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).
