−16	2 strokes	Chad Campbell Geoff Ogilvy	5,600,000	1,008,000
2007	Adam Scott	271	−17	3 strokes	Stuart Appleby Bubba Watson	5,500,000	990,000
2006	Stuart Appleby (2)	269	−19	6 strokes	Bob Estes	5,500,000	990,000
2005	Vijay Singh (3)	275	−13	Playoff	John Daly	5,000,000	900,000
2004	Vijay Singh (2)	277	−11	2 strokes	Scott Hoch	5,000,000	900,000
2003	Fred Couples	267	−21	4 strokes	Stuart Appleby Mark Calcavecchia Hank Kuehne	4,500,000	810,000
2002	Vijay Singh	266	−22	6 strokes	Darren Clarke	4,000,000	720,000
2001	Hal Sutton	278	−10	3 strokes	Joe Durant Lee Janzen	3,400,000	612,000
2000	Robert Allenby	275	−13	Playoff	Craig Stadler	2,800,000	504,000
1999	Stuart Appleby	279	−9	1 stroke	John Cook Hal Sutton	2,500,000	450,000
1998	David Duval	276	−12	1 stroke	Jeff Maggert	2,000,000	360,000
1997	Phil Blackmar	276	−12	Playoff	Kevin Sutherland	1,600,000	288,000
1996	Mark Brooks	274	−14	Playoff	Jeff Maggert	1,500,000	270,000
1995	Payne Stewart	276	−12	Playoff	Scott Hoch	1,400,000	252,000
1994	Mike Heinen	272	−16	3 strokes	Tom Kite Jeff Maggert Hal Sutton	1,300,000	234,000
1993	Jim McGovern	199[a]	−17	Playoff	John Huston	1,300,000	234,000
1992	Fred Funk	272	−16	2 strokes	Kirk Triplett	1,200,000	216,000
Independent Insurance Agent Open
1991	Fulton Allem	273	−15	1 stroke	Billy Ray Brown Mike Hulbert Tom Kite	800,000	144,000
1990	Tony Sills	204[a]	−12	Playoff	Gil Morgan	1,000,000	180,000
1989	Mike Sullivan	280	−8	1 stroke	Craig Stadler	800,000	144,000
1988	Curtis Strange (3)	270	−18	Playoff	Greg Norman	700,000	126,000
Big "I" Houston Open
1987	Jay Haas	276	−12	Playoff	Buddy Gardner	600,000	108,000
Houston Open
1986	Curtis Strange (2)	274	−14	Playoff	Calvin Peete	500,000	90,000
1985	Raymond Floyd	277	−11	1 stroke	David Frost Bob Lohr	500,000	90,000
Houston Coca-Cola Open
1984	Corey Pavin	274	−10	1 stroke	Buddy Gardner	500,000	90,000
1983	David Graham	275	−9	5 strokes	Lee Elder Jim Thorpe Lee Trevino	400,000	72,000
Michelob-Houston Open
1982	Ed Sneed	275	−9	Playoff	Bob Shearer	350,000	63,000
1981	Ron Streck	198[a]	−15	3 strokes	Hale Irwin Jerry Pate	262,500	47,250
1980	Curtis Strange	266	−18	Playoff	Lee Trevino	350,000	63,000
Houston Open
1979	Wayne Levi	268	−16	2 strokes	Mike Brannan	300,000	54,000
1978	Gary Player	270	−18	1 stroke	Andy Bean	200,000	40,000
1977	Gene Littler	276	−12	3 strokes	Lanny Wadkins	200,000	40,000
1976	Lee Elder	278	−10	1 stroke	Forrest Fezler	200,000	40,000
1975	Bruce Crampton (2)	273	−15	2 strokes	Gil Morgan	150,000	30,000
1974	Dave Hill	276	−12	1 stroke	Rod Curl Steve Melnyk Andy North	150,000	30,000
1973	Bruce Crampton	277	−11	1 stroke	Dave Stockton	205,000	41,000
1972	Bruce Devlin	278	−10	2 strokes	Tommy Aaron Lou Graham Doug Sanders	125,000	25,000
Houston Champions International
1971	Hubert Green	280	−4	Playoff	Don January	125,000	25,000
1970	Gibby Gilbert	282	−2	Playoff	Bruce Crampton	115,000	23,000
1969: No tournament - club hosted the 1969 U.S. Open
1968	Roberto De Vicenzo	274	−10	1 stroke	Lee Trevino	100,000	20,000
1967	Frank Beard	274	−10	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer	115,000	23,000
1966	Arnold Palmer (2)	275	−9	1 stroke	Gardner Dickinson	110,000	21,000
Houston Classic
1965	Bobby Nichols (2)	273	−11	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin Chi-Chi Rodríguez	75,000	12,000
1964	Mike Souchak (2)	278	−6	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus	50,000	7,500
1963	Bob Charles	268	−12	1 stroke	Fred Hawkins	50,000	10,000
1962	Bobby Nichols	278	−2	Playoff	Jack Nicklaus Dan Sikes	50,000	9,000
1961	Jay Hebert	276	−4	Playoff	Ken Venturi	40,000	7,000
1960	Bill Collins	280	−8	Playoff	Arnold Palmer	35,000	5,300
1959	Jack Burke Jr. (2)	277	−11	Playoff	Julius Boros	30,000	4,300
Houston Open
1958	Ed Oliver	281	−7	1 stroke	Roberto De Vicenzo Jay Hebert	30,000	4,300
1957	Arnold Palmer	279	−9	1 stroke	Doug Ford	36,000	7,500
1956	Ted Kroll	277	−11	3 strokes	Jack Burke Jr. Dave Douglas	30,000	6,000
1955	Mike Souchak	273	−15	2 strokes	Jerry Barber	30,000	6,000
1954	Dave Douglas	277	−11	2 strokes	Cary Middlecoff	30,000	6,000
1953	Cary Middlecoff (2)	283	−5	Playoff	Jim Ferrier Shelley Mayfield Bill Nary Earl Stewart	20,000	4,000
1952	Jack Burke Jr.	277	−11	6 strokes	Frank Stranahan	10,000	2,000
1951	Marty Furgol	277	−11	1 stroke	Jack Burke Jr.	10,000	2,000
1950	Cary Middlecoff	277	−11	3 strokes	Pete Cooper	10,000	2,000
1949	Johnny Palmer	272	−16	1 stroke	Cary Middlecoff	10,000	2,000
1948: No tournament
1947	Bobby Locke	277	−11	5 strokes	Johnny Palmer Ellsworth Vines	10,000	2,000
1946	Byron Nelson	274	−10	2 strokes	Ben Hogan	10,000	2,000

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Sources:^[15][16][17]

Multiple winners[edit]

Nine men have won this tournament more than once through 2024.

• 3 wins
  • Curtis Strange: 1980, 1986, 1988
  • Vijay Singh: 2002, 2004, 2005
• 2 wins
  • Cary Middlecoff: 1950, 1953
  • Jack Burke Jr.: 1952, 1959
  • Mike Souchak: 1955, 1964
  • Bobby Nichols: 1962, 1965
  • Arnold Palmer: 1957, 1966
  • Bruce Crampton: 1973, 1975
  • Stuart Appleby: 1999, 2006

See also[edit]

• Houston Open (early PGA Tour), an earlier Houston event recognized by the PGA Tour

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site

29°55′26″N 95°15′40″W / 29.924°N 95.261°W / 29.924; -95.261