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USA Today
19-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Behind the scenes of the sponsorship of a PGA Tour Champions event
Behind the scenes of the sponsorship of a PGA Tour Champions event Show Caption Hide Caption Strong winds hit the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament Strong winds hit Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage on the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament The Galleri Classic PGA Tour Champions event in Rancho Mirage has lost its title sponsor, Grail. Tournament organizers are seeking a new multi-million dollar sponsor, highlighting the importance of corporate funding for golf tournaments. Potential sponsors are looking for advertising and marketing opportunities, often aligning with local charities and high-profile events. The ideal sponsor would utilize the tournament for corporate events and entertainment, similar to past sponsors like Nabisco. Way back in the 1960s, a powerful California politician named Jess Unruh uttered a phrase that has echoed through time: Money is the mother's milk of politics. With one slight alteration, the phrase could just as easily apply to the Coachella Valley today: Money is the mother's milk of golf tournaments. The recent news that Grail was leaving as title sponsor of the PGA Tour Champions' Galleri Classic in Rancho Mirage couldn't be that surprising to anyone paying close attention. Grail has been the title sponsor for all three years of the senior tour event, and its message about its Galleri blood test for multiple kinds of cancer detection certainly rang true with many senior players and the older demographic of fans. But as the company went public last summer and as other changes within the company took place, Grail holding on to the Galleri Classic seemed less and less likely. And so the PGA Tour Champions and tournament organizers find themselves in a position that many tournaments face. How do you replace a big corporation with another big corporation to keep a golf tournament alive? The Coachella Valley seems like a natural fit for any golf sponsor, but history has shown us that isn't always true. Ask Humana, CareerBuilder, ANA and Chevron. More: Desert's PGA Tour Champions event seeks new sponsor as Grail opts out of Galleri Classic What kind of money are we talking about? Make no mistake, title sponsorships run into the millions of dollars, no matter what the tournament. Each event is different, with different purse demands, production demands and infrastructure demands, but it's millions of dollars whether it's the PGA Tour, the LPGA, PGA Tour Champions or DP World Tour. That might seem like a lot of money to spend on golf, but it isn't as much money as you think when you chalk the dollars up to advertising and marketing. Looked at that way, the money starts to make more sense. Consider that American Express, the title sponsor of the PGA Tour event in La Quinta each January, reported a net income for fiscal year 2024 of $10.1 billion, or $14.01 per share of stock. The money American Express spends on The American Express golf tournament begins to look more and more like pocket change. But American Express wants more than just the television exposure for its money. It wants to connect with local charities, and it wants its brand to be associated with top-level events, like the PGA Tour and concerts that week. The sponsorship of a golf tournament can provide a company with many opportunities, and what a title sponsor wants drives the decision to spend the money. One goal of golf sponsorship is brand recognition. All-Nippon Airways, or ANA, had almost no presence in the United States before it took over as sponsor of the LPGA tournament in Rancho Mirage, renamed the ANA Inspiration. Before that, if you typed ANA into a search engine, you would get the American Nurses Association. Now, ANA has signage on the outfield walls of Dodger Stadium. If you've been in the desert long enough, you might remember the amazing amount of money RJR Nabisco spent on the LPGA event, known then as the Nabisco Dinah Shore. The company would fly in top sales people, top customers and its corporate executives for a week of sunshine, pro-am play, a celebrity tennis tournament and party after party, including an entertainment show featuring Shore herself. The money spent that week went a long way to making customers, vendors and employees happy. In some ways the LPGA tournament that started Thursday was secondary to the corporate focus. There is also the sponsor who is part of the community. Think about FedEx, which sponsors the tournament in Memphis, where its corporate headquarters are. The desert's LPGA event is now the Chevron Championship and moved to Houston, close to Chevron's oil business. The Royal Bank of Canada, or RBC, sponsors the PGA Tour's Canadian Open. What kind of sponsor would be best for the desert's PGA Tour Champions event? The tournament and the tour are looking for a five-year commitment from a company that perhaps will use the two one-day pro-ams in the event much as Nabisco did with the LPGA event in the 1980s and 1990s. Certainly not to the same extent that Nabisco did, but it would be nice to have a company that could utilize the week for some recreation and entertainment for the company as well as perhaps some business being conducted. Sponsorship of the desert's PGA Tour Champions event will cost far less than sponsorship of a PGA Tour event. But the money is only part of the issue as the event seeks the right sponsor. It's a lot like a jigsaw puzzle, finding the right pieces – money, sponsorship needs, golf course, calendar dates and television times – to fit together for the perfect picture. Desert golf fans can hope the pieces fall together in the coming weeks. At this point, any sponsor is better than no sponsor at all. Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at Follow him on Facebook or on X at @larry_bohannan.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
