First things first. The Las Vegas stop on the PGA Tour will always be foremost remembered for being the location of Tiger Woods’ first victory as a professional.
The date was Oct. 6, 1996, and a young Woods, six weeks after winning a third consecutive U.S. Amateur title, quickly lived up to the hype in Sin City, defeating Davis Love III in a playoff to claim his first oversized check.
Woods would go on to win 81 more times on the PGA Tour but would make only one other visit to Las Vegas. He returned in 1997 to defend his title but ended up tied for 37th.
Here is a look at a few other things you may not have known about the PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas.
Woods def. Love in a playoff
PGA Tour rookie Tiger Woods holds a check after winning the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational at TPC at Summerlin. (Photo: Lennox McLendon, Associated Press)
In 1996, the Las Vegas Invitational was held at three courses—Las Vegas Hilton Country Club, TPC Summerlin, Desert Inn—and spanned five days. And 90 holes weren’t enough as the young Woods and the veteran Love were tied at the end of regulation.
Woods, 20 years, 9 months and 6 days old at the time, opened his week with a 70 and followed that with scores of 63-68-67-64.
Love played that week with a wooden-headed driver. Yes, they still had those in 1996. A big hitter himself, Love drove the 341-yard, par-4 14th and made eagle. Missed birdie putts on 17 and 18 cost him a win in regulation and eventually a playoff loss.
“As disappointed as I am, I’m that much happy for him. He’s a great, great player, and he’s great for the Tour,” Love said.
Bright lights, big money
Las Vegas first became a regular PGA Tour stop in 1983 and from the get-go, it had the largest purse on tour.
In 1983, the first year of the event, the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic had a purse of $750,000 and Fuzzy Zoeller, who won the inaugural tournament, earned the $135,000 first-place check.
The next highest purse in 1983 was The Tournament Players Championship at $700,000. The Players, the flagship event for the PGA Tour, now has the biggest purse ($20 million) and the biggest first-place prize ($3,600,000), not counting the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
In its second year, 1984, Vegas became the first Tour event to showcase a purse of more than $1 million ($1,122,500 to be exact). Denis Watson won that year to earn $162,000.
By the time Woods won $297,000 for his 1996…
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