The event was first played as the Liggett & Myers Open Match Play Championship in 1971[1] at The Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.

The field of 64 players in 1971 consisted of the winners of tour events from the previous 12 months and the leaders from the 1971 money list.

For 1972, the tournament, now called the U.S. Professional Match Play Championship, was held in conjunction with the Liggett & Myers Open.

Losers in the first round received $5,000, or more than the fourth-place finisher in the Liggett & Myers Open.

In 1973, the format and purse remained the same but the events shifted to MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary, North Carolina.