The PGA Tour travels from Maryland down to Texas for the annual AT&T Byron Nelson, the final stop before the season’s second major: the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Contested for the second year at TPC Craig Ranch, the Byron Nelson field will feature a fairly stout field, including nine of the top-20 ranked players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Texas natives Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth, the world Nos. 1 and 9, respectively, will be two of the most popular headliners. Other marquee names teeing it up in Dallas include Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka, among others.
What follows is a round-up of information and historical data to get you prepped for a weekend of golf in Texas.
2022 AT&T Byron Nelson
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PGA Tour: At-a-Glance
Name: AT&T Byron Nelson
Title Sponsor: AT&T
Tour Debut: 1944
Debut Name: Texas Victory Open
Dates: May 12-15, 2022
Where: McKinney, Texas
Course: TPC Craig Ranch
Distance: Par 72, 7468 yards
Format: 72-holes, Stroke play
Field: 144 Players (36-hole cut)
Purse: $9,100,000
Winning Share: $1,638,000
FedExCup/OWGR Pts: 500/54
Defending Champion: K.H. Lee
How to Follow the AT&T Byron Nelson
TELEVISION: Thu-Fri: 4-7 p.m. (GOLF); Sat-Sun: 1-3 p.m. (GOLF), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA TOUR LIVE: Thu-Fri: 7:45 a.m.-7 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat-Sun: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Watch on ESPN+
PGA TOUR RADIO: Thu-Fri: 1-7 p.m.; Sat-Sun: 1-6 p.m.
(PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio)
LINKS: Web | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
AT&T Byron Nelson History
The Byron Nelson has traditionally been contested in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1944. It is one of two PGA Tour stops in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex – the only metropolitan area to host two events.
Called the “Texas Victory Open,” the $2,000 first-prize check in that inaugural 1944 tournament was awarded to Dallas native Byron Nelson, who claimed a 10-shot victory over 17-time PGA Tour winner Jug McSpaden. At 8-under par, Nelson was the only player in the field to finish in the red.
Sam Snead and Ben Hogan won the next two editions before it was halted for the second world war.
After a 10-year absence, the tournament returned in 1956, and due to infighting over the tournament name, it held two iterations just a month apart – in May (Dallas Centennial Open) and June (Texas International Open), both at Preston Hollow Country Club.
Along with Nelson, Hogan, and Snead, who won twice more (1957-58), the tournament produced an impressive list of winners in its infancy, with Peter Thomson (his only victory in the U.S.), Julius Boros, and Roberto De Vicenzo all taking home a trophy in the tournament’s first 10 editions following its sabbatical.
Since then, winners have included legends such as Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Raymond Floyd, Tom Watson, Payne Stewart, Ben Crenshaw, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
Watson holds the tournament record for most victories with four – including three-straight titles (1978-80), followed by a hat trick of trophies from Snead, and two apiece by Nicklaus, Bruce Lietzke and Sergio Garcia.
In 1968, the tournament officially incorporated Nelson into its name, becoming the Byron Nelson Golf Classic. It was the first time a tournament was named after a player. Some 20 years later, in 1988, the tournament brought on GTE as its first title sponsor: the GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic. GTE/Verizon remained the title sponsors through the 2002 edition, with EDS/HP paying for the tournament title until 2014. AT&T has been the title sponsor since 2015.
History: Tournament Names
- AT&T Byron Nelson (2015-Present)
- HP Byron Nelson Championship (2009-14)
- EDS Byron Nelson Championship (2003-08)
- Verizon Byron Nelson Classic (2001-02)
- GTE Byron Nelson Classic (1999-2000)
- GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic (1988-98)
- Byron Nelson Golf Classic (1968-87)
- Dallas Open Invitational (1957-67)
- Texas International Open (June 1956)
- Dallas Centennial Open (May 1956)
- Dallas Invitational (1946)
- Dallas Open (1945)
- Texas Victory Open (1944)
History: Records
WINS:
4 – Tom Watson (1975, 1978-80)
3 – Sam Snead (1945, 1957-58)
2 – Jack Nicklaus (1970-71)
2 – Bruce Lietzke (1981, 1988)
2 – Sergio Garcia (2004, 2016)
SCORING:
261 – Rory Sabbatini (2009), Aaron Wise (2018), Sung Kang (2019)
25-under – K.H. Lee (2021)
History: Recent Winners
2021: K.H. Lee (-25)
2020: No tournament (COVID)
2019: Sung Kang (-23)
2018: Aaron Wise (-23)
2017: Billy Horschel (-12)
2016: Sergio Garcia (-15)
2015: Steven Bowditch (-18)
2014: Brendon Todd (-14)
2013: Bae Sang-Moon (-13)
2012: Jason Dufner (-11)
AT&T Byron Nelson Field
The field teeing it up this week at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas is headlined by eight of the top-16 ranked players in the world, including Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Justin Thomas (8), Jordan Spieth (9), Xander Schauffele (12), Hideki Matsuyama (13) and Brooks Koepka (16).
They will be joined by the likes of Sam Burns, Joaquin Niemann, Will Zalatoris, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott.
Top-5 Betting Favorites
1. Scottie Scheffler (+1000)
2. Justin Thomas (+1200)
3. Xander Schauffele (+1800)
4. Dustin Johnson (+2000)
4. Jordan Spieth (+2000)
4. Sam Burns (+2000)
4. Will Zalatoris (+2000)
Full Field & Odds
Up Next: PGA Championship
The PGA Championship, the season’s second major, gets underway next week at Southern Hills in Oklahoma where fan favorite Phil Mickelson defends his historic 2021 title.
Credits: PGA Tour Media, Getty Images
