Go West Young Man - The Western Open’s Major History
A brief history of the Western Open and why it has no business going East
The Western Open (now the BMW Championship) is the third oldest continuous professional golf tournament in the world younger than only the Open Championship and US Open. Traditionally played in Chicago, the tournament will go east to Liberty National in New York in 2027.
The Western Golf Association was originally created to give those living in the United States western lands a local governing body and tournament organizer. During the time of its creation, those places east of Ohio were considered remote and western. Initially the organization saw itself as a ruling authority for golfers “out west” and an organizer of tournaments and its major The Western Open.
First played in 1899, The Western Open frequently moved between large Midwest venues including: Glen View CC, Milwaukee CC, Interlachen CC, Olympia Fields CC, Colonial, Davenport CC, Presidio and in later years was held consistently at Butler National and Cog Hill. It predated its then match play major counterpart, the PGA Championship by 17 years. With an independent governing body, frequent change of venue and an annual host of the best players in the world, The Western Open served as a major.
Winners of the tournament featured a who’s who of professional golf including: Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. The 1920s saw players transversing the ocean for the Open Championship for a time. Bobby Jone’s iconic Grand Slam in 1930 featured Interlachen CC, a US Open and Western Open venue. This would be a harolded feet but with the Great Depression and a world war looming, golfers seeking the Grand Slam would dry up.
Post World War II professional golf was different. Far from the glitz and glamour of the current tour, many players, even the predominant ones, ended up sharing everything from cars to hotels from tournament to tournament. The heyday of Walter Hagen bringing staff on his sea to sea golf tours were gone. In its place, players like Ben Hogan found themselves barely making ends meet. Famously Ben Hogan purchased such a cheap hotel room in such a rough part of town that he had the tires stolen off his car, forcing him to carpool with a competitor. Hogan in his early career couldn’t seem to get his first victory and at one point was down to his last $30 – around $1300 today (Thanks Obama).
It is with these financial restrictions in mind that you have to consider the costs of intra-Atlantic travel. By boat you’re missing over a month of tournaments, by plane you are out thousands of today’s dollars. From the Great Depression to the 1960s the Western Open was one of 4 major tournaments in the US that attracted the best field in golf. Enter Arnold Palmer and more importantly TV. TV introduced additional prize money, additional viewers and additional player freedoms to a tour that would see exponential growth in the years to come.
Palmer took a focus on the majors, going so far as to label four tournaments as Majors. The Masters, US Open, The Open (British) and the PGA Championship. Although winning the Western Open twice and playing in it numerous times, the tournament did not make his majors list. It was not a lack of historical prescience, nor strength of field, nor purse money that may have led to this characterization but purely timing. The Western at the time was held the week before the US Open. Field strength, purse amount and prestige in current times around the tournaments flanking the majors has fallen significantly, often times attracting off market fields and allowing for second tier players to make their PGA Tour appearance.
Between 1933 and 1961 there were two winners of the Open Championship. Palmer’s 1961 Open Championship win opened the flood gates on the Open and saw unrivaled US travel to the British Isles to bid for the jug.
Moving forward to Butler National. The year is 1974 and the Western Open based in Chicago has made the decision for a forever home to the tournament. Butler National. The other major US tournaments have set a precedent for scoring expectations on major golf and Butler doesn’t appear to be matching the other courses. Outside of Augusta National, a lack of venue rotation and the double digit under par scores make the Western feel more like a regular tour stop than a Major. Tests at TPC Sawgrass, PGA West and others are proving to be more of a formidable test than the previous major.
1990 would change this. The Shoal Creek controversy: public uproar around comments made prior to their major hosting regarding selection of membership and permanent barring of peoples of color changed the way the PGA Tour, majors and golf viewed many of the private club's selection/admittance practices. These impacted the mens’ only Butler National that chose to exit from hosting the Western Open. These comments were not out of the ordinary in the tour with many tournaments changing their designation from Open to Championship or Tournament in effort to bar people entry into events.
Looking for a new venue, the WGA chose to stay local, selecting Cog Hill CC No. 4 known as Dubsdred, as the next semi-permanent site for the championship. Conquered by Tiger Woods and modern technology, Dubsdred was marked with a level of ease, so much so that the course was one marked as Tiger Proofed, introducing the thick rough, deep bunkering and narrowed fairways synonymous with today’s conditions.
In 2007 BMW would become the title sponsor, changing the name from (Title Sponsor) Western Open to The BMW Championship, forever ending the prestigious title. Fortunately for the championship, the event began to move again. In the greatest hypocrisy seen since the removal of the tournament of the major rota, the championship has played in Maryland and Delaware and will move to Liberty National in 2027, ignoring its western roots.
From its second in command status in professional golf, to falling from good graces amongst a club scandal, to moving out east, the Western Open has gone from a stalwart of golf greatness to a stop towards to Tour Championship held at East Lake. The governing body that once ruled the west now helps build the beast that conquers it retaining its trophy presentation, its Evans Scholarship and its green blazered ceremonies held in the back rooms of hosting clubhouses.
Side note: Considering the Western Open/BMW Championship a major would put Tiger Woods in a tie with Jack Nicklaus in total major victories. Considering the US Amateur as a major would put Tiger one past Jack.
Great read! I posted a recap from my thoughts attending the BMW this year. Definitely a bummer about the "Western Open" leaving Chicago for the foreseeable years...