Greater Jacksonville Open Tournament on the PGA Tour

The Greater Jacksonville Open had two runs as a PGA Tour golf tournament, first from the mid-1940s to mid-50s, then again from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. This tournament was discontinued when The Players Championship became permanently located at TPC Sawgrass, which is near Jacksonville.

First played: 1945

Last played: 1976

The 1952 tournament ended in a tied between Sam Snead and Doug Ford. Ford wound up getting his first win on the PGA Tour when Snead forfeited the playoff — he was troubled by a favorable ruling he'd received in the second round and worried that some might view a potential victory as unfair.

Snead set the tournament's 72-hole scoring record during his 1946 victory, scoring 264. Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Tony Jacklin and Hubert Green each won the tournament twice, the only golfers to record multiple victories.

Also known as: Jacksonville Open Invitational and Jacksonville Open

Winners of the Greater Jacksonville Open
1976 — Hubert Green
1975 — Larry Ziegler
1974 — Hubert Green
1973 — Jim Colbert
1972 — Tony Jacklin
1971 — Gary Player
1970 — Don January
1969 — Raymond Floyd
1968 — Tony Jacklin
1967 — Dan Sikes
1966 — Doug Sanders
1965 — Bert Weaver
1954-64 — Not played
1953 — Lew Worsham
1952 — Doug Ford
1951 — Jim Ferrier
1950 — Cary Middlecoff
1949 — Cary Middlecoff
1948 — Chick Harbert
1947 — Clayton Heafner
1946 — Sam Snead
1945 — Sam Snead

At the 1952 tournament, Doug Ford won a playoff against Sam Snead after Snead forfeited. Why did Snead forfeit? He was feeling antsy about a favorable ruling he'd received earlier in the tournament. Read the story.

Golf Courses: The last two courses to host the tournament were Hidden Hills Country Club and Deerwood Country Club, both located within Jacksonville proper.