International executive director Larry Thiel wishes the media would quit focusing on the 2007 tournament, with the increased potential for a Tiger Woods sighting, and give a little love to this year’s event.
But honestly, that’s pretty hard to do.
The chance to get Woods to Castle Pines certainly is a factor, but just as intriguing for those who have followed the evolution of the new PGA Tour schedule that goes into effect next season is how The International came to position itself on that calendar.
In an effort to maintain interest throughout the season, next year the tour will debut the Fed- Ex Cup, a season-long points chase similar to NASCAR, culminating with a four-event finale from late August to mid-September and ending with the Tour Championship. Next year’s International will take place July 5-8, a month earlier than this year’s tournament. Its position vis-à-vis the U.S. and British Opens should help entice more of the world’s top players.
However, according to Thiel, The International had two shots at virtually guaranteeing the world’s top players, missing out on one and turning down a second. In the latter instance, the PGA Tour asked The International to become one of the three events leading up to the Tour Championship. Thiel said it wasn’t in the tournament’s best interests.
“They were surprised,” Thiel said. “They asked, ‘Are you sure?’ But we had a different vision of how we wanted to be positioned.”
The Western Open thought enough of the opportunity to move to September, which opened up the slot eventually taken by The International. Similarly, the Barclays Classic is moving from late June to late August to get a piece of the action. (The third prelim to the Tour Championship will be the Deutsche Bank Championship.)
But in the final analysis, The International decided there weren’t enough benefits to the move.
“It would have been an expensive commitment to make. The purse would start at $8.5 million for an event at a time of the year that’s very suspect in terms of being able to deliver good television ratings,” Thiel said. “It’s a given that golf has never been able to compete with college or professional football.
“It’s one thing for the tour to be able to sell Federal Express and give them all of the branding and the commercial identity throughout the entire season, but it’s another thing to get a sponsor in the middle of September to put up a very large purse and get little return. I think the three feeder tournaments will get lost in the shuffle to FedEx. The Tour Championship will be the beneficiary, but everything leading up to it will be all about FedEx.”
Thiel said The International would have much rather been part of the World Golf Championships (WGC). As long as five years ago, tournament officials lobbied for inclusion. As recently as last year, it looked like there was a chance it could happen when NEC decided to end its affiliation with the WGC. However, Bridgestone committed to take over sponsorship, leaving it in Ohio.
There has been other movement of late with the WGC. The Accenture Match Play is moving from the San Diego area to Tucson next year and another event will debut next year at Doral in Florida.
With other world golf organizations already griping that the championships are more and more appearing to be the province of the United States, Thiel admits it could be a while before The International gets another shot.
“We would be a natural for one,” Thiel said. “I’m still hopeful. We’ll keep fighting to be considered, but all the stars would have to line up for us.”
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
