GOLF
PGA Grand Slam may be going to Las Vegas
Poipu Bay is trying to keep the event on Kauai beyond 2006
Reports of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf leaving Kauai for the Las Vegas area are premature, according to Julius Mason, the PGA of America's director of public relations.
"We haven't announced anything, so any reports saying the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is moving are erroneous," Mason said by phone earlier this week from New York, where the organization celebrated its 90th birthday.
Last month, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that the move from Poipu Bay Golf Course on Kauai -- the tournament's home since 1994 -- to a course an hour north of Las Vegas was a done deal for 2007. The newspaper cited the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as its source.
Even though the news isn't official, serious negotiations between the LVCVA and the PGA of America continue, and it's quite possible the tournament will go there for three years starting in 2007.
According to Erika Yowell of LVCVA public relations, nothing has been signed yet.
The Las Vegas group tried last year to bring the 2006 Grand Slam there, but by the time it secured $4.5 million in a November vote of its board of directors, the PGA of America's schedule for 2006 had been set, leaving this year's Grand Slam on Kauai.
Still, the Garden Isle isn't totally out of the picture after this year.
"We're still negotiating," said Craig Sasada, the director of golf at the Poipu Bay course. "We're still trying to get it (for 2007). And we have the option for 2007, but that doesn't guarantee we'll get it. We will try to exercise that option, but it's up to the PGA of America to decide what they want to do."
Sasada declined to say how much money Poipu Bay (along with a promotional subsidy from the Hawaii tourist industry) pays the PGA of America to bring the tournament here.
But he added, "It's hard to compete when all the factors are thrown in," presumably meaning money.
Tiger Woods is one player who doesn't want to see the tournament switch locales.
"I don't see any reason why they should move because it is such a wonderful place," he said of the Poipu Bay course, the Grand Hyatt Kauai and the island, after wrapping up his record sixth victory in his seventh appearance last year in the four-man tournament that brings together the year's four major winners.
Woods, always a major attraction at the 36-hole tournament when he qualifies, usually plays in several tournaments in Asia during the "silly season" and a stopover in Hawaii in November has always been a good fit.
"One thing we have in our favor," Sasada said, "is the players all like coming here. They're not constantly bothered by autograph hounds and they really enjoy it here and are treated well. It's a place to relax.
"The tournament was originally meant to move from course to course, so it's a feather in our cap that we've had it this long, going on our 13th year. That means they wanted to stay here. Even if it moves, we've had a fantastic run already."
Phil Mickelson, last week's Masters winner, is the first qualifier for the 2006 event. He shot a record 13-under 59 in the final round to win the Grand Slam in 2004.
Woods won by seven strokes over second-place Mickelson last year, the only time the two played in the event together.