Buick To Stop Providing Courtesy Cars To Some PGA Tour Events

Buick Will Not Provide Courtesy Cars To Most PGA Tournaments Next Year

Buick, the official car of the PGA Tour, "will not be providing courtesy cars to most tournaments next year ... in another sign of fragile financial conditions," according to Doug Ferguson of the AP. Tournaments that Buick will no longer supply include the U.S. Bank Championship, the AT&T National and the Transitions Championship. John Deere Classic Tournament Dir Clair Peterson said, "We've already started scrambling to try to approach local dealers or national suppliers to see if they're interested. The car industry as a whole is in a tough spot. We've already had one company tell us everything has been frozen in '09." Ferguson reported the Northern Trust Open had a deal with previous title sponsor Nissan that expired last year, and Tournament Dir Tom Pulchinski said that he "tried to arrange a deal with Buick and was turned down." Meanwhile, the Shell Houston Open "remains hopeful of keeping its Buick courtesy car deal." Buick Golf Marketing Manager Larry Peck "declined to discuss which tournaments have lost courtesy car arrangements because nothing has been finalized or announced." A tournament official said that "four tournaments will continue [their] deal with the company, including the two Buick-sponsored events." But PGA Tour Exec VP/Communications & Int’l Relations Ty Votaw said that that number "was not consistent with the tour's conversations with Buick." Ferguson notes other tournaments have "their own deals, such as the Memorial (Lexus), the Wachovia Championship (Mercedes-Benz) and Colonial (Cadillac), along with those tournaments that have automakers for a title sponsor" (AP, 11/18).