Panama Open

Panasonic Panama Open

Tournament information
Location	Coloncito, Panama
Established	1938
Course(s)	Coronado Beach and Golf Resort
Par	72
Tour(s)	Tour de las Américas Challenge Tour Canadian Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$200,000
Month played	December
Final year	2004
Tournament record score
Aggregate	265 Roberto De Vicenzo (1973)
To par	−23 as above
Final champion
Richard McEvoy
Location map
Coronado Beach & Golf Resort Location in Panama

The Panama Open was a golf tournament played from 1938 to 1982, during which time it was won by some of the biggest names in professional golf, including Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer. It was an event on the PGA-sponsored Caribbean Tour between 1958 and 1974.[1] Following the demise of the Caribbean Tour the tournament was not played for several years, until there was a brief revival between 1979 and 1982.

The Panama Open was revived in 1996, when it was an unofficial event on the Canadian Tour; it became an official tournament in 2001 and 2002.[2] In 2003, it was an event on the Tour de las Américas, and the following year, it was co-sanctioned by the European Challenge Tour (2005 season).

Winners

Year	Tour(s)[a]	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Ref.
Panasonic Panama Open
2004	CHA, TLA	Richard McEvoy	277	−11	1 stroke	Marco Ruiz	[3]
Samsung Panama Open
2003	TLA	Charles Warren	284	−4	1 stroke	Ken Duke	[4]
Panasonic Panama Open
2002	CAN[b]	Mario Tiziani	273	−15	Playoff	David Kirkpatrick Chad Wright	[5]
2001	CAN	Steve Runge	272	−16	2 strokes	Jonathan Byrd	[6]
Panama Open
2000		Steve Haskins
1999		Gustavo Mendoza			Playoff	Sonny Skinner
1998		Bob Friend	281	−7	Playoff	Rick Todd	[7]
1997		Garrett Willis			Playoff	Clark Dennis	[8]
1996		Jaime Gomez	210[c]	−6	Playoff	Rafael Alarcón Joe Cioe	[9]
1983–1995: No tournament
1982		George Burns	275				[10]
1981		Curtis Strange	204[c]				[10]
1980		Bruce Fleisher	267				[10]
1979		Butch Baird (3) Chi-Chi Rodríguez	267		Title shared[d]		[10]
1975–1978: No tournament
1974		Roberto De Vicenzo (5)	265	−23	7 strokes	Florentino Molina	[11]
1973		Roberto De Vicenzo (4)	271	−17	8 strokes	Peter Oosterhuis	[12]
1972		Lu Liang-Huan	279	−9	2 strokes	Rogelio González Luis Carlos Pinto	[13]
1971		Roberto De Vicenzo (3)	273	−15	4 strokes	Peter Townsend	[14]
1970		Herb Hooper	275	−13	2 strokes	Jay Dolan	[15]
1969		Butch Baird (2)	276	−12	Playoff	Rogelio González Bob Ross	[16]
1968		Butch Baird	267	−21	11 strokes	Wes Ellis Vicente Fernández	[17]
1967		Bert Weaver	274	−14	3 strokes	Art Wall Jr.	[18]
1966		Wilf Homenuik	283	−5	1 stroke	Stan Mosel	[19]
1965		Art Wall Jr.	277	−11	4 strokes	Wes Ellis	[20]
1964: No tournament
1963		George Knudson	280	−8	4 strokes	Joe Jimenez Ernie Vossler	[21]
1962		Jim Ferree	277	−11	1 stroke	Billy Maxwell	[22]
1961		Pete Cooper (2)	273	−15	5 strokes	Ernie Vossler	[23]
1960		Ernie Vossler	269	−19	3 strokes	Dow Finsterwald	[24]
1959		Pete Cooper	274	−14	3 strokes	Don January	[25]
1958		Bob Watson	271	−17	1 stroke	Art Wall Jr.	[26]
1957		Doug Ford	277	−11	2 strokes	Dow Finsterwald	[27]
1956		Arnold Palmer	283	−5	Playoff	Sam Snead	[28]
1955		Antonio Cerdá	273	−15	1 stroke	Roberto De Vicenzo Arnold Palmer	[29]
1954		Sam Snead	271	−17	6 strokes	Roberto De Vicenzo	[30]
1953		Roberto De Vicenzo (2)	274	−14	3 strokes	Charlie Harper Clayton Heafner Sam Snead	[31]
1952		Roberto De Vicenzo	282	−6	3 strokes	Sam Snead	[32]
1951		Johnny MacMurray (a) (4)	284	−4	3 strokes	Raúl Posse Gene Kunes Harvey Breaux (a)	[33]
1950		Raúl Posse	284				[10]
1949		Johnny MacMurray (a) (3)	288				[10]
1948		Johnny MacMurray (a) (2)	283				[34]
1947		Herb Mitten (a)	293				[10]
1946		Charlie Grant	299				[10]
1945		Tony Tiso (2)	291				[10]
1944		Marion Reid (a)	299				[10]
1943		Tony Tiso (2)	291				[10]
1942		Lou Barbaro	297				[10]
1941		Al Escalante	298				[10]
1940		Johnny MacMurray (a)	301				[10]
1939		Jimmy Vincent (2)	301				[10]
1939		Jimmy Vincent	304				[10]

