AP News, February 8th, 2007
The International is no longer on the PGA Tour schedule, in part because Tiger Woods wasn't a big fan of the event.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and tournament officials spent the last two weeks in a final effort to find a corporate sponsor. The International has been without a title sponsor since 1999, and without any corporate sponsorship since 2003.
The tournament was known for its unique scoring system on a Castle Pines golf course in the mile-high air outside Denver.
"It is with profound regret that we must announce the end of The International after 21 successful years," said Jack Vickers, founder and president of Castle Pines Golf Club.
"We have always been committed to operating The International at the highest level as one of golf's premier events," Vickers said Thursday. "To go forward without certainty that those objectives can be achieved has caused us to withdraw from the PGA Tour rather than to compromise our high standards or assume financial risk on behalf of our membership."
Another big factor was the absence of Woods, who hadn't played in the event since 1999.
"I'd have to say, yeah, if he shows, everything changes," Vickers told The Associated Press. "But I also know in fairness to him, he can't be everywhere. He can't be everything to everybody."
Vickers said he was unsuccessful in getting a commitment from Woods.
"On the one hand, the Tour's asking for a new five- or six-year commitment and you've got a one-man show out there right now that is the big difference," Vickers said. "And I've tried to get an expression, 'So let's be honest with each other. Just tell me, if it's no, it's no. But I'd like to know if out of six years, you'd play a couple years, even three years. I'd be happy as a lark.' But I can't get any commitment."
At a news conference, both Finchem and Vickers said they would try to bring the PGA Tour back to the Denver area.
The cancellation leaves a hole in the PGA Tour schedule on July 5-8, but tour officials have been working on a contingency plan the last month and are expected to announce a replacement by April.
The leading candidate is Washington, the largest U.S. market without a PGA Tour event. The nation's capital had a tour event since 1968, but that presumably ended when title sponsor Booz Allen bailed out last year because it was not part of the FedExCup portion of the PGA Tour schedule.
Other markets under consideration are Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Kansas City, Mo.
The International began in 1986 and used a modified Stableford scoring system, rewarding points for eagles and birdies and deducting points for bogeys or worse. It promoted aggressive play and featured some dramatic finishes, along with a roll call of champions that included Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.
Woods played the event twice, the last time in 1999 when it was played a week after the PGA Championship, and that became an issue with Vickers. He often lamented the absence of golf's top draw, and he continued to ask the tour for different dates. It moved from a week after the PGA Championship to two weeks before the final major, then the week before the PGA.
It was given a summer date for 2007, but that didn't help the tournament secure a commitment from Woods, whose wife is due to give birth to their first child in July.
Nor did the change help The International find a corporate sponsor. The base cost for regular PGA Tour events is about $6 million, but hospitality and client entertainment typically take PGA sponsorship to $8.5 million.
Rains also have dogged The International, and those weather delays led to a decline in TV ratings, further complicating efforts to find financing.
The Fourth of July slot on the schedule had belonged to the Western Open, which now is part of the FedExCup "playoffs" that begin in August two weeks after the PGA Championship.
The new dates also proved problematic for European players who have the Scottish Open the previous week and the British Open two weeks later.
