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 is 7683 yards (7025 m) from the back tees, with a USGA scratch rating of 76.9 and a slope rating of 150.

NBC-TV carried the weekend coverage of the tournament in 2007, and will do so again in 2009 and 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).