AmEx Signs On To Title Sponsor PGA Tour's Palm Springs Event

AmEx will return "as a PGA Tour tournament title sponsor beginning next year," as the former Desert Classic in Palm Springs will be rechristened as The American Express, according to John Lombardo of SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL. Financial terms of the multiyear deal were not known, but the move marks the first time in 14 years the company will have its name on a PGA Tour stop. It previously title sponsored the WGC-American Express from '99-06. Wasserman repped AmEx in the deal. The Palm Springs event "went without a title sponsor this year after CareerBuilder took its name off the event." Lagardere Sports, which manages the tournament, has seen "other sponsorship changes over the past decade" -- Humana served as title sponsor from '12-15, while Chrysler ended its title deal with the then-Bob Hope Classic following the '08 tourney. While AmEx has not titled a PGA Tour event in over a decade, it has been "involved in golf as a longtime USGA sponsor with heavy activation at the U.S. Open" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/9 issue).