PGA Tour Champions California event needs a new sponsor
PGA Tour Champions California event needs a new sponsor Show Caption Hide Caption History of the Galleri Classic golf tournament on PGA Tour Champions schedule The Galleri Classic is a spring event on the PGA Tour Champions golf schedule The PGA Tour Champions tournament in the Coachella Valley is searching for a new title sponsor after Grail opted out of its contract. Grail, a healthcare company, ended its sponsorship after three years of an eight-year deal with an opt-out clause. Tournament organizers are actively seeking a new sponsor, with a goal of securing one before July 1 to allow for ample planning time. The tournament is considered a valuable opportunity for sponsors due to its strong field of players, attractive pro-am events, and location in a popular destination. Players have expressed their desire for the tournament to continue in the Coachella Valley, praising the course and the tournament's overall experience. (This story has been updated with new information) The PGA Tour Champions tournament in the Coachella Valley seems to have almost everything a tournament needs for success: A popular destination, the support of the players on the senior golf tour and a course that those golfers love. What the tournament doesn't have, at least as of this week, is a title sponsor. Just days after the Galleri Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino completed its third year at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, tour and tournament officials say they are looking for a new sponsor to replace Grail, the healthcare company that is opting out of its contract with the tournament. 'We are very hopeful,' said Michelle DeLancy, the tournament director of the desert PGA Tour Champions event, which is operated by media and sports company Wasserman. 'The tour, the players and the current sponsors that we have really would love to see us be able to continue in the area, so we are hopeful that we land that right sponsorship to be able to do that." The departure of Grail, which developed the multicancer detection blood test called Galleri, was announced to the players in a meeting last week with Miller Brady, the president of the PGA Tour Champions. Both DeLancy and Brady thanked Grail for the sponsorship that brought the PGA Tour Champions back to the Coachella Valley after a 30-year absence. More: At long last: Steve Allan earns first pro golf win in more than two decades at Galleri Classic 'When we announced this tournament three years ago, we were ecstatic to have the Champions Tour return to the Coachella Valley, a region that carries a rich golf tradition,' Brady said in a statement. 'Over the past three seasons, this tournament has seen legends of the game competing at the historic Mission Hills Country Club, all while making an impact in the community. As we look towards the future, it's our goal to remain in this region, as we are actively in the process of identifying and securing a new title sponsor for 2026 and beyond.' Grail originally signed an eight-year deal with the event, but the contract had opt-out clauses that Grail activated to depart after three years. Grail began trading on the NASDAQ last June after issuing an initial public offering. 'The Galleri Classic also provided an important platform to educate and inspire players, fans, and residents of this community about the importance of early cancer detection, while supporting six local organizations that do important work for cancer patients and their families,' said Bob Ragusa, the chief executive officer of Grail, in a separate statement. 'We look forward to seeing the Champions Tour return to this community for many years to come.' Finding that new sponsor willing to spend millions of dollars for the event is now the focus of tournament organizers, with DeLancy saying the event would like to have a new sponsor in place before July 1. 'That gives the sponsor time to get their company ready and start to put the pieces of the puzzle together,' DeLancy said. 'With a new title comes a lot of planning for their company as well as us being able to set up new marketing and on-course signage and that kind of thing to prepare in the next 10 months or so to get it ready for late March or early April of 2026.' Talking to potential sponsors DeLancy said the PGA Tour and Wasserman are already talking to potential sponsors, knowing that the right sponsor might be outside of the Coachella Valley. The desert doesn't have the corporate base that larger cities have, and sponsors of large sports events in the desert like The American Express PGA Tour event or the BNP Paribas Open tennis event are from outside the area. Unlike the PGA Tour event in the desert, which played for three years starting in 2009 without a title sponsor after Chrysler left the event in 2008, the desert's senior PGA Tour event must have a title sponsor to make a 2026 event possible. After five decades in the desert, the PGA Tour event known as the Bob Hope Classic had millions of dollars in reserve to make up for lost sponsorship money, but needed sponsorship from Humana to make the 2012 event possible. 