Billy Casper earned his third Greater Hartford Open victory 49 years ago

By: Josh Morris – On this day, In 1968 Buffalo Bill Casper won the Greater Hartford Open for a record third time at Wethersfield Country Club. Casper earned the title by beating out fellow competitor Bruce Crampton by three strokes. He only needed 27 putts the seal the victory on the final day and to take home the $20,000 of the $100,000 purse. It was Casper’s fifth victory of the 1968 season in which was around the absolute peak of his career. Between the years of 1964 and 1970, Casper won 26 tournaments regularly beating the so called famous “Big Three” in Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.

Between 1964 & 1970, Billy Casper won 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour, 2 more than Nicklaus & 6 more than Palmer and Player combined #pgatour — Josh Morris (@jmorris292) September 7, 2016

On the final day of the tournament Casper shot a final round of five under par -66-, with an aggregate score of 266 which tied a tournament record by 1959 Masters Champion, Art Wall. The runner up, chasing Casper all day was Australian Bruce Crampton who could only muster a 67 on the final day and finished with 269. Raymond Floyd finished in third place with 271, while Dave Stockton came in fourth finishing with 274. Casper’s third victory at the Greater Hartford Open is still a record to this day as we call it the Travelers Championship now. He went on to win it for a fourth time in 1973 when celebrity Sammy Davis Jr. slapped his name on the event making it the Sammy Davis Jr.–Greater Hartford Open.