LUTZ - The TPC of Tampa Bay, in its 13th year as home to the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, could be sold to a golf management company that would buy four other courses in the PGA Tour's TPC network.
Meadowbrook Golf, based at ChampionsGate near Orlando, is negotiating with the tour to buy the five TPC properties, according to Brady Boyd, director of golf at the TPC of Tampa Bay.
"They have been on property to take a look at the club and meet with some of the staff members here to get more information about what they are considering purchasing," Boyd said. "The tour has an obligation to the players and the board to listen and entertain any offers that are put in. They are not actively looking to sell the club. The offer was such that the board wants to consider it."
A purchase price was not disclosed, but Golfweek reported it was "approximately $40-million" for the five courses. The others are TPC at Eagle Trace and TPC at Heron Bay in Coral Springs, TPC of Myrtle Beach (S.C.) and TPC of Virginia Beach.
"I don't know where we're at in the discussions," said Robert Norton, regional director of operations for the South Florida TPCs. "We do have a responsibility to the tour board, to the tour players, to take a look at all offers. Whether anything happens or not is another story."
The PGA owns 25 TPC courses. Five others are licensed facilities, which is how the arrangement would work if the sale goes through, Boyd said. The course name would not change.
How a new owner would affect the Champions Tour event is unclear. Because of the licensing agreement with the tour and its affinity for the course, Boyd thinks nothing will change. Tournament director Amy Hawk said the event has a contract to play the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am at the TPC of Tampa Bay for two more years.
WHO'S HE?: David Eger might not be the most well-known Champions Tour player, but he is a familiar face to competitors. Eger, 51, served two stints as a member of the PGA Tour staff after a brief career on the PGA Tour. Eger regained his amateur status and lost to Phil Mickelson in the semifinals of the 1990 U.S. Amateur. He also worked for the United States Golf Association, then turned pro again in time for his 50th birthday.
Eger shot 65 Friday and trailed leader Tom Kite by two strokes.
"I had a nice year last year and I'll need another nice year this year to stay exempt," said Eger, who won the MasterCard Classic in Mexico last year and finished 23rd on the money list with $851,217. "I never thought I was good enough to play with lots of these guys when I was younger. But I still had the competitive fire."
AROUND THE TPC: Gary Player and Dale Douglass made their 17th straight starts, the only players to play here every year. Douglass won the inaugural tournament at Tampa Palms in 1988. ... Eger made the day's only eagle on the par-5 12th.
