The possibility of Memphis losing the PGA Tour FedEx St. Jude Classic "seemed forever ago during this tournament's four-day run, with booming galleries enjoying nice weather and creating a festive atmosphere," according to Kyle Veazey of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Tournament General Chair Jack Sammons, after the completion of the event yesterday, said, "We've got huge momentum now." Veazey writes it was not "so long ago that without a title sponsor, there was fear of losing Memphis' longstanding week on the PGA Tour's calendar." The tournament went without a title sponsor in '09 and '10, "leaving the heavy lifting to local organizers." Sammons: "It takes about $8 million to put one of these on, and we were raising it $10,000 at a time, and that's tough." He added, "ServiceMaster, Nike, AutoZone, Smith and Nephew made huge commitments. And now they've got us back on our feet, FedEx has come back in, and this tournament is strong financially." Veazey noted concession sales Saturday were up 97% over last year, and "up around" 50% on each of the first two days of the tournament. All but a "few of 5,000 shirts in the merchandise tent had been purchased." Sammons said, "This is far and away the biggest crowd I've seen around 18." Sammons also "credited the tournament's 2,600 volunteers and the cooler-than-normal weather" for this year's success. But he also said that the crowds "were in large part due to a strong field." Though tournament winner Dustin Johnson "was an impressive 'get' the tournament's work was best embodied by Rory McIlroy." He said, "It's fantastic, I think what the tournament does for the children's hospital is absolutely incredible" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/11).
