The PGA Tour event in Tampa, which lost Transitions Optical as its title sponsor a year ago, has brought on Jacksonville-based EverBank Financial as a presenting sponsor for this year. The Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank is scheduled for March 14-17, giving the financial institution just a few weeks to pull together its marketing plan for the tournament. “We are focusing all of our time and energy on helping EverBank to become fully integrated, including development of on-site signage and the broadcast presentation and implementing a full-scale customer engagement program,” PGA Tour Exec VP & COO Andy Pazder said in a statement. EverBank since '10 has held the naming rights to the Jaguars' stadium. “We’ve had a great experience for several years as supporters of The Players Championship and we believe now is the right time for us to step up our sponsorship with the Tampa Bay Championship,” said EverBank President & COO Blake Wilson. Financial terms of the deal were not available (Michael Smith, Staff Writer). The event will still be played without a title sponsor, and in Tampa, Rodney Page noted if one "is not found by the end of the year, it likely will mean the end of the tournament” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 2/27). Golfer Luke Donald, the defending champion of the event, said, “Of all the Florida courses, I think it had the strongest field and it would be a shame to lose the tournament because of that”(GOLFCHANNEL.com, 2/27).
TITLE SHOT: In Vancouver, Brad Ziemer reported PGA Tour Canada President Jeff Monday this week is “knocking on a few corporate doors in hopes of finding a title sponsor for a Vancouver event in 2014.” PGA Tour Canada, which “officially took over the struggling Canadian Tour last fall, had hoped to have Vancouver on its schedule this year.” But that “elusive title sponsor could not be found on relatively short notice, so now the goal is to land one in time for a 2014 event” (VANCOUVER SUN, 2/28).
