The top 10 moments in Charles Schwab Challenge history
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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Charles Schwab Challenge. The tournament first known as the Colonial National Invitation has been played every year at historic Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, making it the longest continuous host of a PGA TOUR event. Ben Hogan, who is immortalized with a statue at the club, won five times at Colonial, including the inaugural event in 1946. Daniel Berger’s win last year also was momentous, coming in the first event after the COVID-induced hiatus. Past champions at Colonial also include Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price and Tom Watson. To mark this year’s special anniversary, here are the top 10 moments in the venerable history of the Charles Schwab Challenge, presented in chronological order.
1946
The inaugural Colonial National Invitation featured a field of the top 24 players in earnings and 12 leading amateurs. Only five amateurs were selected the first year because many were still in the Army or had new jobs after World War II.
The unique tournament was hailed by players for its lavish purse of $15,000 and such perks as no entry fees, no caddie fees, and no clubhouse expenses.
Longtime club pro Harry Todd of Dallas, who turned pro in 1944, held the third-round lead at 1 over. Sam Snead was one stroke back and local favorite Ben Hogan trailed by three.
After rounds of 71-70-70, Todd said he thought another 70 would be enough for victory. He managed to shoot 1-under 69 on Sunday but lost by one shot.
Hogan stormed to the top with a 65. He took charge with three straight birdies starting at No. 11 and then held on with a back-nine 32. He was the only player to finish under par, at 1-under 279. Hogan’s 65 would stand as the course record for 24 years.
1959
Hogan claimed his fifth NIT title in the tournament’s first playoff, beating Fred Hawkins by four strokes over 18 holes. Hogan shot 69 to Hawkins’ 73 to claim the final victory of his career.
Hawkins was playing a new set of Hogan clubs his friend gave him before the tournament. Hogan, 46, was going for his first victory since his banner year of 1953, when he won three majors.
Hogan could have won in regulation but missed a 2 1/2 -foot putt on the 72nd hole. “I was completely confident I could sink the putt,” Hogan said, but the ball stopped one inch short of the cup. “Guess I didn’t hit enough club,” Hogan said with a grin afterward.
Hogan’s victory had special meaning. It marked the first time his wife, Valerie, watched a round that earned him a title. And he also got a celebratory embrace from his mother, Clara. “I’ve galleried several times out here,” Clara said. “I meant to come out Sunday, but I was listening to it on the radio, and it got so exciting, I was afraid I would miss something if I left home.”
1962
Arnold Palmer had considered skipping Colonial after winning in Las Vegas, his third victory in four starts. After all, his best finish in six visits to Fort Worth was a tie for sixth.
But Palmer decided to honor his previous commitment after talking to Colonial officials.
Palmer tried a different strategy to negotiate his way through the treelined doglegs. Instead of hitting irons off many tees as he often did on the 7,112-yard layout, Palmer went with driver.
Paired with Gary Player, Palmer was 3 under through nine holes. He missed only one fairway during his opening 67. “When I stood on 12, I was 1 under and felt like a hacker,” Player said.
But Palmer failed to maintain his driving accuracy, and his lead. Known for his exciting stretch runs, he all but collapsed in the fourth round. Bogeys on two of the final three holes left him tied for the lead with Johnny Pott, who overcame a seven-shot deficit with a 69.
In Monday’s 18-hole playoff, the second in tournament history, Palmer pulled away with birdies on 11, 15 and 16. He won by four strokes.
1963
Julius Boros became the first player other than Hogan to win multiple Colonial titles. Three years after overcoming a one-stroke deficit by shooting an even-par 70, Boros shot a final-round 71 to extend his third-round lead by one to four strokes.
Although Hogan missed the event for the first time since its inception, Boros had to withstand challenges from Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, who finished second and third, respectively.
Boros was never seriously threatened on Sunday. Although Player got to within two shots of the lead, Boros answered with a birdie on 14 and then patiently stuck to par the rest of the way.
“After that birdie, I figured if I just parred in I would win,” Boros said. “So I just started shooting for the center of the greens.”
Boros’ 1-under 279 was the first sub-par total at Colonial since Chandler Harper’s 276 in 1955. But Boros played deliberately, choosing to avoid mistakes. He made eight pars and a bogey on the front and then countered his bogey on 10 with the birdie on 14.
“I knew about where I stood,” he said. “There are scoreboards all over the course. I kept an eye on them.”
Upstaging Hogan in Texas was nothing new for Boros. His breakthrough win came in the 1952 U.S. Open at Northwood Club in Dallas, where he ended Hogan’s bid for a third straight Open title.
1987
Keith Clearwater had never played the Colonial. After five PGATOUR qualifying schools, the 27-year-old was just getting his bearings as a rookie.
So when Clearwater teed off at 7:22 on Sunday, only a small group of sleepy spectators and several volunteers were at the first tee. No photographers. No network cameras.
The little-known rookie was in a 19-way tie for 25th, five shots behind. "Just another Saturday round after making the cut,” Clearwater said.
But in Sunday’s 36-hole finale of the rain-delayed event, Clearwater went historic on the venerable layout. He shot two rounds of six-under 64 to become the tournament’s first rookie winner. He beat Davis Love III by three shots and matched Corey Pavin’s 1985 tournament record of 14-under 266.
Clearwater made 13 birdies and one bogey the last two rounds, taking advantage of the rain-softened course. His $108,000 paycheck nearly matched his earnings as leading money winner on the Tournament Players Association minor league circuit the previous year.
He called it “the greatest experience I've had in my life, at least on the golf course.”
