PGA Tour secures new sponsor for Houston Open as Tournament returns to Spring schedule

The PGA Tour and the Astros Golf Foundation announced on Wednesday (May 31) that the Houston Open will be renamed the Texas Children's Open beginning next season, following a new sponsorship agreement with Texas Children's Hospital.

Through this new agreement, the historic tournament will be kept alive, although it will no longer be played in 2023.

This was stated by PGA Tour President Tyler Dennis in his press release:

“On behalf of the PGA Tour, we are thankful to Texas Children’s for their commitment to one of the tour’s legacy events in the Houston Open, a tournament that dates back to 1946."

"The Houston Open has played a significant role in shaping the PGA Tour’s history through its competitive lineage with golf’s greats playing and winning the event as well as an unwavering commitment to bettering the community."

He added:

"This partnership between the Astros Golf Foundation and Texas Children’s has the opportunity to take the tournament to new heights, most notably in its ability to impact the lives of families in Houston and throughout Texas.”

The tournament has been operated by the Astros Golf Foundation, in partnership with the PGA Tour, since 2018, when they took over the event in order to keep it in Texas. The foundation, which is affiliated with the Houston Astros MLB team, works with another title sponsor, which gives the event its name.

Three companies have served as co-sponsors of the Houston Open, joining the Astros Golf Foundation: Vivint (2020), Hewlett Packard (2021), and Cadence Bank (2022). They are joined by Texas Children's Hospital in 2024.

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Brief history of the Houston Open

The Houston Open tournament has a long and prestigious history. It has been played since 1946 and its first champion was the legend Byron Nelson, who beat Ben Hogan by two strokes no less.

Vijay Singh won his third Houston Open in 2005 (Image via Getty).

Other illustrious names in the history of golf who have inscribed their names on the list of winners were Arnold Palmer, Roberto de Vicenzo, Gary Player, and Fred Couples. Some, no less renowned, also gave prestige to the event, although they were not able to win it, such is the case of Hogan himself, Jack Nicklaus, and Lee Trevino.

Only two players have been able to win in Texas three times: Curtis Strange (1980, 86, 88) and Vijay Singh (2002, 04, 05). Singh, in turn, is the only one with two victories in consecutive editions.

Seven other players have been able to triumph twice at the tournament: Cary Middlecoff, Jack Burke Jr., Mike Souchak, Bobby Nichols, Arnold Palmer, Bruce Crampton, and Stuart Appleby.

The 2022 champion was Tony Finau and, since there will be no tournament in 2023, he will be the defending champion in 2024. The tournament will be returning to play in the spring, after four years located in the autumn stage of the season.