2) Finale fit for a king. Palmer won the Hope five times, and is tied so
closely to the event that it should come as no surprise that his fifth
victory there, in 1973, was also the last of his 62 PGA Tour wins. No
other professional golfer has won the Coachella Valley's signature event
more than twice.
3) PGA WEST in the spotlight. The Hope had been played mostly at
a traditional rotation of classic older Valley courses in its early days, so it
was a jolt to the system when PGA WEST's Pete Dye Stadium Course
entered the fray in 1987. The controversial course was deemed too
penalizing by the pros and lasted just that one year. However, it returned
to the lineup in 2016, and for all but three of the past 35 years at least
one course at PGA WEST has been played during tournament week.
4) You're on the tee, Mr. President. It was a moment in history that
had never been seen, and to this day has never been repeated, as three
American presidents – George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford –
teed it up together in the opening round of the 1995 Hope. Just two
years after Clinton defeated Bush to become the 42nd president, they
and Ford were joined by professional Scott Hoch and none other than
tournament host Bob Hope, then 91, for without question the most
memorable grouping in tournament history.
5) A round to remember. A 5-iron to 6 feet on the 543-yard par-5
18th at PGA WEST's Arnold Palmer Private Course led to David Duval's
lone eagle of the day and made him just the third player in PGA Tour
history to shoot a round of 59. That he happened to do it in the final
round of the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic to win by one stroke made
it all the more incredible, and it is still considered by many as among the
best rounds in PGA Tour history.
Be iconic island 17th green at the Pete Dye Stadium Course.
Bush, Clinton, Hope and Ford.
