DETROIT,
FOR RELEASE: January 17, 2002Buick Announces Record Purse For Buick Open
DETROIT,- Buick announced today that the purse for the 2002 Buick Open will be a record $3.3 million, an increase of $200,000 over 2001. The tournament is scheduled for August 5-11 at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich.
"We are very pleased to be able to announce a record purse for the Buick Open," said Roger Adams, general manager for Buick Motor Division. "We hope this will help us attract a few more of the Tour's top players and enhance what is already a great tournament."
The purse for the inaugural Buick Open in 1958 was $52,000. Since then, it has gone from $100,000 in 1978, to $700,000 in 1988, to $1.8 million in 1998, to its current high of $3.3 million. First place money has gone from $9,000 in 1958, to $20,000 in 1978, to $126,000 in 1988, to $324,000 in 1998. The winner of the 2002 Buick Open will receive $594,000.
Kenny Perry is the defending champion of the Buick Open, which will serve as a lead-in to the final major of 2001, the PGA Championship in Chaska, Minn.
For Buick Open tickets, or information, call 1 (800) 878 OPEN.
Now in its fifth decade as the PGA Tour's original corporate sponsor, Buick is title-sponsor of four PGA Tour events: the Buick Invitational (February 4-10, Torrey Pines Golf Course, LaJolla, Calif.); the Buick Classic (June 3-9, Westchester Country Club, Harrison, N.Y.); the Buick Open (August 5-11, Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich.); and the Buick Challenge (Oct. 21-27, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga.).
The official car of the PGA Tour since 1984, Buick is an official sponsor of the domestic events of the World Golf Championships. Through it's four title-sponsored PGA Tour events, Buick has donated more than $22 million to charity since 1982.