The upcoming PGA Tour event at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth has a new sponsor in Charles Schwab & Co. after losing Dean & Deluca since last year's event took place, which was won by Kevin Kisner.
According to Golf Channel, the partnership between Charles Schwab and Colonial is a four-year deal but won't start until 2019.
Local companies are backing the event after upscale grocer Dean and Deluca withdrew as title sponsor after only two tournaments of a six-year deal. The companies include American Airlines, AT&T, XTO Energy and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway.
After Dean & Deluca ejected on a six-year contract two years in, Colonial couldn't round up a sponsorship in time for the 2018 edition. That being the case, this year's tournament will be referred to as the Forth Worth Invitational. However, this is certainly a good sign for the future health of a tournament that has been played since 1946 when Ben Hogan emerged victorious.
It might have also been a necessity for its spot on future PGA Tour schedules. When the PGA Championship moves to May in 2019, there will be some shuffling around. Any event without a sponsor or a strong foundation ran the risk of possibly being relegated to the fall schedule or being bumped from prime golf season.
Now that Colonial has a sponsor that was previously involved with the PGA Tour Champions (the end-of-year points race champ gets the Charles Schwab Cup), Colonial at least has the appearance of strength.
