Not So Sweet Home Chicago? The BMW Championship Won't Be Back for Years

Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey ... the former Western Open is leaving the golf-mad Chicago area behind again to satisfy sponsor wishes.

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It was a bit curious last week when representatives of the Western Golf Association and BMW chose to announce a future tournament location that is not in the same city where the tournament was played this year.

The fact that the tournament—once anchored in the Chicago area for 44 consecutive years through 2007—has been leaving the Windy City more frequently in recent times remains a bit of a sore subject locally. The idea of one of the country’s best golf markets going without a tournament annually is still somewhat hard to believe.

But economic realities are part of professional golf, and the needs of a title sponsor coupled with those of the host organization are important considerations. And so it was that the tournament announced it was taking the 2027 BMW Championship to Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J., across the river from Manhattan.

While that’s great for the New York/New Jersey market—the Tour no longer has an annual stop there, either—it’s not so great for Chicago. Following the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields this year, it is going to Castle Pines in Colorado in 2024, to Caves Valley in Maryland in 2025, to Bellerive in St. Louis in 2026 and then to Liberty National.

This week's BMW Championship played in front of massive crowds at Olympia Fields :: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

That means a minimum five-year wait for what was once called the Western Open to return to the Chicago area. One reason for the delay is the 2026 Presidents Cup will be staged at Medinah Country Club, so the Western Golf Association folks—who run the tournament—were not going to compete with that.

“There’s really an 18-month window on either side of an event like the Presidents Cup that makes it difficult from a sales perspective," said John Kaczkowski, the CEO of the Western Golf Association. “It makes it difficult to do both. But we want to come back to Chicago as soon as we can."

But it still is the longest stretch without being in the area where the WGA is based since the event first anchored here with an event at Medinah in 1962, moving around the area until an 18-year run began at Butler National followed by 17 in a row at Cog Hill.

Starting in 2008, the tournament started moving to other cities. It was played at Bellerive in St. Louis this year. In 2012 it went to Crooked Stick in Indiana and was at Cherry Hills in Denver in 2014. Kaczkowski noted that next year’s event at Castle Pines is nearly sold out from a corporate perspective.

“I think this is really a perfect marriage of organizations with Liberty National, the Fireman family (which owns the club), BMW, Western Golf association with our expansion in the east," said Vince Pellegrino, the senior vice presidents of tournaments for the WGA. “This is an important market for us and for BMW. It’s right in our backyard."

That, ultimately, is likely the biggest reason for making such a move. The title sponsor pays the bill and given BMW’s commitment to what is now a $20 million purse (likely a $25-$30 million annual investment), it is going to want a say in where the event is played.

The other is what Pellegrino noted. The WGA, which runs several tournaments including the Western Amateur and Junior as well as a Korn Ferry Tour event, administers the Evans Scholarship Foundation, which gives some $20 million worth of tuition-based scholarships a year to caddies.

The program has mostly been based in the Midwest since its inception in 1930—when amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans Jr. partnered with the WGA to send the first two caddies to college at Northwestern.

Now the program has some 1,000 caddies in college and has moved to the Northeast, with Scholars attending schools such as Penn State, Maryland and now Rutgers. Last year’s event in Wilmington, Del., was tied to the idea of sending scholarship recipients to the University of Delaware.

“We’ve expanded into Rutgers University," Pellegrino said. “We’re sending 10 kids to school there this fall. We want to grow that program."

Hence, a move to different markets, ones that welcome the opportunity to host PGA Tour golf. WGA officials report huge interest in their events when they have ventured outside of Chicago and the hospitality and ticket sales lead to a growing financial statement, which funds the various programs.

The Western Open dates to 1899, when it was played at Glen View Golf Club and Willie Smith won $50 for capturing the tournament. Back then, the WGA was a semi-rival to the United States Golf Association and moved its tournament around the country, just like the USGA does with the U.S. Open.

And for a long time, probably into the 1940s, the Western Open was viewed as a major championship until the Masters slid into that role. It was in 1962 that it began a run of playing every year in the Chicago area, with a visit to Medinah. Arnold Palmer won the following year at Beverly Country Club, followed by Chi Chi Rodriguez at Tam O’Shanter.

Jack Nicklaus won in back-to-back years in 1967 (Beverly) and 1968 (Olympia Fields), the latter for which the WGA brought the 83-year-old legend in to commemorate last week at the pro-am party.

Tom Watson won the tournament three times and Tiger Woods won it five times, twice as the BMW Championship playoff event.

Change is inevitable and the tournament has evolved but it’s still somewhat surprising to see it leave its home of so many years for such a long period of time.