The ups and downs of the desert's PGA Tour event are certainly up right now
It is remarkable the swings of momentum the desert’s PGA Tour event has seen in the last 20 years.
In 2002, the event known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was won by Phil Mickelson, one of the most popular and successful golfers in the world. Chrysler was entrenched as one of the better sponsors on the tour. The tournament was perhaps showing its age with the five-day, four-course format, but the celebrity pro-am still produced interest.
Move forward nine years and the 2011 unsponsored Bob Hope Classic was literally on life support. It was the third year for the event without a title sponsor, and the tournament board actually talked about handing out all of the reserve money in one big blowout party and then shutting down the tournament rather than even trying to hold an event in 2012.
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Move to 2022 and the tournament has taken the opposite ride on the roller coaster. After two sponsors of the tournament came and went, the event now has powerhouse American Express as the title sponsor. Concerts after play are attracting plenty of fans, and the field of the tournament is as good or better than it was when Mickelson won in 2002. The $7.6 million purse is the largest in tournament history.
So it goes on the PGA Tour, where sponsorship is gold and a tournament is only as good as the length of its sponsorship deal.
For now, The American Express is on a big-time roll. An extension of its sponsorship deal through 2028 is huge for the tournament and the desert golf scene. What it can do in the coming years to enhance a field that is already moving up should be exciting for local fans. How the concert series will evolve is also something to watch.
None of this means that the tournament fans are seeing this week is the tournament fans will see in 2028. The very essence of the desert’s PGA Tour event has been constant change since the event debuted in 1960. Remember, there have been 13 different courses played in the event in 63 years, and the current three-course rotation hasn’t changed since the tournament moved to the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses at PGA West in 2016.
Change, but in a good way
It is easy to look at the American Express at the moment and say, well, this could change or that could change in the coming years. But the nuts and bolts of the tournament are as strong now as they have been for at least two decades, and perhaps as strong as they have been since the fabled day in 1995 when three presidents and Bob Hope played together at Indian Wells Country Club in the first round.
Nothing in golf or sports is guaranteed. Just ask the folks at the LPGA who are getting ready to see a major championship leave the Coachella Valley after 51 years in the desert. Ten years ago, the idea of the LPGA leaving and the PGA Tour getting stronger in the desert would have been greeted with laughter. Today, that scenario is a reality.
So the LPGA will move off to a new future in Houston with a new global sponsor, more money for the purse and new television possibilities. That’s kind of how things happen in sports. The Chevron Championship leaves five decades of history in the desert for what it hopes will be five decades of success in Texas and upgrades from the last few years in the desert.
The American Express is dealing with those upgrades to its tournament now. And the trajectory – a very corporate word in sports these days – is good for the event, with six more years of American Express as sponsor.
More concerts, a stronger field and consistency in golf courses can be on the wish list for desert golf fans. As of now, things are pretty good and maybe getting better.
Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer, he can be reached at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4633. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_Bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Express: PGA tournament has rallied from a low point 10 years ago
