- FedExCup Points: 50,000
- Purse: $7.0 million
- Winning Share: $1,260,000
- Yards: 7,547
PGATOUR.COM Contributor
Through the years, the Western Open crowned its share of champions with low scores on the course and high scores in the name recognition department.
Willie Anderson put together four U.S. Opens from 1901-05 and tacked on four Westerns from 1902-09. Walter Hagen won five times, Ralph Guldahl picked up three straight in the 1930s, Sam Snead won in 1949-50 and Jack Nicklaus successfully defended in 1968.
Through several decades, the Western followed a nomadic existence, rarely straying toward the Atlantic shoreline. Hagan, for example, won in four states (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio twice and Wisconsin) while Snead picked up titles in Minnesota and California.
In 1962, the tournamentıs orbit was pulled by gravitational forces toward the Western Golf Associationıs home base of Chicago, first circling among some of the cityıs best clubs before settling for a time at Butler National GC and most recently Cog Hill G&CC, the excellent public facility run by the Jemsek family.
For all of its history with the Western GA and the tournament (now known as the BMW Championship), the city couldnıt claim much in the way of hometown success, similar to Augusta and the Masters. But the locals do have one doozy of a winner to commemorate, back in 1988 when Jim Benepe won the first PGA TOUR tournament he ever entered.
Deep down, Benepe is a Wyoming guy, born and raised in Sheridan and living there now. Chicago adopted him during his days playing for Northwestern University, having added a Western Junior Amateur title and a Western Amateur medalist honor to his collection. A first-team All-American, he picked up his degree in 1986 and headed for the wilds of professional golf.
Benepe missed making it through the TOURıs Qualifying Tournament that fall and shifted his emphasis to the Asian, Australian and Canadian tours. He claimed the occasional title -- the British Columbia Open in 1987, the Victorian Open in Australia in early 1988 -- yet remained on the gameıs periphery.
And then in June 1988, he received a call from Western Open officials, offering a sponsorıs exemption. It was the same route Scott Verplank used in 1985 in becoming the first amateur winning a TOUR event in nearly three decades. A TOUR debut and a chance to see how the worldıs best live.
A funny thing happened on the way to his brush with fame, though. Benepe wound up winning when Peter Jacobsen, winless since the 1984 Greater Hartford Open, made double-bogey at the water-laden 18th in the final round. Benepeıs return of 71-68-69-70 totaled 10-under-par 278 and landed a $162,000 bonus.
Benepe holed out twice from bunkers in the second round, once for eagle and another for birdie, and stood in a tie for fourth place. "After a while, you become numb to strange things when they happen," explained Benepe, a psychology major. "Iıve learned that you just have to play your game and keep your sanity."
Saturday, he went around the first nine in 33, making three birdies in the first six holes and then pounding out 13 pars. He was one behind Jacobsen when the Oregonian started his own run of birdies. But that success soured when Jacobsen bogeyed the last two and stood at 12-under 204, four ahead instead of six up on everyone.
"Iım very disappointed finishing with two bogeys," Jacobsen said. "Golfers always look at what we did wrong, rather than concentrating on what we did right. Tonight, Iım going to concentrate on what I did right and take satisfaction that I hit those two shots on the last two holes the way I wanted to hit them. I just had the wrong club in my hand."
Benepe posted his final-round 70, one of the few sub-par rounds on a tough day, and was in the scorerıs tent when Jacobsen doubled the last hole. Benepe, who had recovered from bogeys twice in the round, won in the tent when Jacobsen hit his approach over the last green and into the water.
"I think this is the first time I have given it away, so to speak, and then had it given back to me," Benepe said. "The sensation is wonderful, and I hope itıs going to last a long time."
Benepe was named PGA TOUR rookie of the year on the basis of that one performance but could not take advantage of the immediate playing privileges that came with the title. He encountered back problems and ran into a spate of swing problems before leaving the TOUR in 1991.
Benepe went back out on the regular and Nationwide circuits in the late 1990s. Last year, he made just one Nationwide start, missing the cut in the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. That record doesnıt matter, though. He penned one of the more interesting chapters in one of the oldest tournaments in the country.
