Sources: International unhappy with new July date
When the PGA Tour announced its 2007 schedule, The International -- held in late July or early August since its inception in 1986 -- had been shifted to the Fourth of July weekend. The assumption was Jack Vickers, the man who founded the event with the unique, modified Stableford scoring system and nurtured it ever since, wanted that date. Or did he?
A press conference scheduled for Jan. 17 involving the tour and the International was abruptly canceled, but sources say it would have dealt with the tournament's unhappiness with its new date: First, because it won't guarantee Tiger Woods' appearance. Second, because its post-U.S. Open/pre-British Open slot may wind up costing it many of its international attendees.
And then there is this: Golf World learned that last year, Vickers had negotiated a deal with a corporate sponsor that would have raised the International's purse to an unprecedented $10 million. Sources said the tour, uncomfortable with the amount, stalled Vickers long enough that he lost the contract; the International remains without a title sponsor.
A tour official disputes the story, claiming the title sponsor deal was only discussed, never finalized. "Overall [the deal] would have [cost about] $20 million a year," said the source. "There's not a company out there that could commit to that level of sponsorship."
Vickers reportedly asked that the International be designated a World Golf Championship event; instead, the tour offered to make it one of its FedEx Cup Playoff events. International officials -- citing weather concerns and a reluctance to compete with college and pro football -- declined. So they were given the July 4th date instead, the same week as the European Open, and about the time Woods' wife, Elin, is expected to give birth to the couple's first child.
"I wish they hadn't moved [it]," Ernie Els told Golf Digest. "A lot of international players are going to have to skip going to Denver."
Of course, that's the last thing Vickers, and fans of the International, want to hear.
Tim Rosaforte is a senior writer for Golf World magazine.
