A "falling-out between the PGA Tour and its Chinese partners" has led to PGA Tour China being "unable to get any Chinese tournaments approved for its upcoming season," which last year featured more than a dozen events, according to Wayne Ma of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. PGA Tour China Managing Dir Greg Gilligan said, "There's a lack of clarity over how to get approved." Ma notes The PGA Tour came to China with "high hopes, seeking to expand the game’s popularity." In '13, it "struck a deal with the quasi-governmental" China Golf Association (CGA) and promotional firm China Olympic Sports Industry (COSI) to stage tournaments. But two years later, Gilligan said that PGA Tour "began questioning the business practices" of COSI and the "particulars of financial transactions." Separately, the CGA has said that it is "now working with COSI to stage its own tournaments." Gilligan said that the PGA Tour also "had concerns over staff turnover at COSI, the company’s knowledge of golf, and ... its lack of planning for the upcoming season." He said that the Tour "ended its three-way partnership late last year after the CGA refused to change the arrangement with COSI." But he added that the Tour "hasn’t abandoned hopes for staging tournaments this year ... possibly by getting a 'higher authority' or provincial-level officials to approve the events." To do that, the Tour would have to "bypass the powerful CGA" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/28).
BALANCING ACT: In N.Y., Sui-Lee Wee reports New Balance has "won a rare legal victory in China in an intellectual property dispute: A court has ordered five shoe manufacturers and sellers to pay the state $250,000 for using the American shoemaker’s signature slanting 'N' logo" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/28).
