A look back at past National Championship winners
The list of champions who have won the PGA Professional National Championship over the past 37 years includes Sam Snead, Bob Rosburg, Ed Dougherty, Bruce Fleisher and Larry Gilbert, the only three-time Champion.
By Bob Denney, PGA of America
The PGA Professional National Championship began in 1968 as The PGA Club Professional Championship to provide PGA members with additional playing opportunities. It has become a showcase event or PGA Professionals, and has been televised live by The Golf Channel since 1997. The list of Champions over the past 37 years includes Sam Snead, Bob Rosburg, Ed Dougherty, Bruce Fleisher and Larry Gilbert, the only three-time Champion. A look back at each Champion follows:
1968 Winner: Howell Fraser
Score: 272
Runners-up: Chuck Malchaski, Bob Rosburg
Site: Century & Roadrunner, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Did you know: Fraser competed on the PGA Tour in three separate stints during the 1960s and '70s, before returning to his home in Panama City, Fla., to work at two golf clubs and teach. In1981, he and his wife, Linda Lee, purchased a franchise gift store, The Mole Hole. Fraser continues to play Dixie PGA Section events and operate the gift store.
1969 Winner: Bob Rosburg
Score: 275
Runner-up: Jimmy Wright
Site: Roadrunner & San Marcos, Chandler, Ariz.
Did you know: One of only two players to win a PGA Championship (1959), and a PGA Professional National Championship, Rosburg is perhaps best remembered for his longtime work as a walking TV reporter for ABC Sports coverage of the PGA Tour. Rosburg played on the PGA Tour from 1953 to 1983, and has appeared in Champions Tour events since its origin in 1980. He lives in La Quinta, Calif.
1970 Winner: Rex Baxter
Score: 285
Runners-up: Ernie George, Bob Duden
Site: Sunol (Calif.) Valley C.C.
Did you know: Baxter played on the PGA Tour from 1961 to 1968, before winning the PGA Professional National Championship two years later. After four PGA Professional positions from 1970 through 1990, Baxter spent four years in semi-retirement. In 1996, he began teaching at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. In 2003, he joined the Golf Digest Schools, and teaches at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens.
1971 Winner: Sam Snead
Score: 275
Runners-up: Jerry Steelsmith, Ron Letellier
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: One of golf's legendary players and the winner of a PGA Tour-record 81 titles, including seven major championships. The 1971 PGA Professional National Champion, Snead was runner-up to Roger Watson in 1974, losing a one-hole playoff. Snead's home club, The Greenbrier of White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., was his retreat from the glare of the public spotlight. In the twilight of his life, Snead both taught and enjoyed the camaraderie of The Greenbrier's members. Snead died in 2002 at age 89.
1972 Winner: Don Masengale
Score: 280
Runner-up: Bob Bruno
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: One of the most durable players of his era, Massengale competed on the PGA Tour from 1960'70, then spent two years at Elmwood Country Club in White Plains, N.Y. He went on to compete on the Champions Tour from1987 to 1997. He now heads the Massengale Golf Academy at Augusta Pines Golf Club in Spring, Texas.
1973 Winner: Rives McBee
Score: 282
Runner-up: Stan Brian
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: McBee competed on the PGA Tour from 1965 to 1971, before serving as PGA head professional at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas. A founding member of the Northern Texas Junior Golf Association, McBee is a former Northern Texas PGA Teacher of the Year. He competed on the Champions Tour from 1989 to 1997, before retiring.
1974 & '75 Winner: Roger Watson*
Score: 284/279
Runners-up: Sam Snead/David Jimenez
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C./ Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga.
Did you know: A PGA Life Member and two-time Carolinas PGA Player of the Year, Watson was the first to win back-to-back PGA Professional National Championships.
He captured the 1974 national title by defeating Sam Snead in a playoff. Watson competed on the PGA Tour from 1974'76, and in 1997 was inducted into the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame.
1976 Winner: Bob Galloway
Score: 280
Runners-up: George Lanning, Larry Gilbert, Jim Ferriell
Site: Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga.
Did you know: Galloway was a part owner of Pine Tuck Golf Club in Rock Hill, N.C., from 1974'78. Since then, he has split his time at Tar Hill Golf Club in Chapel Hill, N.C., assisting to the University of North Carolina men's and women's golf teams and operating a golf club repair center. Galloway also has been a regular on the Carolinas PGA Section tournament circuit, averaging 20 events per year as a PGA Rules Official.
