Golf

Chrysler to pull out of local PGA tournament

This year's Chrysler Championship at the Westin Innisbrook Restort will be the last that the carmaker will sponsor.

By BOB HARIG
Published January 26, 2006

DaimlerChrysler will end its sponsorship arrangement with the Chrysler Championship following this year's tournament at the Westin Innisbrook Resort, a move that did not come as a surprise to officials for the local PGA Tour event.

When the tournament was awarded March dates as part of the new FedEx Cup schedule in 2007, the event was listed as the Tampa Bay Championship. This week, Chrysler signed a new deal to remain as sponsor of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic but dropped its sponsorship of the tournament in Greensboro.

"They were in negotiations a long time with the PGA Tour, we were hearing that they could be out and that they could be in," tournament director Gerald Goodman said. "It's kind of an up and down range of emotions. But with the latest news concerning the car business and job cuts, it comes as no surprise to us. We've been bracing for this."

Chrysler's commitment to the tournament is in the $6-million range per year, meaning it will have spent some $24-million during the current contract that began in 2003.

Although Goodman said he does not like being without a title sponsor, he does not expect difficulty in finding a new one. Just three tournaments among the FedEx series are without sponsors for 2007. The others are Colonial and Greensboro.

"We feel very confident that there will be a sponsor who will want to hook their name to our tournament in Tampa Bay," Goodman said.

Sponsorship issues are nothing new to the tournament. After JCPenney left following the 1999 event, the tournament was known as the Tampa Bay Classic for three years. Buick came on board as a presenting sponsor for two years and was supposed to take over title sponsorship beginning in 2003 but backed out. Then Chrysler stepped in.

"Chrysler has been a great partner, a great sponsor," Goodman said. "They will fully understand that we will give them our best foot forward, knowing that within 17 weeks we have to turn around and have another tournament."

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 18:32:25]