First played in 1952 and staged at different venues in the Greater Hartford area, the tournament initially known as the Insurance City Open was a stalwart on the PGA Tour and an institution in Connecticut. Billy Casper won it four times, Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson each took the title twice and entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. lent his name to the event for 16 years, from 1973 to 1988.
But it was set to disappear after the 2006 edition. As popular and well-attended as it may have been, the event was losing its title sponsor (Buick) as well as its spot on the PGA Tour calendar.
“We had a situation,” said Nathan Grube, who had only recently become tournament director of what was then called the Buick Championship. “And it looked like this long-standing event was over, so much so that we had started considering alternatives, such as the Champions Tour or the LPGA.”
Grube and his colleagues received something of a reprieve, however, when 84 Lumber gave up its title sponsorship of a PGA Tour event. That opened up the week after the U.S. Open, and it created the possibility that the Hartford tournament would not have to go away after all.
But Grube realized that changes needed to be made if the tournament had any chance of succeeding with its second chance. More than anything else, that meant finding the right title sponsorship. In time, he was able to do that when Travelers, which had been a partner of the event since its inception, agreed to take on a much bigger role.
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