Cadillac has signed a one-year deal to "become the title sponsor" of the WGC-Match Play Championship, which will be held at S.F.'s Harding Park next year, according to Ron Kroichick of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The event will be called the WGC-Cadillac Match Play. The automaker also title sponsors the WGC event at Doral. Harding Park's deal to host the tourney also is for one year, so the '15 event is "essentially a trial, to gauge the response of players, fans and the sponsor." Accenture had title sponsored the Match Play since '99 (SFGATE.com, 9/30).
A DIFFERENT PACE: In California, Larry Bohannan wrote the PGA Tour event previously known as the Humana Challenge will "go through a kinder, gentler transition" than it did during the last few years of the Bob Hope Classic. The "shock in the Humana departure after next January's event is that there were at least no outward clues of discontent." But the tournament Humana is leaving is "not a tournament that requires saving." It is "simply a tournament that is seeking a new title sponsor in what is still a questionable economic environment." The event has "gone from floundering to solid footing, but is now looking to take the next solid step." Bohannon: "It is a shame and a bit of a shock that Humana is leaving the tournament. But this time, it is a transition for the local event, not a death knell" (DESERTSUN.com, 9/29).