'Working with the business development team at the PGA Tour and the relationships they have and the same with Wasserman and the business relationship that we have as well as reaching out to companies that we think could be a good fit or we want to see if they have an interest in it,' DeLancy said. 'I'm also connected with a lot of players that have relationships with top companies or top people in those companies that have reached out to see the interest level there.' One of the top selling points for the desert's senior PGA Tour event is the traditionally strong field that shows up annually. Seven World Golf Hall of Famers competed last week for a $2.2 million purse with $330,000 going to winner Steven Allan. Two of the tour's top players were missing last week, including Steve Stricker with a bad back and Padraig Harrington. The tournament also features two one-day pro-ams that can be attractive for a corporation, although DeLancy admits the tournament has struggled selling the opportunity to individual golfers in the desert rather that corporate buyers. 'The pro-am is a big selling point. The pro-am and the entertainment feature, hosting here in this beautiful area we live in, playing golf with these legends of the game, them being able to do events like AmEx does,' DeLancy said. 'They come in and host a bunch of people and have them play in the pro-am and have dinners and client dinners and that kind of thing. I think that's definitely the opportunity we have here.' The Galleri Classic was first played at Mission Hills Country Club in March of 2023, just one year after the LPGA left Rancho Mirage after a 51-year run with its first major championship of the season. It also marked the return of an official PGA Tour Champions event to the desert for the first time since the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational, played at The Vintage Club in Indian Wells from 1984-92 and at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in 1993. The Legends of Golf team event was played at PGA West in La Quinta from 1995 through 1997, but was an unofficial event. Since the seniors returned to the desert, players have been generous with their comments on the desert and the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills. Some of those players, like long-time desert resident Fred Couples, clearly had some idea that the sponsorship issue was looming. 'We're lucky to be here and I'm hoping we can continue,' Couples said before last week's event. 'I don't know what I'm hearing, but I'm hoping we can continue to play here a few more years, or at least for me. I'm getting old.' 'In terms of the golf course, it's right up there. It's a shame it's not a little bit later in the year just preparing for some majors because it's that type of golf course,' said Steven Alker, the 2022 and 2024 Charles Schwab Cup champion on the tour. 'That aspect, they look after us great this week, nice venue facilities, everyone here has always been great. It's nice to come back. Definitely top five or six for sure.' DeLancy said she knows everyone connected to the tour and the players definitely want to return for a fourth year in the desert, with the tournament asking for a five-year commitment from a new sponsor. 'We are very hopeful and I think talking to the right people and continuing to have conversations will get us there,' she said.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Eagle, eagle, albatross!: Tag Ridings recalls his magical nine holes in 2005 American Express
Tag Ridings smiled when asked about his play in the 2005 American Express, then the Bob Hope Classic, and said every two months or so someone asks him to recount that record-setting day. Ridings' third round that week at Tamarisk Country Club in Rancho Mirage, one of four courses in the desert tournament that year, is still in the record books. Ridings is the only golfer in tour history to have two eagles and a double eagle in a single round, and he did it in just nine holes. It's a round Ridings, in contention this week at the Galleri Classic after a 9-under 63 on Saturday, remembers well. 'You know, we played so many courses in that Hope out here, you say, 'oh, I don't remember this course or that course, I only played one year,' ' Ridings said. 'I only played Tamarisk one year. It's had been off the rotation for a little while.' Playing the back nine at Tamarisk as his opening nine of the day, Ridings started the historic run with a 2-iron from 256 yards on the par-5 12th that found the hole for the rare albatross. Later, Ridings made eagles on the par-4 17th from the fairway and then the par-5 18th. "Of course, I can remember certainly every hole on that nine,' Ridings said. 'And I remember most of the holes on that back just because of the strangeness of the round." Despite being 7 under on those three holes, Ridings managed only a 6-under 66 on that day. 'I recount the fact that I had a double eagle and two eagles in nine holes, but I also had five three-putts in 10 holes,' Ridings laughed. Ridings followed the record round with a fourth-round 76 (the event was five days and 90 holes at the time) and missed the cut.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Steven Alker in contention at Galleri Classic again. Can he finish the job?
