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 Tiger Woods might not tee it up at Torrey Pines this year (PHOTO: Eddie Meeks). Now TMZ has joined the crowd with stories that are taking readers far outside the ropes. The online site has generated a lot of headaches for celebrities and public figures since debuting in 2005, but last year it also contributed to some rough spots for two of the Southland’s three PGA Tour events. In February, TMZ reported that Northern Trust, the title sponsor for the PGA Tour’s stop at Riviera Country Club, spent millions of dollars promoting the event, which included lavish parties. The latter part didn’t sit well with government officials or the public who were weary of reading about the bailouts of financial institutions, including Northern Trust. The furor generated headlines, but after Northern Trust explained where the money came from and that the tournament it sponsored helped raise more than $3 million for charities during its two-year tenure, things calmed down a bit. In November, TMZ was one of the most persistent cogs in the media machine that amped up the attention on the apparent double life of Tiger Woods, who announced in December that he was taking an “indefinite” leave of absence from golf. If that break extends beyond January, it means Woods will miss the event at Torrey Pines, the PGA Tour stop formerly known as the Buick Invitational. (It’s currently called the Century Club of San Diego Invitational, although that could change by tournament time.) Woods, who loves the course and has won there six times, had played in the event for 11 consecutive seasons until last year, when a knee injury prevented his participation. “We’d certainly love to have Tiger involved,” said Tom Wilson, executive director of the Century Club, which operates the event at Torrey Pines. “This is his hometown and he’d obviously have a huge impact. But we really have no idea [if he’ll play]. He’s going through a very challenging time in his life. Our heart certainly goes out to him and his family and we hope he gets through these things. He obviously means a lot to the PGA Tour and to our tournament.” The cloud over Woods’ availability comes at an inopportune time for the San Diego event. In August, General Motors announced that it was ending its sponsorship agreement with the tournament. Having to find a title sponsor on short notice has been problematic. “We’ve been somewhat surprised that we haven’t been able to get a new title sponsor because we have such a great tournament, have led in non-major ratings 15 out of past 20 years and are always fortunate to have a really good field of players,” Wilson said. “But we didn’t have a lot of time to give as much bang for the buck to a sponsor in terms of having their name associated with the event and I think that’s somewhat of a deterrent in a company stepping up to the plate [for 2010]. But it’s been a positive aspect in that there are a lot of companies that have expressed interest for the 2011 tournament.” But even without a sponsor, Wilson said the infrastructure and community support is in place, and the $5.3 million purse remains intact. The Bob Hope Classic didn’t have TMZ sniffing around its title sponsor or marquee attraction, but it wasn’t immune from challenges. Early in 2009, golf commentator David Feherty took the event to task for firing George Lopez from his role as celebrity host. The event had a fine fill-in, Arnold Palmer, who hosted the 50th anniversary, but Feherty thought that Lopez, who worked tirelessly to promote the event, deserved better. The event also lost its relationship with Chrysler, which has been involved since 1965 and served as title sponsor since 1985. “As everyone knows in this economy, Chrysler enjoyed a long-term run with us,” Tournament Chairman John Foster said. “We’re moving on as they are.” Foster said tournament officials have built up enough of a cash reserve to hold the tournament until an adequate title sponsor is found. “We want a good one,” he said. “We will march on with that goal.” The lack of title sponsors, which help subsidize golf tournaments in several ways, makes for interesting conversation. But title sponsors don’t play the events, run the events or define an event, so spectators and viewers can still expect to see strong fields in San Diego, Los Angeles and La Quinta. In addition to familiar local stars like Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan, count on watching exciting rookies Rickie Fowler and Cameron Tringale — Southland natives who gained fully exempt status via PGA Tour Qualifying School. And charities can still expect to benefit from the hard work from the countless number of people working behind the scenes. “The bottom line is we’ve been able to increase our charitable giving each year,” Wilson said. “Last year it was $2.2 million and we have no reason to not expect to match that this year.” ALSO SEE: 5 Reasons Why 2010 Will Be Phil Mickelson's Year Bob Hope Classic Preview San Diego Open Preview Northern Trust Open Preview |
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