PGA Tour Westchester Classic (Buick Classic)
The PGA Tour Westchester Classic, also called the Buick Classic for many years, was a golf tournament played at Westchester Country Club, in Rye, New York, from the late 1960s through the first decade of the 2000s.
First played: 1967
Last played at Westchester: 2007
(Note that this tournament still technically exists: The event first called The Barclays and later The Northern Trust and other names is counted by the PGA Tour as a continuation of the Westchester Classic. However, the tournament left Westchester Country Club following 2007, and this article concerns only the original tournament at Westchester CC.)
Vijay Singh won the tournament three times, more than anyone else. Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural tournament plus once more, and was runner-up two other times. Ernie Els is the only back-to-back winner.
Three times in Westchester Classic history, a golfer lost in a playoff then came back the following year to win the tournament: Seve Ballesteros (lost playoff 1987, won 1988), Dennis Paulson (1999/2000), and Padraig Harrington (2004/2005).
Julius Boros' 1968 win was his 18th and final on the PGA Tour. It came one month after he won the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48, becoming the oldest-ever major champion.
In 1975, Boros, then 55, got into a playoff, but lost to Gene Littler. Littler was 45 years old. Their combined age of 100 is the highest in PGA Tour history for a 2-man playoff. (Had Boros won, he would have become the tour's oldest-ever champion.)
Arnold Palmer's win in 1971 was his 60th career PGA Tour title, and his third-to-last. The 72-hole scoring record of 261 was set by Bob Gilder in 1982. ... In 1979, Sam Snead set a record for being the oldest golfer to make a PGA Tour cut when he made the cut here at age 67.
Also known as: Westchester Classic (1967-75), American Express Westchester Classic (1976-78), Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic (1979-89), Buick Classic (1990-2004), Barclays Classic (2005-06), The Barclays (2007).
Winners of the Westchester Classic/Buick Classic
1967 — Jack Nicklaus, 2721968 — Julius Boros, 272
1969 — Frank Beard, 275
1970 — Bruce Crampton, 273
1971 — Arnold Palmer, 270
1972 — Jack Nicklaus, 270
1973 — Bobby Nichols, 272 (def. Bob Murphy in playoff)
1974 — Johnny Miller, 269
1975 — Gene Littler, 271 (def. Julius Boros in playoff)
1976 — David Graham, 272
1977 — Andy North, 272
1978 — Lee Elder, 274
1979 — Jack Renner, 277
1980 — Curtis Strange, 273
1981 — Raymond Floyd, 275
1982 — Bob Gilder, 261
1983 — Seve Ballesteros, 276
1984 — Scott Simpson, 269
1985 — Roger Maltbie, 275 (def. George Burns, Raymond Floyd in playoff)
1986 — Bob Tway, 272
1987 — J.C. Snead, 276 (def. Seve Ballesteros in playoff)
1988 — Seve Ballesteros, 276 (def. David Frost, Ken Green, Greg Norman in playoff)
1989 — Wayne Grady, 277 (def. Ronnie Black in playoff)
1990 — Hale Irwin, 269
1991 — Billy Andrade, 273
1992 — David Frost, 268
1993 — Vijay Singh, 280 (def. Mark Wiebe in playoff)
1994 — Lee Janzen, 268
1995 — Vijay Singh, 278 (def. Doug Martin in playoff)
1996 — Ernie Els, 271
1997 — Ernie Els, 268
1998 — J.P. Hayes, 201 (shortened due to weather; def. Jim Furyk in playoff)
1999 — Duffy Waldorf, 276 (def. Dennis Paulson in playoff)
2000 — Dennis Paulson, 276 (def. David Duval in playoff)
2001 — Sergio Garcia, 268
2002 — Chris Smith, 272
2003 — Jonathan Kaye, 271 (def. John Rollins in playoff)
2004 — Sergio Garcia, 272 (def. Padraig Harrington, Rory Sabbatini in playoff)
2005 — Padraig Harrington, 274
2006 — Vijay Singh, 274
2007 — Steve Stricker, 268
Golf course: Westchester Country Club is in Rye, New York, part of Westchester County, close to the New York-Connecticut border. The private golf club dates to 1922, with two golf courses originally designed by Walter Travis.
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