PGA Tour's Shriners Open Increases Purse Size, Admission Prices For '13

The PGA Tour Shriners Hospital for Children Open has "upped its purse" and also "upped its ticket prices," according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS JOURNAL-REVIEW. The Tour stop also has "upped the amenities that come with daily admission." The Oct. 14-20 tournament "becomes part of the 2013-14 FedEx Cup regular season after spending years as part of the Tour's end-of-the-year Fall Series." It will be the second event of the season in the new Tour schedule and will "offer a purse" of $6M, up from $4.5M last year. Tournament Dir Adam Sperling has been "talking to agents about getting some of golf's biggest names to play the Shriners Open." He said, "We've been well-received. The tricky part is the change in the calendar. We're now at the beginning of the season, so it's a question of how guys can fit it into their schedules." With the boost to the purse also came "an increase in ticket prices." A daily badge, which "cost $25 last year in advance, will cost $30 this year." Sperling said that about "40,000 attended last year's tournament, up from 35,000 in 2011." He also said that a "stronger field in a tournament that has more relevance to the Tour's schedule should draw even more people in the gallery come October" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/27).

CHANGE OF PACE: The AP's Doug Ferguson reported the PGA Tour OHL Classic at Mayakoba, held opposite the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship the last six years, "moves to November this year." Tournament officials were at last week's match play tournament "with a clever recruiting tool, and to remind players of the date change." They "gave players an iPad with their names engraved, loaded with information about the Mexican beach resort" (AP, 2/26).