1977 Winner: Laurie Hammer
Score: 282
Runner-up: Steve Benson
Site: Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga.
Did you know: Since 1969, PGA Master Professional Hammer has served as the PGA head professional at Delray Dunes Golf & Country Club in Boynton Beach, Fla. He competed in PGA Tour events from 1966'69. For the past 36 years, Hammer and neighbor Bob Murphy have teamed to present the Delray Dunes Bethesda Hospital Pro-Am. The event has raised more than $3.2 million.
1978 Winner: John Gentile*
Score: 276
Runner-up: Jim Ferree
Site: Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga.
Did you know: Gentile is semi-retired, teaching part-time at Mahopec (N.Y.) Golf Club. He has been a regular in Connecticut PGA Section tournament events for the past several years. Gentile won the 2003 New England Senior Open and the 2005 Cape Cod Senior Open.
1979 Winner: Buddy Whitten*
Score: 278 Runner-up: Jack Lewis
Site: Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Ga.
Did you know: Whitten is in his 29th year as PGA head professional at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Mich. Following his 1979 national title, Whitten competed in six events in 1980 on the PGA Tour. Whitten competed in 30 events on the Champions Tour in 1997, finishing 54th on the season money list. His highest finish was a tie for third at the Bank One Classic.
1980 Winner: John Traub
Score: 283
Runner-up: Jim Albus
Site: PGA National G.C., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Did you know: Traub, a PGA Life Member, is the coordinator of golf events for TNT Enterprises in Rochester, Mich. He competed on the PGA Tour in 1981'82. Traub was runner-up in the 2001 PGA Senior Club Professional Championship, and he has competed for several years on the European Senior Tour.
1981, ''2 & '91 Winner: Larry Gilbert*
Runners-up: Don Padgett II/Steve Benson/ Gene Fieger, Ron McDougal
Site: ('81-'82) PGA National G.C., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./ Larry Gilbert ('91) Doral Resort & C.C., Miami, Fla.
Did you know: The only three-time PGA Professional National Champion, Gilbert was one of the most gifted players in PGA of America history. He won one Tennessee PGA Section Championship in 1971, then moved to Kentucky and was a 12-time Section Player of the Year. He joined the Champions Tour in 1992, and won three titles that included the Ford Senior Players Championship. He died of lung cancer in January of 1998.
1983 Winner: Larry Webb
Score: 283
Runner-up: Bob Ford
Site: LaQuinta/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: Webb is the PGA head professional at Pendaries Golf Club in Rociada, N.M. He competed on the PGA Tour in 1977, 1979 and 1984. A two-time Colorado PGA Player of the Year, between 1977'87, he won six different Open titles in six separate states -- Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. He is a twotime Colorado PGA Senior Player of the Year.
1984 Winner: Bill Schumaker *
Score: 284
Runner-up: Gary Ostrega
Site: PGA National G.C., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Did you know: Schumaker is the PGA head professional at Crooked Lake Golf Course in Columbia City, Ind. He competed on the PGA Tour in 1982, 1985 and 1986, and in Champions Tour events from 2000'05. He is a six-time Indiana PGA Player of the Year and four-time Indiana PGA Senior Player of the Year. Schumaker served two terms on the Indiana PGA Section Board of Directors, and was the inaugural winner of the PGA Club Professional Player of the Year Award.
1985 Winner: Ed Dougherty
Score: 277
Runner-up: Jim White
Site: LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: The 1985 PGA Club Professional Player of the Year when he was at Edgemont (Pa.) Country Club, Dougherty competed on the PGA Tour from 1975'97. He earned one Tour victory at the 1995 Deposit Guaranty Classic. He joined the Champions Tour in 1998, and has been a top performer since, with 43 top-10 finishes that included a runner-up finish in the 1999 U.S. Senior Open.
1986 Winner: Bob Lendzion
Score: 284
Runners-up: Bob Betley
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: When Lendzion won the PGA Professional National Championship, he was the PGA head professional at Quechee (Vt.) Club. He later became a teaching professional on Long Island before joining the European Seniors Tour in 1997. He went on to win the 1998 Turkish Senior Open and the 2005 Egyptian Senior Open. He is continuing his quest to earn a berth on the Champions Tour.
