Annually in Brown Deer, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI, the U.S. Bank Championship is held at the Brown Deer Park Golf Course in July. This is a great event run by Milwaukee Golf Charities and proceeds from the U.S. Bank Championship ticket sales go to a variety of Wisconsin charities. The purse for the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship totaled $4 million with the winner getting $720,000.

In Milwaukee, professional golf began in 1940 but the tournament didn't really make a strong appearance until 1968. It was called the Greater Milwaukee Open at the time and to compete against the British Open, the tournament offered a $200,000 purse and the first prize was $40,000. Famous golfer Lee Travino was the winner of the first prize. In order to help the upstarting tournament, Travino decided against playing in the British Open and focused his game on playing for the U.S. Bank Championship ticket holders.

It was in 2004 that the U.S. Bank took over sponsorship of the U.S. Bank Championship, hence the name. The tournament has been played in various locations since its beginning in the 1940's, starting in 1994 and running currently. The tournament however has been televised since 1989 and in 1996 Tiger Woods would make his professional debut at the U.S. Bank Championship just four days after winning his third U.S. Amateur title. Woods however wasn't quite yet the phenomenon he is today and finished tied for 60th place making only $2,544 for the game. Ticket sales hereafter would skyrocket for the U.S. Bank Championship.

The future right now for the tournament is up in the air. U.S. Bank does not plan to renew its sponsorship of the U.S. Bank Championship and the secondary sponsor, Aurora Health Care is also reducing the amount of funding they will provide to the tournament. Prior to the sponsorship from U.S. Bank, the tournament survived from donations from Philanthropist Jane Pettit. Because of the low U.S. Bank Championship ticket sales and its competition with the British Open, these are the reasons that the U.S. Bank Championship has decided to pull its sponsorship.

While the sponsorship problems hang over the U.S. Bank Championship and financial problems loom, it is believed that the U.S. Bank Championship tournament will be able to support itself without a sponsor, at least for the time being. Low ratings and diminished U.S. Bank Championship ticket sales were the main case of the sponsorship being pulled, but the Milwaukee Golf Charities Inc is currently seeking out a new sponsor for the tournament and will have their information updated accordingly.