The U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee
is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July in the Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Wisconsin. The tournament is held at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course. U.S. Bancorp is the main sponsor of the tournament. The 2009 purse was $4,000,000, with $720,000 going to the winner. The tournament is run by Milwaukee Golf Charities, Inc., with proceeds from the tournament going to a variety of Wisconsin charities.
Professional golf in Milwaukee started sporadically with events in 1940 and 1951 and a seven year run from 1955-1961. In 1968, the tournament made a strong reappearance on the Tour as the Greater Milwaukee Open
(or GMO), competing against the British Open by offering a $200,000 purse (second highest on the Tour) with a $40,000 first prize. Lee Trevino, the 1968 U.S. Open winner, decided to play in the GMO instead of the British Open, in order to help the reborn tournament.
In 2004, U.S. Bank signed on as title sponsor. In July 2006, U.S. Bank and Milwaukee Golf Charities Inc. announced that U.S. Bank will remain the sponsor for at least three more years. [1]
The tournament has been played at various golf courses in the Milwaukee area:
- North Hills Country Club, Menomonee Falls, 1940, 1951, 1960-61
- Blue Mound Golf Club, Wauwatosa, 1955
- Tripoli Country Club, Milwaukee, 1956-9, 1971-72
- North Shore Country Club, Mequon, 1968-70
- Tuckaway Country Club, Franklin, 1973-93
- Brown Deer Park Golf Course, Brown Deer, 1994-present.
The tournament has been nationally televised since 1989. Tiger Woods made his professional debut at the Milwaukee tournament on August 29, 1996, four days after winning his third consecutive U.S. Amateur title. He made the cut at the GMO and finished tied for 60th place, earning a modest $2,544.
The future of the tournament is in doubt, as sponsor U.S. Bank has announced that it will not renew its sponsorship after the 2009 event. Secondary sponsor Aurora Health Care has also announced that it will substantially cut back on its financial involvement. Organizers believe the tournament could carry on for at least one year without a sponsor. Before U.S. Bank's sponsorship, the tournament survived thanks to the help of late philanthropist Jane Pettit. Its current slot on the PGA Tour schedule against the British Open, along with low attendance and TV ratings, were reasons cited by U.S. Bank for pulling out of the event. [2]
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