Steven Alker in contention at Galleri Classic again. Can he finish the job? Show Caption Hide Caption Strong winds hit the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament Strong winds hit Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage on the first day of the Galleri Classic golf tournament Steven Alker felt like he was hitting every club in his golf bag well on Saturday in the second round of the Galleri Classic. The only problem came from a club he didn't have in his bag. Alker, the 2024 player of the year on the PGA Tour Champions, fired a bogey-free 7-under 65 on Saturday to move up the leaderboard into third place at 8 under, just two strokes behind leader Steve Allan. On the 18th hole, a par 5 over the water that is reachable in two, Alker hit a drive he described as too good that left him with about 219 yards to the green, a perfect 4 iron. One problem, he didn't put a 4-iron in his bag Saturday. Instead of going for the green in two, he chose to lay up and settled for a par. "They moved that tee up today, and I almost hit the drive too good and I was right in between (yardages). I don't carry a 4 iron. I had to risk hitting a 5 and I wasn't expecting that," Alker said. "But hey, kind of right in the thick of it. I'd rather make par than bogey for sure." Here's your 7-iron, dad. At Galleri Classic, sons and daughters share time with dad as caddies The thick of it is where Alker lives. He seems to always be in contention. He already has a win on tour this year, and he has finished second the last two years at the Galleri Classic. Another reason why Alker may have laid up on 18 on Saturday is the memory from the final round in Rancho Mirage last year when he went for the green in two and fell in the water, ultimately losing the tournament by a stroke. "Yeah, that was in our mind," Alker said, referring to himself and his caddie. "Same thing tomorrow. If I'm there in the heat, right in there, and I haven't got a club, hey, I'll learn from past experience and try and make birdie however you can." The 18th hole aside, Alker was very happy with his round Saturday. What was working in particular? "Everything really. I drove it in the fairway, which is what you've got to do here, and that gives you a shot at the greens," the 53-year-old New Zealander said. "I played the par 5s a little bit better today and with the wind not up. I wasn't thinking so much about yardage, didn't have to dial it in so much. Yeah, it was just a good solid round of golf. I was happy." Alker will be in the final group Sunday along with the two players ahead of him, Allan and Tag Ridings. With Allan only in the field as an injury replacement and Ridings in the field via Tuesday qualifying, it's hard not to like the veteran Alker's chances. He already has nine wins on this tour after all. The gameplan is simple, he said. "Just keep doing what I'm doing," he said. "Just got to pound those fairways, get at it. The greens are so pure. It gives you some chances. That's it." Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Steve Allan, Tag Ridings weren't in Galleri Classic field last weekend; now either could win
Steve Allan and Tag Ridings, two players who didn't know last weekend if they would even be in the field of the Galleri Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino, will find themselves Sunday looking for their biggest senior golf moment by winning the tournament. Allan, with no wins in his previous 27 PGA Tour Champions starts, fired a 7-under 65 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage on Saturday. That puts Allan at 10-under 134 for 36 holes, one shot ahead of Ridings. In just his second PGA Tour Champions event, Ridings tied the tournament single-round scoring record with a 9-under 63 to vault up the leaderboard. Steve Allan watches as his eagle putt on the 18th hole just misses the on the 18th hole during the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., March 29, 2025. Allan enters the final day with a one shot lead. The low scoring was in part because the strong winds that hit the Dinah Shore Course in Friday's first round weren't as gusty Saturday morning and actually disappeared as the round moved on. Advertisement 'We got pretty lucky today. It was windy at the start and it kind of eased,' said Allan. 'A couple of gusts but not too bad. I think you just have to be patient. You just have to know everyone is struggling with it. It's hard.' Allan was out of the field when last weekend started as the first alternate to the field. But when Steve Stricker withdrew from the event with an ailing back, Allan found himself in the tournament. More: Galleri Classic merchandise options include unique autograph kit 'I wasn't sure I was going to get in. I think when I got down to first (alternate), I was fairly confident, but you never know,' Allan said. 