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A Brief History of the PGA toURIt is not easy to pinpoint the exact beginning of the pga tour. certainly,professionals have competed against each other from the earliest days of thegame in the united States.In 1895, 10 professional golfers and one amateur played in the first u.S.open in Newport, rI. Shortly thereafter, tournaments began to pop up acrossthe country, including the Western open in 1899. But this was not “tour” golf.the events lacked continuity.Interest in the game, however, continued to grow. american professionalswere rapidly improving. When John mcDermott became the firstamerican-born player to win the u.S. open in 1911, interest in the gameblossomed. that interest became enthusiasm in 1913 when Englishmen HarryVardon and ted ray came to the united States to play an exhibition tourand compete in the u.S. open. When 20-year-old amateur Francis ouimetdefeated the pair in a playoff for the open at Brookline, ma, golf becamefront-page news and a game for everyone.In the early 1920s, a series of tournaments was held on the West coast,in texas and Florida. these events were held in the winter, and the golfersplayed their way east and up to pinehurst, Nc, in the spring. By the middle ofthe decade, the tour was doing relatively well—offering $77,000 in total prizemoney.the first “playing pros” organization was formed in 1932. two yearsearlier, Bob Harlow had been named manager of the pga tournament Bureau.the tour became more structured following World War II and exploded in thelate 1950s and early ’60s. When arnold palmer, televised golf and presidentDwight D. Eisenhower arrived on the scene in the late 1950s, the eyes of theworld were on golf. this exposure inspired millions to try the game.most golf historians trace the “formal” beginning of the pga tourto late 1968, when the “tournament players Division” split from the pgaof america and hired Joe Dey as its first commissioner. that organizationbecame the modern-day pga tour. Dey served from early 1969 throughFebruary 28, 1974, and was succeeded by Deane r. Beman on march 1, 1974.During Beman’s administration, the value of tournament purses escalatedat an unprecedented rate. pga tour assets grew from $730,000 in 1974to more than $200 million, and total revenues increased from $3.9 million to$229 million in 1993.tim Finchem, previously the tour’s Deputy commissioner and chiefoperating officer, became the tour’s third commissioner on June 1, 1994. In1995, Finchem undertook a restructuring program designed to strengthen thepga tour’s core business, which is its competitions, to expand the tour’sinternational scope and prepare it to enter the 21st century. In 1996, Finchemhelped spearhead formation of the International Federation of pga tours, asgolf’s five world-governing bodies laid the groundwork for taking competitioninto the next millennium. In 1997, the Federation announced the World golfchampionships, which made their debut in 1999 with three events—todaycalled the accenture match play championship, Bridgestone Invitational andca championship. the HSBc champions in china was added in 2009. In 2007,the tour debuted the FedExcup.Since 1938, pga tour events have donated more than $1.6 billion tocharity, reaching the $1-billion milestone late in the 2005 season.the competitive scope of the pga tour also is much broader today. thechampions tour, in its 32nd season, has been labeled the most successfulsenior sports venture in history. Fans and television viewers are able to getcloser to the game on this tour, both on site and with instructional platforms.the charles Schwab cup will be contested for the 12th time in 2011.the Nationwide tour, under that sponsorship umbrella for the eighthyear, has been recognized as the “official proving ground” for the pga tourwith its excellent level of play that has two out of three players on the 2011pga tour with Nationwide tour roots. the tour celebrated its 20th season in2009. the top-25 money winners earn their pga tour cards for the followingseason. among the former players on this tour who have gone on to star onthe pga tour are David Duval, tom Lehman, Jeff maggert, Stuart appleby,2009 British open champion Stewart cink, David toms, 2003 u.S. open and2010 FedExcup champion winner Jim Furyk, 2007 masters champion ZachJohnson and 2009 u.S. open champion Lucas glover.When the pga tour opened the tpc Sawgrass in 1980, it introducedthe era of stadium golf and record-breaking attendance. owned and/or operatedby the tour, the tpc Network courses are the only major-league sportsvenues owned by the players themselves. the reworked pLaYErS Stadiumcourse at tpc Sawgrass, with refurbished fairways and rebuilt greensand a new, enlarged clubhouse, debuted in may 2007 for tHE pLaYErSchampionship.the successful debut of the FedExcup in 2007 was concluded by the pgatour playoffs for the FedExcup, with tiger Woods taking the title in 2007.Vijay Singh won in 2008, Woods repeated in 2009 and Jim Furyk was the 2010champion.A view of the 17th hole at tHe PLAYeRS championshipSection 1 IntroductIonpgatour.com PGA TOUR 2011 Guide1-21