1998
Tom Watson visited the new World Golf Hall of Fame before arriving in Fort Worth and then added another remarkable feat to his legendary career at Colonial. He stamped his name on the Wall of Champions, joining the likes of Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, and Snead at age 48.
Watson had come close at Colonial. He finished third twice, fourth four times, and was 20 years removed from being the first player to post four subpar rounds at Colonial without winning. This time, he was tied for the lead when his drive on No. 8 landed in a fairway bunker.
Watson faced a tough lie with his feet on the bunker’s edge, several inches above the ball. A stiff crosswind was blowing, and a pond fronting the green left little margin for error. Watson huddled with longtime caddie Bruce Edwards.
“There was no thought of laying up at all,” Watson said. “The discussion was whether to hit an 8- or a 9-iron. We decided on the 8 because of the reduced swing speed from the awkward stance. I was just trying to make contact and not hit it fat.”
The high fade came down 10 feet from the hole. Watson rolled in the birdie putt for a one-shot lead over playing partner Jim Furyk, finishing with a bogey-free 66 for his 39th and final PGATOUR victory.
“Winning at my age is a rarity," Watson said. "I didn't know if I would win another tournament on this TOUR.”
2001
A year after overcoming a seven-stroke deficit over the final nine holes, Phil Mickelson blew a five-shot lead while being overtaken by Colonial rookie Sergio Garcia.
Garcia reenacted Mickelson’s 2000 heroics with a final-round 63, breaking through for his first PGA TOUR victory by two strokes over Mickelson and Brian Gay.
"It's something I was waiting for," said Garcia, who won in his 33rd start. "I'm glad I was able to finally win on probably the toughest TOUR in the world."
Garcia, who shot 29 on the front nine, became the youngest Colonial winner (21 years, 4 months) and seventh to make Colonial his first victory. He also became the third-youngest first-time winner on Tour in the past 10 years, joining Tiger Woods (20 years, 10 months) and Mickelson (20 years, six months).
But Garcia’s victory seemed a long time coming. Considering the hoopla accompanying his arrival on TOUR in 1999, his win stopped the stream of “when” questions.
“It took longer than I thought it should ... I mean, I've felt like I've played well enough to win," said Garcia, who had 11 previous top-10s. "They say the first one is the toughest. Well, hopefully some nice things will start happening now."
2003
All eyes were on Colonial as Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in 58 years to play a PGA TOUR event. Fans were gathering around the 10th tee an hour before the world’s top-ranked woman hit her first shot.
Fans lined the clubhouse balcony and the grassy hill overlooking the tee. Some among the record crowds wore “Go Annika” buttons. And photographers and reporters from around the world jockeyed for position when Sorenstam began her historic quest with a 4-wood shot to the fairway.
“I knew I was going to give it my best, but I was nervous I might not get my ball on the tee,” Sorenstam said. “I was shaking.”
Sorenstam, 32, shot 71-74, missing the cut by four shots. But she handled the pressure and pre-event hoopla with grace. She also showed that she could play with the men.
“I remember all the people,” Sorenstam said 10 years later. “Rows and rows and rows of people. There were people hanging in the trees, and there were so many cameras.”
Kenny Perry became the most overshadowed winner in Colonial history. He shattered the tournament scoring record with a 19-under 261 in ideal conditions.
2008
Locked in a three-way tie on the 72nd hole, Phil Mickelson pulled off one of the best shots in tournament history to claim his second Colonial title.
His drive on 18 went left into a grove of trees, his ball nestled in heavy rough 140 yards from the pin. So, Mickelson threaded a wedge shot under one tree and over another. His ball clipped branches rising to the sky and then came to rest 9 feet from the pin.
"Just lucky," Mickelson said smiling afterward. "I'm as surprised as anybody I was able to make a 3 from over there."
Mickelson then made the birdie putt for a one-stroke victory over Rod Pampling and Tim Clark. After hitting a shot destined for tournament lore, Mickelson was asked where it might rank on his personal scale.
"Probably top five," he said, adding that he had already discussed the subject with his wife, Amy.
2020
After the longest unscheduled break in PGA TOUR history -- since the 105-day gap during World War II (Sept. 3 to Dec. 17, 1943) -- the Charles Schwab Challenge served as the first tournament back from a 91-day layoff caused by the pandemic.
Most sports sat idle as Covid-19 forced stay-at-home orders. NASCAR and IndyCar -- both contested without fans -- were the only major American sports to return before Colonial.
Players were so eager to return that Colonial landed one of its strongest fields, which included the world’s top five and16 of the top 20. As the first event played under the TOUR’s new coronavirus protocol, Colonial would provide a test in terms of staging a sporting event during a pandemic.
The TOUR spent more than a month planning for the relaunch. A 37-page safety protocol required players, caddies and on-site TOUR employees to be tested before and after arriving in Fort Worth. Each of the 1,000 on-site personnel -- players, caddies, staff, volunteers, and media -- underwent thermal scanning each day.
Perhaps most bizarre was that the tournament steeped in tradition lacked the typical roars erupting across the tree-lined doglegs. Not even a holed shot from the fairway could break the silence.
But the loaded leaderboard supplied plenty of drama. And after a three-month wait, it seemed fitting that an extra hole would be required to determine the champion.
Xander Schauffele was tied for the lead until a bogey on the 71st hole opened the playoff door for Daniel Berger and Collin Morikawa. On the first extra hole, No. 17, Berger made par and then Morikawa’s 3 ½-foot putt to extend the playoff rimmed out. Berger’s third career victory was his first since 2017.
“I’ve grinded so hard over the last two months to be in this position," Berger said. “When I came back, I came back stronger than I ever have before and I wanted it more than I ever have before.”