Walt Disney World Golf Classic

Walt Disney World Golf Classic
Tournament information
Location	Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Established	1971
Course(s)	Walt Disney World Resort; (Magnolia & Palm courses)
Par	72
Length	7,516 yards (6,873 m) (Magnolia); 6,957 yards (6,361 m) (Palm)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$4,700,000
Month played	November
Final year	2012
Tournament record score
Aggregate	Individual:; 262 John Huston (1992); 262 Duffy Waldorf (2000); Team:; 246 Vance Heafner and Mike Holland (1981)
To par	Individual:; −26 as above; Team:; −42 as above
Final champion
	Charlie Beljan
Location map
	Walt Disney World Resort Location in the United States Walt Disney World Resort Location in Florida

The Walt Disney World Golf Classic was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The tournament was played on the Palm and Magnolia courses at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was played under several names, reflecting sponsorship changes.

The tournament was founded in 1971 as the Walt Disney World Open Invitational. From 1974 to 1981, the tournament was played as a two-man team event with a better-ball format. Title sponsors have included Oldsmobile, National Car Rental, Funai,^[1] and Children's Miracle Network.^[2]

From 2007 to 2012, it was the final event in the PGA Tour Fall Series, and also the final official event of the PGA Tour season. As such, it was a final chance for many players to earn or retain a PGA Tour card through winning or getting into the top 125 on the Tour's money list. The 2010 and 2012 winners, Robert Garrigus and Charlie Beljan respectively, were both outside the top 125 before their wins.

The tournament was removed from the PGA Tour schedule for the 2013–14 wrap-around season after Children's Miracle Network declined to renew their sponsorship and no others were found.^[3]

The 2012 purse was $4,700,000, with $846,000 going to the winner.

Television[edit]

The event was televised by ESPN and ABC Sports, until the demotion of the event to the Fall Series in 2007, when it was relegated to cable-only on the Golf Channel. While ESPN and ABC, which are owned by Disney, covered both courses as a form of publicity for both, the Golf Channel covered only the Magnolia course with highlight packages sent in from the Palm. However, this is the manner in which the network has always covered tournaments with multiple venues.

Courses[edit]

The Magnolia Course at Walt Disney World is known as more "tour"-style than its sister the Palm Course.^{[citation needed]} The Palm course is known as the prettier of the two, however.^{[citation needed]} In the 2006 telecast, one commentator is quoted as saying that the Palm course has the better greens of the two courses.^{[citation needed]} The Magnolia has grown to 7,516 yards to battle the usual low scores during the tournament's history.

The nearby Lake Buena Vista golf course has also been part of the tournament, along with the Palm and Magnolia.

Winners[edit]

Year	Winner(s)^[a]	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic
2012	Charlie Beljan	272	−16	2 strokes	Matt Every Robert Garrigus	846,000
2011	Luke Donald	271	−17	2 strokes	Justin Leonard	846,000
Children's Miracle Network Classic
2010	Robert Garrigus	267	−21	3 strokes	Roland Thatcher	846,000
2009	Stephen Ames (2)	270	−18	Playoff	Justin Leonard George McNeill	846,000
2008	Davis Love III	263	−25	1 stroke	Tommy Gainey	828,000
2007	Stephen Ames	271	−17	1 stroke	Tim Clark	828,000
Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort
2006	Joe Durant	263	−25	4 strokes	Frank Lickliter Troy Matteson	828,000
2005	Lucas Glover	265	−23	1 stroke	Tom Pernice Jr.	792,000
2004	Ryan Palmer	266	−22	3 strokes	Briny Baird Vijay Singh	756,000
2003	Vijay Singh	265	−23	4 strokes	Stewart Cink Scott Verplank Tiger Woods	720,000
Disney Golf Classic
2002	Bob Burns	263	−25	1 stroke	Chris DiMarco	666,000
National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney
2001	José Cóceres	265	−23	1 stroke	Davis Love III	612,000
2000	Duffy Waldorf	262	−26	1 stroke	Steve Flesch	540,000
1999	Tiger Woods (2)	271	−17	1 stroke	Ernie Els	450,000
1998	John Huston (2)	272	−16	1 stroke	Davis Love III	360,000
Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic
1997	David Duval	270	−18	Playoff	Dan Forsman	270,000
1996	Tiger Woods	267	−21	1 stroke	Payne Stewart	216,000
1995	Brad Bryant	198^[b]	−18	1 stroke	Hal Sutton Ted Tryba	216,000
1994	Rick Fehr	269	−19	2 strokes	Craig Stadler Fuzzy Zoeller	198,000
1993	Jeff Maggert	265	−23	3 strokes	Greg Kraft	198,000
1992	John Huston	262	−26	3 strokes	Mark O'Meara	180,000
1991	Mark O'Meara	267	−21	1 stroke	David Peoples	180,000
1990	Tim Simpson (2)	264	−24	1 stroke	John Mahaffey	180,000
1989	Tim Simpson	272	−16	1 stroke	Donnie Hammond	144,000
1988	Bob Lohr	263	−25	Playoff	Chip Beck	126,000
1987	Larry Nelson (2)	268	−20	1 stroke	Morris Hatalsky Mark O'Meara	108,000
1986	Raymond Floyd	275	−13	Playoff	Lon Hinkle Mike Sullivan	90,000
1985	Lanny Wadkins	267	−21	1 stroke	Mike Donald Scott Hoch	72,000
Walt Disney World Golf Classic
1984	Larry Nelson	266	−22	1 stroke	Hubert Green	72,000
1983	Payne Stewart	269	−19	2 strokes	Nick Faldo Mark McCumber	72,000
1982	Hal Sutton	269	−19	Playoff	Bill Britton	72,000
Walt Disney World National Team Championship
1981	Vance Heafner and Mike Holland	246	−42	5 strokes	Chip Beck and Rex Caldwell	36,000 (each)
1980	Danny Edwards and David Edwards	253	−35	2 strokes	Gibby Gilbert and Grier Jones Dan Halldorson and Dana Quigley Mike Harmon and Barry Harwell	31,500 (each)
1979	George Burns and Ben Crenshaw	255	−33	3 strokes	Peter Jacobsen and D. A. Weibring Jeff Hewes and Sammy Rachels Scott Bess and Dan Halldorson	22,500 (each)
1978	Wayne Levi and Bob Mann	254	−34	3 strokes	Bobby Wadkins and Lanny Wadkins	20,000 (each)
1977	Gibby Gilbert and Grier Jones	253	−35	1 stroke	Steve Melnyk and Andy North	20,000 (each)
1976	Woody Blackburn and Billy Kratzert	260	−28	Playoff	Gay Brewer and Bobby Nichols	20,000 (each)
1975	Jim Colbert and Dean Refram	252	−36	3 strokes	Bobby Cole and John Schlee Victor Regalado and Charlie Sifford	20,000 (each)
1974	Hubert Green and Mac McLendon	255	−33	1 stroke	Sam Snead and J. C. Snead Ed Sneed and Bert Yancey	25,000 (each)
Walt Disney World Golf Classic
1973	Jack Nicklaus (3)	275	−13	1 stroke	Mason Rudolph	30,000
Walt Disney World Open Invitational
1972	Jack Nicklaus (2)	267	−21	9 strokes	Jim Dent Bobby Mitchell Larry Wood	30,000
1971	Jack Nicklaus	273	−15	3 strokes	Deane Beman	30,000