The International (golf)

The International
Tournament information
Location Castle Rock, Colorado
Established 1986
Course(s) Castle Pines Golf Club
Par 72
Length 7,619 yards (6,967 m)[1]
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Format Modified Stableford[2]
Prize fund $5.5 million
Month played August
Final year 2006
Tournament record score
Aggregate 48 points,
Ernie Els, 2000
Phil Mickelson, 1997[3]
Final champion
United States Dean Wilson[4]

The International (styled as The INTERNATIONAL) was a professional golf tournament in Colorado on the PGA Tour. It was played for 21 seasons, from 1986 to 2006, at the Castle Pines Golf Club at Castle Pines Village in Castle Rock, south of Denver. It had the distinction of being one of two PGA Tour events not conducted at traditional stroke play, the only other exception is the match play event, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. The International was the only tournament to use the Modified Stableford scoring system,[2] enacted because of the significant elevation of the venue, which averages 6,300 feet (1,920 m) above sea level.

Beginning in 2007, The International was scheduled to change dates to be played during the first full weekend of July (July 5-8, 2007 and July 4-7, 2008), midway between the U.S. Open and the British Open. Tournament officials hoped this new date would draw even more top-ranked players, such as Tiger Woods, as it would no longer be contested the week before (or after) a major championship (PGA Championship). Even with the change in dates, both tournament founder Jack Vickers and the Castle Pines GC membership were apparently not happy with the overall direction the PGA Tour was taking.[5][6]

Also (according to the ticker on the FSN Final Score), the tourney has not generated sufficient sponsorship money to pay the purses. The last presenting sponsor (as shown below) was Qwest, in 2002; the last title sponsor was Sprint, in 1999.

On February 8, 2007, the PGA Tour announced the permanent cancellation of the International.[7] This tournament was replaced by the AT&T National, hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation, and held in the Washington, D.C. area. The new tournament uses standard stroke play rather than the Stableford scoring that the International had used.

The scoring system returned to the PGA Tour in 2012 at the Reno–Tahoe Open, also at high elevation.

Format

The Modified Stableford system gives golfers points on each hole, based on the golfer's score relative to par. It is designed to reward players for taking chances to go for birdies (or better), as the reward for a low score on a hole is typically greater than the punishment for a poor score. The golfer's scores on each hole in his round are added. The scoring operates as follows:[2]

Holes in one are treated as the score relative to par; an ace on a par-3 hole would be considered an eagle and scored as +5.

The International used several different formats throughout its history. Until 1993, final-round scores alone determined the winner; additionally, the event had multiple cuts in every year except 2005.[8]

Winners

YearPlayerCountryPointsMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-up
The International
2006 Dean Wilson  United States 34 Playoff United States Tom Lehman
2005 Retief Goosen  South Africa 32 1 point United States Brandt Jobe
2004 Rod Pampling  Australia 31 2 points Germany Alex Čejka
2003 Davis Love III (2)  United States 46 12 points South Africa Retief Goosen
Fiji Vijay Singh
The International presented by Qwest
2002 Rich Beem  United States 44 1 point United States Steve Lowery
2001 Tom Pernice, Jr.  United States 34 1 point United States Chris Riley
2000 Ernie Els  South Africa 48 4 points United States Phil Mickelson
Sprint International
1999 David Toms  United States 47 3 points United States David Duval
1998 Vijay Singh  Fiji 47 6 points United States Phil Mickelson
United States Willie Wood
1997 Phil Mickelson (2)  United States 48 7 points Australia Stuart Appleby
1996 Clarence Rose  United States 31 Playoff United States Brad Faxon
1995 Lee Janzen  United States 34 1 point South Africa Ernie Els
1994 Steve Lowery  United States 35 Playoff United States Rick Fehr
The International
1993 Phil Mickelson  United States 45 8 points United States Mark Calcavecchia
1992 Brad Faxon  United States 14 2 points United States Lee Janzen
1991 José María Olazábal  Spain 10 3 points Australia Ian Baker-Finch
United States Scott Gump
United States Bob Lohr
1990 Davis Love III  United States 14 3 points United States Steve Pate
Argentina Eduardo Romero
Australia Peter Senior
1989 Greg Norman  Australia 13 2 points United States Clarence Rose
1988 Joey Sindelar  United States 17 4 points United States Steve Pate
United States Dan Pohl
1987 John Cook  United States 11 2 points United States Ken Green
1986 Ken Green  United States 12 3 points Germany Bernhard Langer

References

  1. Fineran, John (August 8, 2006). "Differences make International unique". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Modified Stableford points system". PGA Tour. August 7, 2006. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  3. "Records". The International. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  4. Schuchmann, Joel (August 13, 2006). "Notes: Wilson wins first International playoff in ten years". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  5. Paige, Woody (2007-01-17). "Vickers' tourney, pro tour at odds". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  6. Hawkins, John (2007-02-06). "Last Stop For the International". Golf Digest. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
  7. Associated Press (2007-02-08). "Mile High Disappointment: International Event No More". Golf Channel. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
  8. "The International". GolfStats.com. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  9. "Beckman in charge at International". The Item. Sumter, S.C. Associated Press. 2005-08-07.

Coordinates: 39°26′27″N 104°53′55″W / 39.4407°N 104.8985°W / 39.4407; -104.8985

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