The Houston event will have limited fans this year and is operated by the Astros Golf FoundationGETTY IMAGES
The PGA Tour has signed a deal with Vivint Smart Home for title sponsorship of the Houston Open, which now becomes the Vivint Houston Open and will be played Nov. 5-8 at Memorial Park Golf Course for the first time since '63. Vivint steps in to sponsor the tournament only for '20. It is a unique agreement given that the Tour typically signs long-term deals with title partners. The Houston event, which will have limited fans this year, is operated by the Astros Golf Foundation, led by Astros Owner Jim Crane. "Our goal with every PGA Tour event is to raise as much money for charity as possible," said PGA Tour Exec VP/Corporate Partnerships Brian Oliver. "The lack of fans due to Covid-19 has resulted in decreased tournament revenue streams, which ultimately impacts our charitable output. We are fortunate to have great partners in the Houston Astros Golf Foundation who saw this challenge as an opportunity to bring a title sponsor on board in this unique year, which will allow us to meet our charitable commitment to the Houston community."
SLOWLY OPENING UP: Houston Open tournament officials said that they "will allow a limited numbers of fans on the course for all four rounds" of the event. GOLFWEEK's Julie Williams noted tournament officials this week "will put 2,000 daily tickets up for sale on the tournament's web site." The daily ticket cost is $79 for the Thursday opening round and $109 a day Friday-Sunday. Food and beverage is "covered cleverly through ticket purchases, too." Each ticket "will include food and beverage from designated on-course venues (alcohol is not included)." The tickets "will be color coded to correspond with the grab-and-go food and beverage pickup locations." Tickets "will not be sold on-site, nor will there be a will-call area for tickets to be dropped off." Some Tour stops "already have allowed a very limited number of sponsor fans." Williams noted a limited number of fans "also will be in attendance at the Bermuda Championship the week before the Houston stop" (GOLFWEEK.com, 10/16).
