The Tacoma Open Invitational was a golf 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 ...

that was played in 1948 and won by Ed Oliver in a one-hole playoff with

Cary Middlecoff Emmett Cary Middlecoff (January 6, 1921 – September 1, 1998) was an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour from 1947 to 1961. His 39 Tour wins place him tied for tenth all-time, and he won three major championships. Middlecoff graduated ...

after the two had survived a five-man, 18-hole playoff — the first in tour history. Oliver eagled the final playoff hole; Middlecoff birdied it.

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

, who in 1945 won a record-setting 18 tournaments including 11 consecutively, ended up tied for ninth in the tournament — his worst finish of the year. In 1945, the event played as the Tacoma Open and was won by Jimmy Hines by one stroke over

Harold "Jug" McSpaden Harold Lee "Jug" McSpaden (July 21, 1908 – April 22, 1996) was an American professional golfer, and golf course architect. Early career Born in Monticello, Kansas, McSpaden became interested in golf at the age of ten, after seeing Harry Var ...

. Both events were held at Fircrest Golf Club, an 18-hole, par-71 private club located just west of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. Construction on the course began in 1923 under the direction of Arthur Vernon Macan. It opened in 1924. Fircrest hosted the Carling Open Invitational in 1960.

Winners

References

{{Former PGA Tour Events Former PGA Tour events Golf tournaments in Washington (state) Sports in Tacoma, Washington Recurring sporting events established in 1945 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1948 1945 establishments in Washington (state) 1948 disestablishments in Washington (state)