See also

• Open golf tournament
• Panama Championship

Notes

1. CAN − Canadian Tour; CHA − Challenge Tour; TLA − Tour de las Américas.
2. In 2002, the event was sanctioned by the Canadian Tour, but did not count towards the Order of Merit.
3. Shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
4. Title shared when darkness ended play with Baird and Rodríguez still tied after two holes of a sudden-death playoff.

References

1. "Golf pros eye prizes of $298,000". The South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. 4 November 1957. p. 17. Retrieved 10 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Canadian Tour slices into the U.S.". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 28 November 2000. p. D6. Retrieved 10 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Hoey third in Panama Open". BBC Sport. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
4. "Warren warming up for Nationwide Tour season". ESPN. Associated Press. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
5. "Maine golfer wins first Canadian event". The Globe and Mail. 21 January 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
6. "Runge Comes From Behind to Take Panama Open". Golf Channel. 21 January 2001. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
7. "Golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 14 January 1998. p. D-7. Retrieved 15 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
8. Avento, Joe (15 January 1997). "Willis enters winners circle again". Johnson City Press. Johnson City, Tennessee. p. 25. Retrieved 15 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Organ, Terry (16 January 1996). "Cioe's game ready; tour up in air". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 72. Retrieved 15 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Ross, Helen (24 January 2007). "Panama set to resume its strong golf history". PGA Tour. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
11. "Panama Open". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 February 1974. p. 17. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Trove.
12. "Oosterhuis Second". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. Reuter. 20 February 1973. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
13. "Lu Lian Huang Wins Panama Open Title". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 14 February 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
14. "De Vicenzo Golf Winner". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 22 February 1971. p. 15. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
15. "Hooper Golf Champ". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 9 February 1970. p. 14. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
16. "Panama Open Is Butch Baird's". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. 3 March 1969. p. 10. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
17. "Baird Sets Record". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 26 February 1968. p. 29. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
18. "Second Try Nets Victory For Weaver". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UPI. 27 February 1967. p. 35. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
19. "Little Wilfie Wins Panama". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. 21 February 1966. p. 10. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
20. "Wall Eyes Caribbean Golf Title". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UPI. 15 February 1965. p. 33. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
21. "Knudson Victor In Panama Open". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 11 February 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
22. "Jim Ferree Gains Title". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 12 February 1962. p. 20. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
23. "Cooper Captures Panama Tourney". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 13 February 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
24. "Vossler Wins Panama Open". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. AP. 15 February 1960. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
25. "Pete Cooper Golf Winner". Youngstown Vindicator. Youngstown, Ohio. AP. 2 February 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
26. "Watson's 271 Cops Panama Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 27 January 1958. p. 19. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
27. "Panama Open Won By Ford". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 14 January 1957. p. 20. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
28. "Arnold Palmer Beats Snead in Sudden Death". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 16 January 1956. p. 16. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
29. "Palmer Finishes Tied for Second". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 17 January 1955. p. 19. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
30. "Sam Snead Cops Panama Open Golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 18 January 1954. p. 19. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
31. "De Vicenzo Wins Panama Open Golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AP. 19 January 1953. p. 26. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
32. "De Vicenzo Wins". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. AP. 28 January 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 6 May 2020 – via Google News Archive.
33. "Amateur captures Panama Toga". The Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. UP. 15 January 1951. p. 15. Retrieved 15 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
34. "Mississippi golfer breaks Panama Open record". The Journal Times. Racine, Wisconsin. UP. 1 June 1948. p. 13. Retrieved 15 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Coverage on the European Tour's official site