The World Challenge charitable golf tournament may have lost its title sponsor, and the purse has gone from $5M to $4M this year, but Tiger Woods Foundation President & CEO Greg McLaughlin "believes the future of the tournament is fine," according to Jill Painter of the L.A. DAILY NEWS. McLaughlin said, "(It's) very viable. Absolutely. We're hopeful to have something (for the title sponsor) wrapped up much sooner." Painter notes despite the lower purse, "five of the top 10 ranked players in the world are here." Target and Chevron "have been past sponsors, but Chevron didn't continue with sponsorship for this year's tournament." McLaughlin said, "We got very close a couple times this year, and we were disappointed we weren't able to secure a title sponsor. We had one that fell apart at the 11th hour. Northwestern Mutual had been a five-plus year sponsor, and we went to them and they were kind enough to be the presenting sponsor. We were grateful." McLaughlin added that Tiger Woods is "covering the shortfall for the event." This tournament was the "impetus for the first Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, and Woods has donated his prize money to his foundation." McLaughlin "has meetings with corporations this week with the idea that he can secure a title sponsor early on for next year" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/30).
