- FBR Open
Infobox_Golf_Tournament
tournament_name = FBR Open
nickname =
location =Scottsdale, Arizona
establishment = 1932
course =TPC of Scottsdale
par = 71
yardage = 7,216
tour =PGA Tour
format =Stroke play
purse = $6,000,000
month_played = January
aggregate = 256Mark Calcavecchia (2001)
to-par = -28Mark Calcavecchia (2001)
Current Champion =J. B. Holmes The FBR Open is a nationally televisedgolf tournament, a part of thePGA Tour , held at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) ofScottsdale, Arizona around the last weekend in January. The tournament was originally the Arizona Open, but was known for most of its history as the Phoenix Open until the investment bank,Friedman Billings Ramsey , became the title sponsor in October 2003.History
The Phoenix Open began in 1932 but was discontinued after the 1935 tournament. The rebirth of the Phoenix Open came in 1939 when the vision of a dedicated golfer,
Bob Goldwater, Sr . convinced fellow Thunderbirds into running the event. The Thunderbirds (a prominent civic organization in Phoenix) were not enthusiastic about running the event as he was as he did most of the work in getting a golf open started. The event was played atPhoenix Country Club inPhoenix, Arizona , both in its earlier incarnations and after Goldwater resuscitated it. Beginning in 1955,The Arizona Country Club (also in Phoenix) alternated as event host with Phoenix Country Club; this arrangement lasted until Phoenix Country Club took The Arizona Country Club's turn in 1975 and became the event's permanent home again.In 1987, the tournament was moved to its current home, the TPC of Scottsdale's Stadium Course.
The 4-day attendance of the tournament is usually around 500,000. The most popular hole for spectators to watch is the 16th hole due to the "Amphitheatre" atmosphere of the hole, created by the stands erected every year before the tournament. The hole could be described as "one big party", with many students from the nearby
Arizona State University . Poor shots at the 16th hole receive boos, because the hole is very easy by the PGA's standards. Good shots, however, are cheered for loudly. Famous moments at the 16th includeTiger Woods ' hole-in-one in 1997, which caused the gallery to erupt, throwing cups and other objects in celebration, andJustin Leonard givingthe finger to the gallery after a poor shot. The most popular golfer at FBR is unquestionablyPhil Mickelson , an Arizona State alum. In addition to the golf, there is a concert/party held in the Scottsdale area called the Birds Nest, in which music artists likeHuey Lewis and the News play.The FBR Open is the opportunity to see the best golfers in this nationally televised event that gives the City of Scottsdale more name recognition across the U.S.
This is the best attended golf tournament of every calendar year, and in 2006 the FBR Open set a PGA Tour single day attendance record with over 168,000 fans in attendance on Saturday, Feb. 4, as well as a tournament week attendance record of 536,367 fans.
The Thunderbirds are still highly active in the organization of the FBR Open. Portions of the proceeds are used by the Thunderbirds to fund
Special Olympics activities in Phoenix.Records – scoring and victories
The lowest 4-day score (72 holes) for the tournament was Mark Calcavecchia in 2001 with a total score of 256, which was an incredible 28 under
par . In the second round he scored a 60, which was the lowest score in the history of the Phoenix Open tied withGrant Waite in 1996. Calcavecchia had 32birdies in the tournament, which was also an all-time record.There have been only two double eagles in the history of the FBR-Phoenix Open.
