Nationwide Tour Pete Dye Classic Gets Rebranded As Players Cup

By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

The National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, which has been a Nationwide Tour event since ‘04, has been renamed the Nationwide Tour Players Cup and given a $1M purse in '08 under a new four-year deal that runs through 2011. In addition to the rights fee, a consortium of local companies and organizations is expected to annually underwrite the $700,000 portion of the purse not paid by the Tour, and the approximate $200,000 in production costs to air all four rounds on Golf Channel. Unlike most events, qualification will be limited to the top 144 players on the money list. It becomes the second event on the tour with $1M in prize money, joining next year’s Nationwide Tour Championship. A source said the Tour has been focusing on creating a series of events similar to the four majors typically scheduled on the other major golf tours.

LPGA: Meanwhile, Memphis-based Stanford Financial has signed a title sponsorship of the new LPGA event at Fairmont Turnberry Isle in South Florida. The pro-am format tournament will be called the Stanford Int’l Pro-Am. An announcement on the April 24-27 event is expected today. The company, which title sponsors the PGA Tour stop in Memphis, has also signed a new endorsement deal with Morgan Pressel and will expand its charitable program to the LPGA, under which it donates money to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for every eagle made on tour. The event has a $2M purse.