Puerto Rico Open


The Puerto Rico Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was first played in 2008. It is the only PGA Tour event ever held in Puerto Rico. The tournament is played at the Coco Beach Golf Course which was designed by Tom Kite. From its inception through 2015, it was played in early March as an alternate event to the WGC-Cadillac Championship, but in 2016 it moved to late March, opposite the WGC-Dell Match Play. All four rounds are broadcast on the Golf Channel.
The winner of the Puerto Rico Open earns 300 FedEx Cup points and 24 OWGR points, compared to 550 FedEx Cup and 70-80 OWGR points for World Golf Championships. As an alternate event, the winner does not earn a bid to the Masters, but still receives a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and entry into the PGA Championship as a Tour winner. In 2015, the prize fund was US$3 million with $540,000 going to the winner.
The Puerto Rico Open is allocated eight additional sponsor exemptions. Four of these are designated for players from Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The other four additional exemptions are unrestricted.
For 2018, the Puerto Rico Open was made an unofficial event as a fundraiser for relief efforts after Hurricane Maria, where it is played at TPC Dorado Beach. The event will again become official in 2019 and 2020.
The event has been considered to have an unofficial "curse" on the PGA Tour, as no winner of the event has ever gone on to win another tournament. The only exception to this is Michael Bradley who won the Puerto Rico Open for a second time in 2011, after winning his first in 2009, but has not won any other event since.

History

A Puerto Rico Open was played between 1956 and 1967. It was a fixture on the PGA-sponsored Caribbean Tour until 1965, after which sponsors rescheduled the event to later in the calendar year. The Puerto Rico Open was revived as a stop on the Tour de las Américas 2004 and 2005, before being reincarnated as a PGA Tour event in 2008.

Winners

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
;Tour de las Américas event
;Earlier events
YearVenuePlayerCountryScoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner-upRef
1967Dorado Hilton H&CCChuck Courtney280−82 strokes Art Wall Jr.
1966Dorado Hilton H&CCRamón Sota284−42 strokes Bill Collins
1965Dorado Hilton H&CCHowell Fraser288E1 stroke Al Besselink
Art Wall Jr.
1964Dorado Hilton H&CCArt Wall Jr.289+1Playoff Jay Dolan
1963Berwind CCCharlie Sifford277−76 strokes George Knudson
1962Berwind CCGeorge Knudson280−42 strokes Al Geiberger
Tony Lema
Don Whitt
Henry Williams Jr.
1961Berwind CCBilly Maxwell273−117 strokes Roberto De Vicenzo
1960Berwind CCJoe Jimenez280−4Playoff Stan Leonard
1959Berwind CCPete Cooper282−65 strokes Porky Oliver
1958Berwind CCBob Toski288E2 strokes Ernie Vossler
1957Berwind CCChick Harbert281−72 strokes Roberto De Vicenzo
1956Fort BuchananAntonio Cerdá144E5 strokes Herman Barron
Dick Ferguson