Money raised from the tournament would go to the Curry Family FoundationGETTY IMAGES
Warriors G Stephen Curry's reps at Octagon are "working with the PGA Tour to finalize a deal that allows the agency to work with the Tour to sell marketing and sponsorship deals for a tournament" hosted by Curry that will be played in the fall of '19, according to sources cited by Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. Sources said that calls "were being made to prospective sponsors of the event." There are currently only "three domestic fall events on the Tour's schedule." The deal has been "kept quiet because Curry wanted to focus on basketball," but a Tour official "acknowledged the organization talked with Curry's team." Money raised from the tournament "would go to Curry's charity, the Curry Family Foundation" (ESPN.com, 5/17). ESPN's Trey Wingo said, "We’ve had Tour players have a tournament and we’ve had celebrities do it, but it’s very unusual to have a non-golfer athlete want to have their own PGA Tour event.” ESPN’s Mike Golic: “He’s a good dude, everyone likes him and he wants to get involved with the PGA. I’m sure they’re going to make this marriage work. That’s a cool thing to be in that position” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 5/18).
THE SCHEDULE MAKERS: Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard said everyone "understands what the Tour is trying to do" with a revised scheduled coming in '19. Hoggard: "You can't go head-to-head with football and all this has done is condensed the season, and it's worth pointing out it's condensed, not contracted." He said there are "events that will get better." He called the Memphis stop becoming a WGC event a "huge upgrade," and noted the Wyndham Championship will essentially "become a play-in playoff event." Hoggard: "Every event now will improve incremental if you look at the way the schedule is shaking up right now." Golf Channel's Charlie Rymer said it "just makes sense" to move the season-ending Tour Championship from the middle of September to the end of August. Rymer: "A lot of time with the current date, you have more folks in the corporate hospitality watching football than out on the golf course watching golf, but that's not going to happen in August" ("Morning Drive," Golf Channel, 5/17).
