The Southern Open was a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tournament on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

from 1970 to 2002. It was played at the Green Island Country Club in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, from 1970 to 1990 and at the Callaway Gardens Resort (Mountain View Course), Pine Mountain, Georgia, from 1991 to 2002. It was founded in 1970 as the Green Island Open Invitational but was known for most of its existence as the Southern Open. The purse for the 2002 tournament was $3,700,000, with $666,000 going to the winner.

Tournament highlights

* 1970: Mason Rudolph wins the inaugural version of the tournament. He finishes two shots ahead of Chris Blocker. * 1971: Future

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

member

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

wins for the first time on the PGA Tour. He wins by five shots over

Deane Beman } Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer, golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. Early life Beman was born in Washington, D.C.. He attended the University o ...

. * 1975:

Hubert Green Hubert Myatt Green (December 28, 1946 – June 19, 2018) was an American professional golfer. Green won 19 PGA Tour events including two major championships: the 1977 U.S. Open and the 1985 PGA Championship. He was inducted into the World Go ...

shoots a final round 64 to win by three shots over John Schroeder. * 1978:

Jerry Pate Jerome Kendrick Pate (born September 16, 1953) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour. As a 22-year-old rookie, he won the U.S. Open in 1976. Early life Born in Macon, Georgia, he was one of six ...

becomes the one and only winner of the tournament to successfully defend his title. He beats

Phil Hancock Phillip Ranson Hancock (October 30, 1953 – December 12, 2024) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. Early life Hancock learned to play golf growing up in Greenville, Alabama, from his father a local dentist. Hancoc ...

by one shot. * 1981: Mike Sullivan looks poised to win back to back Southern Opens till J. C. Snead defeats him on the second hole of a sudden death playoff. * 1983: Scottish golfer

Sam Torrance Samuel Robert Torrance (born 24 August 1953) is a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, with 21 Tour wins. Torrance was a membe ...

who had never made a cut in ten previous PGA Tour appearances, tries tuning up for the Ryder Cup matches by participating in the Southern Open. Torrance nearly wins till

Ronnie Black Ronald Jay Black (born May 26, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Early life and amateur career Black was born in Lovington, New Mexico. He attended Lamar University in ...

birdies the fourth playoff hole to take home the title. * 1986: Columbus, Georgia native and

Monday qualifier A Monday qualifier is a stroke play golf tournament held on the Monday before a professional golf tournament that awards top finishers entry into the professional tournament. Those who enter the Monday qualifiers are those with no status on the tou ...

Fred Wadsworth wins by two shots over

George Archer George William Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American professional golfer who won 13 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the Masters in 1969. Early life Archer was born in San Francisco, Cali ...

, John Cook,

Tim Simpson } Timothy Jay Simpson (born May 6, 1956) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour, and currently plays on the Champions Tour. Early life and amateur career Simpson was born and raised in Atlanta, ...

, and

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

. * 1990:

Kenny Knox Edward Kenneth Knox (born August 15, 1956) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and the Champions Tour. Knox was born in Columbus, Georgia. He and his brother were introduced to the game of golf by ...

who was born in Columbus, Georgia and had lived there till he was sixteen, makes a birdie on the second playoff hole to defeat Jim Hallet. * 1993: The tournament has its first ever five-player playoff.

John Inman Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in ''Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and the spin-off series ''Grace and Favour.'' He ...

makes a birdie on the second extra hole to defeat

Billy Andrade William Thomas Andrade (born January 25, 1964) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he was a four-time winner. Early life Andrade was born in Bris ...

, Bob Estes, Brad Bryant, and Mark Brooks. * 1996: For the second time in four years, the tournament winner is decided in a five-player playoff. Michael Bradley birdies the first hole of sudden death to beat defending champion

Fred Funk Frederick Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour, where he was an eight-time winner. Funk's signature win came at The Players Championship ...

Len Mattiace Leonard Earl Mattiace (; born October 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, formerly of the PGA Tour and now playing on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Mattiace was born in Mineola, New York. He attended Nease High School in Ponte ...

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

, and

John Maginnes John Maginnes (born July 14, 1968) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Nike Tour and is currently a golf analyst with his own show on Sirius XM Radio. Professional career In 1994, Maginnes joined the Nike Tour. ...

. * 2001: Just like in 1981 and 1996, the defending champion loses in a playoff. This time it is

David Duval David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; inc ...

who loses to Chris DiMarco on the first hole of sudden death. * 2002: Jonathan Byrd shoots a final round 63 to win the final edition of the tournament. He beats

David Toms David Wayne Toms (born January 4, 1967) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. From 1992 to 2017, Toms was a member of the PGA Tour, where he won 13 events, including one major, the 2001 PGA Champions ...

by one shot.Byrd wins Buick Challenge
/ref>

Winners

Notes

References

External links

Tournament results from 1970 to 2002 at GolfObserver.com
- Click-on a year for scores and earnings of the particular year.

- at GolfToday.co.uk {{Former PGA Tour Events Former PGA Tour events Golf tournaments in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports in Columbus, Georgia Recurring sporting events established in 1970 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2002 1970 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2002 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)