1987 Winner: Jay Lumpkin
Score: 279
Runners-up: Jeff Roth, Bob Menne, Gibby Gilbert
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: Lumpkin, the son of 1995 PGA Teacher of the Year Jack Lumpkin, is a PGA teaching professional who is based at Morgan Run Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. From 1991'95, he was PGA director of instruction for the PGA Tour at the TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Jay Lumpkin played briefly on the PGA Tour in 1988.
1988 Winner: Bob Boyd *
Score: 287
Runner-up: Rick Morton
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: A legend in Carolinas PGA Section history, Boyd has won nearly 30 individual and more than 20 team major championships in PGA Section competition. He is a seven-time Carolinas PGA Player of the Year. Upon turning 50, he competed in 2005 on the European Seniors Tour, and won the Spanish Senior Open. In February 2006, Boyd was stricken with acute myeloid leukemia. He is currently awaiting a bone'marrow transplant.
1989 Winner: Bruce Fleisher
Score: 277
Runner-up: Jeff Thomsen
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: In between his PGA Tour career (1969'98), Fleisher worked as a PGA club professional in the 1980s, with his last term at Williams Island Country Club in North Miami, Fla. Fleisher earned one PGA Tour victory at the 1991 New England Classic. He catapulted to fame on the Champions Tour, collecting 18 victories from 1999 to 2004, including the 2001 U.S. Senior Open.
1990 Winner: Brett Upper
Score: 275
Runners-up: Gibby Gilbert, Larry Gilbert
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: Brett Upper is the PGA director of golf at The Arizona Country Club in Phoenix. He competed on the PGA Tour from 1983-89, finishing third in the 1985 Quad Cities Open and fourth in the 1985 Players Championship and 1988 Greater Hartford Open. Upper followed the 1990 PGA Professional National Championship by winning the 1991 British PGA Club Professional Championship.
1992 Winner: Ron McDougal
Score: 273
Runner-up: Sammy Rachels
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta (Calif.) Hotel/Mission Hills
Did you know: The PGA head professional at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, N.J., McDougal is one of the most consistent performers in PGA Professional National Championship history, posting a 72 stroke average in 45 rounds. He has six top-10 finishes in championship history. In 2000, he appeared in publications nationally as a model for Chanel men's cologne.
1993 Winner: Jeffrey Roth
Score: 275
Runner-up: John Lee
Site: PGA National G.C., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Did you know: Roth is the PGA head professional at Knollwood Country Club in West Bloomfield, Mich. He is one of the most successful performers in Michigan PGA Section history, winning 14 major titles between 1987 and 2004. He competed in PGA Tour events from 1983'04. His PGA Cup singles victory in 1994 allowed the United States to forge a tie with Great Britain & Ireland and retain the Llandudno International Golf Trophy.
1994 Winner: Sammy Rachels *
Score: 284
Runners-up: Darrell Kestner, Ron McDougal
Site: Marriott's Tan-Tar-A Resort/The Oaks Course, Osage Beach, Mo.; North Port National G.C., Lake Ozark, Mo.; The Lodge of Four Seasons/Jones Course, Osage Beach. Mo.
Did you know: The winner of the 1994 PGA Professional National Championship in a playoff, Sammy Rachels has overcome four back operations and recurring circulatory problems in his feet to compete on the PGA Tour from 1975'85, and go on to win three titles as a member of the Champions Tour.
1995 Winner: Steve Schneiter
Score: 278
Runners-up: John DeForest, Bob Ford
Site: PGA West/LaQuinta Hotel/Mission Hills, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: Schneiter, one of four PGA Professionals from his family, is a PGA assistant professional at Schneiter's Pebblebrook Golf Links, in Sandy, Utah. An All-American at Brigham Young University, Schneiter competed on the Nationwide Tour in 1994, 1996-98 and 2000. One of the most successful players in Utah PGA Section history, Schneiter has been in the top 25 of the PGA Professional National Championship in eight of the past 10 years.
1996 Winner: Darrell Kestner
Score: 271
Runner-up: Dan Bateman
Site: PGA West/Nicklaus Private, Palmer Private, Weiskopf Private, LaQuinta, Calif.
Did you know: The PGA head professional at Deepdale Golf Club in Manhassett, N.Y., Kestner also won the 1987 Titleist/FootJoy PGA Assistant Professional Championship.
