Golfers, start your engines. The PGA TOUR has a new grand slam.
With the announcement last Thursday that the Greater Hartford Open will become the Buick Championship in 2004, Buick now has the title sponsorship of four PGA TOUR events.
It is a remarkable level of corporate commitment, but one that is not surprising considering that the PGA TOUR and Buick have been profitable partners since the year the Hula Hoop was introduced, 1958.
Tiger Woods is the face of golf to fans all over the world, and Buick is known as the sport's No. 1 sponsor. Fitting then, that Woods is also Buick's man. He could have signed an endorsement deal with any car company, but he chose Buick.
Woods won the Buick Invitational earlier this season and he'll be in Michigan this week to defend the Buick Open crown he won last year.
On the heels of last week's Buick Championship announcement in Hartford, Woods and the rest of the members of the TOUR will now be gunning for the "Buick Slam." The other three legs are the Buick Invitational in La Jolla, Calif., the Buick Classic in Harrison, N.Y., and the Buick Open in Grand Blanc.
PGA TOUR players recognize what Buick does for golf, and how its tournament sponsorships help elevate the amount of money raised for charities in the communities where Buick events are held.
"I think it's great news," said Brad Faxon, one of four Player Directors on the PGA TOUR Policy Board. "I'm ecstatic ... Buick has been such a huge part of the PGA TOUR especially the last few years. I don't know what to say. Drive a Rendezvous, I guess."
At the press conference in Hartford, PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem took time to laud Buick for its involvement on TOUR.
"Buick is not just any sponsor," Finchem said. "Buick has been a marketing partner and a corporate sponsor since 1958? 45 years.
"Buick understands PGA TOUR golf," he continued. "They understand tournaments. They understand value, and they understand what it takes to be a sponsor and help through that sponsorship grow a tournament."
Indeed, all three of the tournaments that Buick currently holds the title sponsorship for have grown into some of the top events on the PGA TOUR, as well as some of the most charitable.
Finchem coined the phrase: "Giving back is at the heart of the PGA TOUR." One of the reasons why the TOUR has such a special relationship with Buick is because the auto maker shares that objective.
"Buick and golf have been an ideal fit for many years," Buick Golf Manager Larry Peck said recently. "Not just because of the marketing benefits, but because Buick feels very strongly in giving back to the community."
In 2003, the Buick Invitational set a new record by raising $852,000 for San Diego-area charities. The Buick Classic gave over $1.1 million to local communities in and around New York City this year, and the Buick Open set a new record for charitable donations last year at $554,000.
"It's great that we can help out so many people in those communities," Peck said. "You don't get that from just putting your name on a football stadium."
According to Buick Classic Executive Director Peter Mele, having Buick as a title sponsor not only means great things for local charities, but for the events themselves.
"Buick truly 'gets' the PGA TOUR and they truly 'get' golf," Mele said. "That makes our job easier."
Mele explained that because of its storied relationship with the TOUR, Buick company officials have a solid understanding of what it takes to organize a successful PGA TOUR event, and how fans, players, charities, and yes, even sponsors, can win.
"A lot of companies only think of what's in it for them," Mele said. "They don't always get that what benefits a tournament will, in the long run, benefit them as well. Buick gets it."
It looks like the long run is exactly what Buick is in for with the PGA TOUR.
"Back in 1999, we took a look at our strategic direction," Peck said. "We looked at our golf market platform and decided we either had to get into golf big or get out. It was an easy decision ... We're in this for the long term."
For the TOUR's players, the mystery now becomes which player will complete the "Buick Slam" first. But for the TOUR itself and Buick, there is no mystery: It is one of the most successful relationships in all of sports.
