Overview
Colonial Country Club announced on July 25, 2006, that Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts has signed a six-year contract to be the title sponsor through 2012. The hotel chain replaces Bank of America, which decided not to renew its deal after four years, including the tournament's 50th anniversary in May.
The 2009 purse is $6,200,000, with $1,116,000 going to the winner.
The tournament was founded in 1946 as the Colonial National Invitation. The tournament honors the history of golf by using an official Scottish tartan plaid jacket, for its champions and top committee chairmen. Another tradition feeding Colonial history is the beautiful Wall of Champions on the first tee. Engraved with the name and score of each champion dating back to the 1941 U.S. Open, the marble display casts a reverence over the start of any player's round. In 2003, Annika Sörenstam played in the tournament and became the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias. However, Sörenstam missed the cut after rounds of 71 and 74.
As a restricted field event on the PGA Tour, only the first 80 players on the previous year's money-list are guaranteed invites.
The tournament is unofficially associated with Ben Hogan, the long-time Fort Worth resident who won the tournament five times, the most of any player. Hogan considered Colonial to be his home course.
Read more about this topic: Crowne Plaza Invitational At Colonial