Hawaiian Open saved?

A proposal would keep
the event at Waialae, giving the
Mercedes to Kapalua

By Bill Kwon
Star-Bulletin

Eleventh-hour negotiations between the Waialae Country Club and PGA officials might keep the Hawaiian Open on the PGA Tour schedule after all.

Plans call for the Kapalua Resort to host the Mercedes Championships and Waialae to keep the Hawaiian Open on successive weeks in January to begin the 1999 tour season.

Under the latest scenario, there will be no Kapalua Internationaltournament, sponsored by Lincoln-Mercury.

"Other than the Lincoln-Mercury problem, which is still there, I think this is the best scenario," Kapalua's Mark Rolfing said.

The original schedule set by the PGA had called for the Hawaiian Open spot to be played at Kapalua when United Airlines turned down the PGA request to host the event with a purse increase to $2 million.

"It's not a done deal, but the scenario looks like we'll be hosting the Mercedes Championship and the Hawaiian Open will continue to be held at Waialae," Rolfing said yesterday.

Rolfing had hoped to host the limited-field Mercedes Championships at Kapalua in the first place. But he offered to take a full-field PGA tournament instead when United declined to continue as the Hawaiian Open sponsor.

That had left the Mercedes Championship looking for a tournament site in Hawaii.

The PGA Tour's competition committee -- headed by Bill Calfee -- toured a number of sites, including Waialae.

The PGA negotiated with Waialae to host the Mercedes Championship, a tournament just for the previous year's champions.

"Apparently the tour players felt that Waialae would be better suited for the Hawaiian Open and Kapalua for the Mercedes," Rolfing said.

"But it's not a done deal. I did not think this would happen." Rolfing said of the switch.

There is a possibility that Sony, which had offered to host a PGA event at Waialae, might replace United Airlines as the Hawaiian Open's title sponsor, starting in 1999.

"The Sony money is there and that might have been part of the negotiations between Waialae and the PGA in coming up with the new deal," one source told the Star-Bulletin.

"I think the Waialae people regrouped," he said.

Sony officials in Hawaii would not comment.

United Airlines officials also declined comment except to say that they are looking forward to host next February's Hawaiian Open -- their last title sponsorship of the event.