Players Favor Keeping Mercedes-Benz Championship At Kapalua
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Ogilvy Likes Variety That Kapalua
Adds To PGA Tour Schedule |
The future of the PGA Tour Mercedes-Benz Championship at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawaii "suddenly is cloudy," but if the players had a vote, the speculation "wouldn't last long," according to Doug Ferguson of the AP. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem last week said the tour is "looking at some options in terms of what is the best future" for the tournament." But golfer Geoff Ogilvy, who won last week's tournament, "finds it odd that a move from Kapalua is being discussed." Ogilvy: "After Florida, you play the same golf course 20 times in a row. But to play such an extremely different setup, it's a cool place to start." Some players believe that the tour is "looking at a move to the mainland to make it easier to travel." Golfer Justin Leonard said of golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who did not play in last week's tournament, "If you're trying to get one or two players, you're going to have to move it to San Diego or Orlando. And even then, I don't think those guys would play. It's nice to start here." Ferguson noted the tour reportedly is looking at Wailea Golf Resort in Maui, where the weather is "more predictable." But while Wailea "might have more options for Mercedes' clients to play golf," it does not have the "caliber of course that Kapalua offers." Players "often criticize the tour for not playing on the best courses available; this could be one of those examples." Most players would tell Finchem that the tournament is "pretty good as it is," but "maybe in these economic conditions, it's not always about the players." The "wild card in all this is Mercedes." The company's sponsorship of the tournament "expires in 2010 -- as does the tour's contract with Kapalua -- and the automaker has been quiet this week in casual conversations with tournament and resort officials" (AP, 1/11). Golfer Davis Love III said Kapalua is "one of the best on tour," and the site is "definitely a reason why a lot of us love it so much" (HONOLULU ADVERTISER, 1/12).
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Canadian Open On The Upswing After
'08 Edition Sees Fan-Friendly Changes |
CANADIAN BAKIN': In Toronto, Ian Hutchinson wrote the PGA Tour RBC Canadian Open "has not been anointed as a marquee event, but it's considerably closer to that exalted status" than it was in '07. The '08 edition at Glen Abbey Golf Course became "more fan-friendly, using methods that would have been considered taboo in the not-too-distant past, such as a concert series and the promotion of a party atmosphere around the par-3 15th hole, but there still is the issue of the nasty tournament dates." Canadian Open Tournament Dir Bill Paul: "The tour certainly knows our desire to get a new date. Obviously, the landscape may change because of the economic climate south of the border, but we're not going to worry about it. We need to have the best tournament that we can." Hutchinson noted "solid sponsorship and a willingness to try new things will go a long way on the tour, with so many financial and automobile companies having been battered by the economy" (TORONTO SUN, 1/12).
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