| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Established | 1958 |
| Course(s) | Sahara Nevada Country Club |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,800 yards (6,200 m)[1] |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$135,000 |
| Month played | September/October |
| Final year | 1976 |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 269Billy Casper (1965) |
| To par | −15as above |
| Final champion | |
 George Archer | |
| Location map | |
TheSahara Invitational was aPGA Tour event inNevada from 1958 through1976, played inLas Vegas and sponsored by theSahara Hotel. In the first four years, it was theSahara Pro-Am and an unofficial tour event. Paradise Valley Country Club hosted in1970 and1971, and Sahara Nevada Country Club from1972–1976.
Jack Nicklaus won Sahara four times in a seven-year span in the 1960s, and three futuremajor champions (Tony Lema,[2]Lanny Wadkins, andJohn Mahaffey) made Sahara their first tour victory.
A month after the 1976 event,[1] it was announced in early November that the Sahara Invitational was being discontinued. Edward M. Nigro, vice president and general manager of Hotel Sahara, cited rising costs, scheduling conflicts, and a decline in the national promotion benefit as the reasons for the tournament's cancellation.[3]
The Las Vegas Founders returned the PGA Tour to Las Vegas in1983 with thePanasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic; since2007, it has been organized by theShriners Hospitals for Children.