Listed by Golf Digest as one of America's Top 50 instructors, Kestner won the 2004 and 2005 PGA Senior Club Professional Player of the Year Awards. In 1993, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, he became the first player in PGA Championship history to record a double eagle.
1997 Winner: Bruce Zabriski
Score: 281
Runners-up: Steve Schneiter, Jay Overton, Mike Burke Jr.
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: The PGA director of golf at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Zabriski competed on the PGA Tour in 1988, '92 and '93, and is a five-time PGA Club Professional Player of the Year. He also won the 1995 Titleist/FootJoy PGA Assistant Professional Championship. One of the most dominating players in both the Metropolitan and South Florida PGA Sections, Zabriski won the 2001 PGA Match Play Championship and is the all-time victory leader (18) in the PGA Tournament Series.
1998 Winner: Mike Burke Jr.
Score: 281 Runner-up: Bob Gaus
Site: Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort & C.C.
Did you know: The PGA head professional at Montammy Golf Club in Alpine, N.J., Burke is the son of premier PGA Professional Mike Burke. The first National Champion to use a broom-handled putter, Burke Jr. competed on the PGA Tour in 1982, and is one of the foremost players in New Jersey PGA Section history. He was inducted into the section Hall of Fame in 1998.
1999 Winner: Jeff Freeman
Score: 287
Runners-up: Milan Swilor, Chris Toulson, Brett Upper
Site: Whistling Straits, Straits Course, Kohler, Wis.
Did you know: In 1999, Freeman became one of seven in history to win the PGA Professional National Championship in his first attempt. Freeman competed on the PGA Tour from 1991 to 2004, and currently has 'Conditional' playing status on the Nationwide Tour, a circuit where he has competed in 164 events from 1991 to 2005. Older brother Robin has spent a number of years on the PGA Tour.
2000 & '03 Winner: Tim Thelen *#
Score: 214/282
Runners-up: Mark Brown/Steve Schneiter
Site: Oak Tree G.C., Edmond, Okla./ Twin Warriors G.C., Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.
Did you know: The PGA assistant professional at Bushwood Golf Center in Houston, Texas, Thelen captured the 2000 national title at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla., in a fivehole playoff over Mark Brown. He won the 2003 title by getting up and down from a green-side bunker on the 72nd hole.
2001 Winner: Wayne DeFrancesco
Score: 278
Runners-up: Tim Thelen, Don Berry, Mark Brown, John Aber
Site: Crosswater Club, Sunriver, Ore.
Did you know: A PGA teaching professional at Woodholme Country Club in Baltimore, Md., DeFrancesco underwent three back operations -- in 1983, '86 and '88 ' before returning to competitive golf. Upon winning the 2001 PPNC, he became the first in Championship history to hold the lead alone for all four rounds.
2002 Winner: Barry Evans
Score: 281
Runner-up: Mike Gilmore
Site: Valhalla G.C., Louisville, Ky.
Did you know: The PGA head professional at Berry Hills Country Club in Charleston, W. Va., Barry Evans followed legend Sam Snead (1971) as the only Tri-State PGA Section members to win the PGA Professional National Championship. His victory in the 2002 PGA Club Professional Championship featured an 18th hole eagle in the third round, and a grinding 75 in the final round.
2004 Winner: Bob Sowards
Score: 276
Runner-up: Mike Small
Site: Longaberger G.C., Nashport, Ohio
Did you know: A PGA teaching professional at New Albany (Ohio) Country Club, Sowards is a three-time winner of the PGA Club Professional Player of the Year Award. He competed in 1998 on the former Nike Tour. Sowards won the 2005 TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Stroke Play and Match Play Championships. Last June, Sowards became the first PGA Club Professional Champion to compete in The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where he served as a PGA assistant professional in 1996 and '97.
2005 Winner: Mike Small
Score: 289
Runner-up: Travis Long
Site: The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, S.C.
Did you know: Since 2000, Mike Small has served as head men's golf coach at the University of Illinois in Champaign. He captured the 2005 PGA Professional National Championship in just his second appearance, having finished runner-up by a stroke in 2004. Small was on the former Nike Tour, winning twice in 1997, and Competed on the PGA Tour in 1998. He was one of four PGA Professionals to make the cut in the 87th PGA Championship.
* Won playoff
# Shortened to 54 holes due to inclement weather