In a telephone interview, World Golf Tour Exec Dir John
Montgomery Jr. said that he is trying to schedule the Tour's
inaugural event for next November, most likely to held in Japan
and televised in the U.S. on Fox. The PGA Tour season ends in
October with the Tour Championship. Montgomery said that neither
he nor Greg Norman have "given up on their plan to eventually
start an eight-event world tour" featuring the game's top 30
players. He added there is still "widespread interest from
potential sponsors." Fox initially said it would pay the World
Tour $25M in rights fees for an 8-event schedule. A Fox
spokesperson said the network was still interested in the concept
and "is waiting for further word from Montgomery." PGA Tour
Commissioner Tim Finchem said this week that he met with Norman
last Thursday and that Norman told him "he's taking a step back.
He recognizes it can't move ahead in its current configuration."
Finchem said that reps from various int'l tours will convene in FL
in March to discuss the possibility of a world tour from a long-
term perspective (Leonard Shapiro, WASHINGTON POST, 1/13).
