The Tradition is one of the five major championships recognized by the U.S.-based Champions Tour, the world's leading tour for professional golfers aged fifty and older. The inaugural event was staged in 1989. Unlike the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior British Open, it is not recognized as a major by the European Seniors Tour, and is not part of that tour's official schedule. Unlike the mainstream major championships, some of the senior majors have title sponsors, and at present The Tradition is officially known as "JELD-WEN Tradition". It is the only senior major where the winner does not earn an exemption into a PGA Tour or PGA European Tour event. From its inception in 1989 through 2002, the tournament was held at the Cochise Golf Course of the Golf Club at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. From 2003 through 2006, it was held at the South Course of The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, Oregon, just west of Portland. In 2007 the tournament moved to the high desert of central Oregon, to the Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver. The lengthy course sits on 600 acres (242 hectares) of woodlands and preserved wetlands along the Deschutes River, at an elevation of 4170 feet (1271 m) above sea level. The par 72 layout will play at 7,316 yards (6,690 m) in 2009. NBC-TV carried the weekend coverage of the tournament in 2007 and 2009 and will do so again in 2010. The Golf Channel will continue to cover the early rounds (and all four rounds in 2008 while NBC carries the Olympic Games from China).
Past Winners JELD-WEN Tradition 2009 Mike Reid 2008 Fred Funk 2007 Mark McNulty 2006 Eduardo Romero 2005 Loren Roberts 2004 Craig Stadler 2003 Tom Watson The Countrywide Tradition 2002 Jim Thorpe 2001 Doug Tewell 2000 Tom Kite The Tradition presented by Countrywide 1999 Graham Marsh 1998 Gil Morgan 1997 Gil Morgan The Tradition 1996 Jack Nicklaus 1995 Jack Nicklaus 1994 Raymond Floyd 1993 Tom Shaw 1992 Lee Trevino The Tradition at Desert Mountain 1991 Jack Nicklaus 1990 Jack Nicklaus 1989 Don Bies
