Buick Open To Be Staged Despite GM's Expected Chapter 11 Filing

By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Buick Open To Be Staged This Year Despite GM's Likely Bankruptcy Reorganization

The Buick Open, which is owned by General Motors, will be staged in '09 despite the company’s likely Chapter 11 reorganization, said a source close to the tournament. The event, scheduled for July 30-August 2 in Michigan, is one of three privately owned and operated tournaments on the PGA Tour, which began requiring new tournaments to operate as non-profits in the mid-'90s. The private ownership led to some speculation about how the event would be handled under bankruptcy reorganization, but the source said the tournament “will go on as scheduled in 2009.” A formal statement is expected next week. Buick, as it did for the Buick Invitational in San Diego in early February, will cut all non-contractual spending around the Michigan tournament. Buick spends in the low-eight figures annually on its two PGA Tour title sponsorships and on its status as the tour’s official car. All three deals run through '10. GM will likely join Chrysler as the second PGA Tour title sponsor to file for bankruptcy protection in the last month. Tour officials said a bankruptcy court has not made any determination on Chrysler’s title sponsorship of the Bob Hope Classic, which runs through '10. The tour previously announced that tournament will go on next year despite the bankruptcy filing.