Tom Pernice, Jr. made the first one on the 558-yard par-5 15th hole in 1990. Andrew Magee scored the second on the 332-yard par-4 17th hole in 2001. Magee's shot is believed to be the first-ever Hole-In-One on a par-4 in PGA Tour history.Mark Calcavecchia (1989, 1992 and 2001) shares the most wins record of three with
Gene Littler (1955, 1959, and 1969) andArnold Palmer (1961, 1962, and 1963).Winners
FBR Open
*2008 flagicon|USAJ. B. Holmes
*2007 flagicon|AUSAaron Baddeley
*2006 flagicon|USAJ. B. Holmes
*2005 flagicon|USAPhil Mickelson
*2004 flagicon|USAJonathan Kaye Phoenix Open
*2003 flagicon|FIJVijay Singh
*2002 flagicon|USAChris DiMarco
*2001 flagicon|USAMark Calcavecchia
*2000 flagicon|USATom Lehman
*1999 flagicon|USARocco Mediate
*1998 flagicon|USAJesper Parnevik
*1997 flagicon|USA Steve Jones
*1996 flagicon|USAPhil Mickelson
*1995 flagicon|FIJVijay Singh
*1994 flagicon|USA Bill Glasson
*1993 flagicon|USALee Janzen
*1992 flagicon|USAMark Calcavecchia
*1991 flagicon|USANolan Henke
*1990 flagicon|USATommy Armour III
*1989 flagicon|USAMark Calcavecchia
*1988 flagicon|SCOSandy Lyle
*1987 flagicon|USAPaul Azinger
*1986 flagicon|USAHal Sutton
*1985 flagicon|USACalvin Peete
*1984 flagicon|USATom Purtzer
*1983 flagicon|USABob Gilder
*1982 flagicon|USALanny Wadkins
*1981 flagicon|AUS David Graham
*1980 flagicon|USA Jeff Mitchell
*1979 flagicon|USABen Crenshaw
*1978 flagicon|USAMiller Barber
*1977 flagicon|USAJerry Pate
*1976 flagicon|USABob Gilder
*1975 flagicon|USAJohnny Miller
*1974 flagicon|USAJohnny Miller
*1973 flagicon|AUSBruce Crampton
*1972 flagicon|USAHomero Blancas Phoenix Open Invitational
*1971 flagicon|USAMiller Barber
*1970 flagicon|USADale Douglass
*1969 flagicon|USAGene Littler
*1968 flagicon|CANGeorge Knudson
*1967 flagicon|USAJulius Boros
*1966 flagicon|USADudley Wysong
*1965 flagicon|USARod Funseth
*1964 flagicon|USAJack Nicklaus
*1963 flagicon|USAArnold Palmer
*1962 flagicon|USAArnold Palmer
*1961 flagicon|USAArnold Palmer
*1960 flagicon|USAJack Fleck
*1959 flagicon|USA|1959Gene Littler
*1958 flagicon|USA|1912Ken Venturi
*1957 flagicon|USA|1912Billy Casper Phoenix Open
*1956 flagicon|USA|1912Cary Middlecoff
*1955 flagicon|USA|1912Gene Littler
*1954 flagicon|USA|1912Ed Furgol
*1953 flagicon|USA|1912Lloyd Mangrum
*1952 flagicon|USA|1912Lloyd Mangrum
*1951 flagicon|USA|1912Lew Worsham Ben Hogan Open
*1950 flagicon|USA|1912Jimmy Demaret Phoenix Open
*1949 flagicon|USA|1912Jimmy Demaret
*1948 flagicon|ZAF|1928Bobby Locke
*1947 flagicon|USA|1912Ben Hogan
*1946 flagicon|USA|1912Ben Hogan
*1945 flagicon|USA|1912Byron Nelson
*1944 flagicon|USA|1912Harold McSpaden
*1941-43 "No tournament"
*1940 flagicon|USA|1912Ed Oliver
*1939 flagicon|USA|1912Byron Nelson
*1936-38 "No tournament"
*1935 flagicon|USA|1912Ky Laffoon
*1934 "No tournament"Arizona Open
*1933 flagicon|USA|1912 Harry Cooper
*1932 flagicon|USA|1912Ralph Guldahl Multiple winners
Thirteen men have won this tournament more than once.
*3 wins
**Mark Calcavecchia : 1989, 1992, 2001
**Gene Littler : 1955, 1959, 1969
**Arnold Palmer : 1961, 1962, 1963*2 wins
**J. B. Holmes : 2006, 2008
**Phil Mickelson : 1996, 2005
**Vijay Singh : 1995, 2003
**Bob Gilder : 1976, 1983
**Miller Barber : 1971, 1978
**Johnny Miller : 1974, 1975
**Lloyd Mangrum : 1952, 1953
**Jimmy Demaret : 1949, 1950
**Ben Hogan : 1946, 1947
**Byron Nelson : 1939, 1945External links
* [http://www.fbropen.com/ FBR Open official website]
* [http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r003 Coverage on the PGA Tour's website]
* [http://66.128.148.121/cgi.pan$winners&FBR_Open&&pga?golfstats FBR Open results since 1970 - Winners, Finishers, Scores and Earnings]
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