The marriage of the PGA Tour Humana Challenge and the Clinton Foundation "has been a grand experiment, seeing if a tour event could deliver a message to golf fans as well as delivering charity dollars to a community," according to Larry Bohannan of the Palm Springs DESERT SUN. President Bill Clinton is pleased that as the fourth year of the partnership nears, the tour and the Clinton Foundation are "both happy with the results." Clinton: "I am thrilled that so many of the (PGA Tour) players have been interested because they have health-related foundations, which is one thing I hoped would happen. So, from my point of view, it has been great. ... The field just keeps getting better and better." Bohannan notes The Clinton Foundation's Health Matters conference this year takes place the Monday following the tournament, but Clinton "remains equally interested in the golf tournament and its fortunes." Clinton: "You remember we were losing a lot of players to Dubai (on the European Tour). They can pay appearance fees and the PGA (Tour) can't do that. I kept thinking that if this field kept getting better, we would eventually get a breakthrough where people would be more likely than not to show up in the desert. And that is essentially what has happened now." Bohannan notes Clinton this year will be "on hand the final day to present the trophy to the winner, something he has missed the last three years." The Clinton Foundation "will remain a part of the tournament beyond next week, even though Humana is leaving" its deal early. Clinton said of title sponsorship for next year, "The [PGA Tour] is working this hard, and I have done a little work on it, and I feel like we'll be fine. I am grateful to Humana" (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 1/17).
WHY QUIT A GOOD THING? Bohannan in a front-page piece notes while Humana officials "have said that changes in the health care industry in recent years, including the Affordable Healthcare Act, caused the company to rethink its advertising and marketing efforts, they insist they have benefited from their time" with the PGA Tour event. Tournament Exec Dir & CEO Bob Marra said that the event "has a bright future and there is not nearly the concern about finding a new sponsor as existed when Chrysler left" as title sponsor after '08. Bohannan notes Desert Classic Charities, the entity that organizes the Humana Challenge, is "not directly involved with the sponsor search, leaving that to the PGA Tour." But Marra said that "all signs are that the tournament will get a new sponsor soon" (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 1/20).
SCHEDULE COMPETITION: Bohannan noted this week's tournament has "one of its strongest fields in years," as 14 of the top 44 in the Official World Golf Rankings are competing. However, as the "checks fly" at the European Tour Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, it "does mean that a few Americans are going to take the money" and play in the Middle East. The Humana Challenge has "taken the brunt" of the player-appearance-fee issue in recent years (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 1/17). But Bohannan wrote, "You may very well say well, that means 30 of the top 44 are not playing. But the truth is that with the exception of major championships and World Golf Championships, very few PGA Tour events have fields as strong as the one the Humana will present this week" (DESERTSUN.com, 1/19).
