John Davis has been covering this story for the Arizona Republic.  In this piece, he talks about the whole sponsorship scene in Arizona - not just the LPGA event.

There's not much new to report about the PGA Tour events - the FBR Open and Fry's.com Open - but here are a few interesting notes:

FBR extended its title sponsorship with the Thunderbirds in August 2007, shortly before mortgage and credit markets went into a tailspin.

FBR lost $25 million in the second quarter this year and plans to release its third-quarter report next week.

Shares closed last week at 54 cents, down from its high-water mark of $28.02 in 2004, the year it became title sponsor.

WOW.  That's about a 97% decline off of its all-time high.

And here's some reassurance about how much the Tour and its tournaments know about the health of their sponsors:

"I don't have any knowledge of how well Fry's is doing financially, but they are committed to this event," [Fry's.com Open] tournament director Scott Reid said Monday. "It's hard to tell until we see attendance figures, but indications . . . suggest it will be just as successful as last year if not more successful."