Sunshine Tour Commissioner Gareth Tindall today said that South Africa "will host a World Golf Championship event in 2012 offering prize money of $10 million, making it the richest tournament in world golf," according to Gerald Imray of the AP. Tindall said that a "five-year deal was sealed after meetings" with the PGA Tour and the Int'l Federation of PGA Tours at The Masters last week. A date and venue have not been decided, but Tindall said that organizers "will look at the first weekend of December, clashing with Tiger Woods' Chevron Challenge and South Africa's own Nedbank Challenge at Sun City" (AP, 4/12). SKYSPORTS.com's Paul Higham notes the event "will be known as a Tournament of Hope as it will be aimed at increasing awareness of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa" (SKYSPORTS.com, 4/12). Tindall said, "This is, without doubt, the most significant milestone in the history of professional golf in South Africa. ... It is something that we as the Sunshine Tour have been working on for a long time and the unanimous support that we have received from the other professional Tours around the world confirms the major standing of our players and the Sunshine Tour in world golf" (PA, 4/12).
WESTWARD HO: In Denver, Woody Paige reports Broncos Exec VP/Football Operations and Cherry Hills Country Club President John Elway today will announce that the PGA Tour BMW Championship, the "semifinal of the FedEx Cup," will be played at the golf course in '14. A renovation and the "lengthening of the course from under 7,000 yards to more than 7,500 has allowed Cherry Hills to become a big-time player in golf again." Paige writes the tournament "will bring fresh revenues, and it's good, clean fun" (DENVER POST, 4/12). In Chicago, Ed Sherman notes the city currently hosts the BMW Championship, but the '12 tournament will be held in Indianapolis and a "site hasn't been selected for 2013." A Chicago venue "would seem to be the favorite," but it "hardly is a sure thing." Sherman writes it is "hard to believe the PGA Tour would want to abandon Chicago," as it is a "huge market with perhaps more avid golfers than any area in the country." Sherman: "The tour should find a way to tap into that passion, not throw up its hands and run away from it" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 4/12).