'I actually got the news on Saturday, so I kind of knew a little bit earlier, so I had a bit of time to sort of prepare here.' Advertisement Ridings' status for the Galleri Classic was more perilous. He was part of Tuesday's qualifying tournament at Bermuda Dunes Country Club for the event, where three spots in the main field were available. Ridings fired an 8-under 64 to win the qualifier and make his way into the field. Tag Ridings spins his club after hitting a good tee shot on the par-3 17th hole during the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., March 29, 2025. '(The qualifier) helps a lot. Even just playing Tucson (The Cologuard Classic earlier this month), where conditions weren't easy, either, I played okay and finished 30th,' Ridings said. 'That helped give me some confidence, as well. It's a big boost of confidence, but more than confidence out here, you need status. I'm here to do something good tomorrow and work that out.' Three players, reigning PGA Tour Champions player of the year Steven Alker, Jason Caron and first-round co-leader Cameron Percy, are tied for third at 8 under entering Sunday's final round. Alker fired 65 to move into contention at a tournament where he has finished second each of the last two years. Caron managed a 68, while Percy shot 69. Cameron Percy tees off on five during the second round of The Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Saturday, March 29, 2025. Billy Mayfair follows alone in sixth place at 7 under and six players, including first-round co-leader Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh and Miguel Angel Jimenez, are all at 6 under. Advertisement Ridings had the round of the day with his 63, tying the course record for the event set last year by Ricardo Gonzalez. Ridings' round included nine birdies and put him in the lead for much of the afternoon. 'I made birdie on 1 and did the right thing and birdied 2, which was a very short par 5, and I can't remember the rest of it all,' Ridings said. 'But I made some nice bombs like around the middle of the front nine, 7 and 8 I think, I made some 25-foot putts that were just bonuses, and birdied 9.' Steve Allan strangles his driver as he tries to persuade his tee shot to stay in the fairway on the 18th hole during the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., March 29, 2025. Riding continued with four more birdies on the back nine and had a putt for a birdie on the par-5 18th but missed that 10-footer to settle for 63. Advertisement Playing eight groups behind Ridings, Allan began crawling up the leaderboard with four birdies in a five-hole stretch starting on the par-3 eighth hole. The last of those birdies on the par-4 12th tied Allan for the lead, with players like Caron, Alker and Mayfair jockeying for position. Alker finally grabbed the solo lead by reaching the island green on the par-5 18th in two and two-putting for his seven birdies of the day. That put Allan in a rare position of sleeping on the lead overnight in a pro tournament. 'I had a couple of outside chances last year to win out here, and I didn't play particularly well on the last day,' Allan said. 'But hung in there a couple of times, Dick's (Sporting Goods) and then in Michigan at the Ally, and Stewart Cink played so good early that I was kind of out of it. Tag Ridings celebrates a birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole during the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., March 29, 2025. 'So it's been a while, but it's fun, and the more you get up there, the more you get comfortable with it,' Allan added. 'It was nice to play well today, and wasn't quite in the last group, but it was good.' Advertisement Like Allan, Ridings is soaking up the experience of playing well, even taking something from playing in a threesome Saturday with World Golf Hall of Famers Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Riding is also well aware that a big day Sunday could change his status for the rest of 2025 on the senior tour. 'Every step of the ladder is a big deal,' said Ridings, who hasn't played full time on the PGA Tour since 2017 and who turned 50 last September. 'That comes into your game plan.' Allan, Ridings and Alker will play in the final threesome at 10:11 a.m. Sunday, when desert winds are expected to get stronger again. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Steve Allan, Tag Ridings share Galleri Classic lead with 18 holes to play
