The St. Jude Classic is one of the regular golf tournaments on the golf PGA tour. The St. Jude Classic is played every year in Memphis, Tennessee on the tournament Payers Club located in Southwind since the year 1989. The total purse for this tournament in 2009 was $5,600,000 with the winner awarded with a $1,008,000 prize check.

The St. Jude Classic tournament was founded in 1958 at the then Memphis Open which was played every year at the famous Colonial Country Club first in the city of Memphis and then later in Cordova, Tennessee right up until 1989. Later in 1969 the famous actor Danny Thomas agreed to give his name to the tournament which was in exchange for his charity for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital which became the charity of the tournament. The next year the tournament’s new name was the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic. Later in 1977 the then president Gerald Ford who had just left his office hit a hole in one at the celebrity pro am that year. That very same year Al Geiberger hit a record of 59 fewer than 13 par round. Later in 1989 the tournament moved from the Colonial Country Club to the where it’s presently played at the TPC at Southwind in Memphis. Later the Stanford Financial Group took over as the sponsor of the tournament and the tournament was renamed the Stanford St. Jude Championship. Later early this year in 2009 the tournament had another change in its name to St. Jude classic which followed the financial difficulties faced by Stanford’s Financial.

Each year the winner of the St. Jude Classic receives a blue and white seersucker jacket. This jacket is a prized possession for any golf player as its only presented to the winner of the St. Jude Classic. In early 2009 the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx was won by Brian Gay. In prior to that in 2008 it was won by Justin Leonard. The St. Jude Classic is usually played in the summer month of June which makes it also prune to frequent delays because of the storm season. However, storms and rains haven’t done much damage to the events every since the St. Jude Classic first began. There have been however a few delays but nothing too serious unlike other tournaments who seem to be doomed by frequent bad weather.

The very first winner of the tournament in 1945 was Fred Hass followed by Buck White in 1946. However unfortunately there was no tournament played between 1947 – 57 mainly because of the Second World War. There were also probably a few financial factors that meant that the tournament couldn’t be played. However today the tournament is held and played fairly regularly with a bunch of new players joining the ranks every year. The St. Jude Classic is a must watch tournament for every golfing fan and its even better when you watch it in person.