Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship Tournament
First played: 1967
Last played: 1970
The Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship was played three times in the U.K. and Ireland, and once in the United States. In the one year (1969) it took place in America, it was an official PGA Tour tournament and was called the Alcan Open.
The tournament debuted with an 18-hole playoff between reigning 1967 Masters champ Gay Brewer and Billy Casper, which Brewer won by four strokes, 68 to 72. It ended with Bruce Devlin romping to a 7-stroke victory.
Brewer won back-to-back in 1967-68, claiming half the titles in the event's brief history. Casper won once, beating runner-up Lee Trevino by a single stroke. In Casper's victory, which was in the one tournament played in the United States, he set the event's scoring record at 274.
The title sponsor, Alcan, was the Canadian company Alcan Aluminum Ltd., now a susidiary of international conglomerate Rio Tinto.
Also known as: As noted above, the one year it was played in the United States and counted as a PGA Tour event, it was called the Alcan Open.
Winners of the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship
1967 — Gay Brewer, 283 (defeated Billy Casper in playoff)1968 — Gay Brewer, 283
1969 — Billy Casper, 274
1970 — Bruce Devlin, 278
Golf courses: The Alcan tournament was played on a different golf course each year it took place. This was the order: Old Course at St. Andrews, Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Portland (Ore.) Golf Club, Portmarnock Golf Club.
There Was Also the Alcan International
In three of the four years the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship existed, a second tournament was played concurrently, on the same golf course, and named the Alcan International. That second event was for golfers not in the field of the Alcan Golfer of the Year tournament. The one year the Alcan Golfer of the Year Championship was played in the United States, the Alcan International was not played. The winners of the Alcan International were:
1967 — Peter Thomson, 281
1968 — (tie) Bill Large and Christy O' Connor Sr., 288
1969 — Not played
1970 — Paddy Skerritt, 286
