LPGA Tour Championship Set, Remains Without Sponsor

by Bill Jempty on May 27, 2009 7:21 AM EDT Comment 5 comments

The successor to the ADT Championship will be played this November in Texas. From the Associated Press:

The LPGA Tour is going ahead with its season-ending Tour Championship without Stanford Financial.

The tour said Tuesday the LPGA Tour Championship will be played at The Houstonian Golf & Country Club on Nov. 19-22.

What remains puzzling is the 120-player field with limited daylight in Houston that time of the year.

The field will be cut to the top 70 and ties after two rounds, then cut to the top 30 players after the third round. The purse is $1.5 million, which is only $240,000 more than first prize at the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour.

No exclusive field, no million dollar winner. Sounds like any other tour stop to me. I make a bet Tour players wish the ADT Championship was still around.

FanPosts are written by Waggle Room members. Viewpoints expressed do not necessarily reflect those of WaggleRoom.com and its editor, Ryan Ballengee. The Waggle Room member whose byline appears with the FanPost is solely responsible for its content.

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Beat me to the punch on this one this morning, Bill. Knew about it yesterday, but didn’t want to post too much.

I think it’s good that IMG stepped up to the plate on this one. They own the tournament. If they didn’t, the LPGA would have had a TON of egg on its face for this. I’m sure this was an ultimatum kind of conversation.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on May 27, 2009 10:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hate this tournament

Because its composed of the remnants of the two South Florida tournaments. The ADT and The Stanford International. South Florida has no tournament now, and I have no way of blogging one till God knows when. With my health issues, I may not have the time to wait for the lpga’s return.

by Bill Jempty on May 27, 2009 10:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m definitely not pleased that the Tour went this route. Houston is really an unproven LPGA Tour city in this era of the Tour, the event has no title sponsor, and it’s basically a full field event.

Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.

by Ryan Ballengee on May 27, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The LPGA

last had a tournament in the Houston area in 1986 with the exception of the 2003 Samsung World Championship. Anyone remember what controversy happened there?

1986 was a year I watched alot of LPGA golf, because I became friendly with two LPGA pros who were acquaintances of my father. One of whom was Becky Pearson, and 86 was Pearson’s big year. I vaguely recall seeing the 86 tournament on ESPN

by Bill Jempty on May 27, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs