Golf Extra 2006

Big changes on way at Copperhead

Organizers try to focus on this year's Chrysler Championship while figuring out how to complete a four-month turnaround.

By BOB HARIG
Published January 26, 2006

This October could mark the final Chrysler Championship, but that is in name only.

The PGA Tour event that will be played for the fourth time at the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor will do a quick turnaround and return in March of 2007 as part of the Florida Swing.

What else could change is the name: Chrysler is not assured of returning as title sponsor after this year.

The challenge for tournament organizers is to not get too far ahead of themselves.

"We're trying to see if there is any precedent for this," tournament director Gerald Goodman said. "Right now we can't find another tournament that played and then did it again four months later. We have to do some research and see if we can get some pointers. With so little time between, do we leave some stuff up? Do we store stuff on site?

"We'll be keeping an eye on '07, but we've got to concentrate on this year, too. The good news is we've already had several sponsors say they are in for both years. That will make it easier on us."

Things will change dramatically when the tournament moves to March, but this year's event is expected to attract a solid number of players in the top 20 in the world ranking. Among those who played last year were Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Davis Love.

The tournament, for the last time, will help determine the top 30 money winners who advance to the Tour Championship, as well as the top 125 on the final money list. Those players will have exempt status in 2007, when the PGA Tour goes to a condensed schedule and a season-long points series called the FedEx Cup.

The new Tampa Bay event will be part of that series and be played the second week of March, after the Honda Classic and before the Bay Hill Invitational.

If it has a new name, well, that wouldn't be anything different.

Before Chrysler became sponsor in 2003, Buick was a presenting sponsor of the Tampa Bay Classic.

The area's association with the PGA Tour dates to the 1930s, when the St. Petersburg Open was played at various area courses, including Lakewood (now St. Petersburg) Country Club and Pasadena Country Club. That tournament ceased in 1964.

In the late '70s the JCPenney Classic, a mixed-team tournament of PGA and LPGA pros, began at Bardmoor Country Club in Largo. It moved to Innisbrook in 1990, with the last tournament played in 1999, when JCPenney ended its sponsorship.

Tour organizers then pursued a regular PGA Tour stop and recently hit a home run when they were awarded a date in March.

"We'll be moving to the top rung on the ladder," Goodman said. "We won't be up against football on television. And for Tampa Bay to be showcased the way it will be, it will mean so much to the area and to our charities as well."

WHAT: 72-hole PGA Tour event.

WHERE: Westin Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor.

COURSE: Copperhead, par 71, 7,340 yards.

WHEN: Oct. 26-29.

PURSE: $5.5-million, $990,000 to the winner.

FIELD: 132 players, with a cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Carl Pettersson.

LAST YEAR: Pettersson shot a final-round 71 to edge Chad Campbell by a stroke to win his first PGA Tour title.

TV: 4-6 p.m. Thursday-Friday, USA; 3-6 p.m. Saturday, USA; 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 28.

TICKETS: $85 for a weekly clubhouse badge. Daily tickets are $15 for the practice rounds, $30 for the first and second rounds and $35 for the third and fourth rounds. Prices subject to change. Various ticket packages, including parking, are available. For information call 727 942-5566 or visit www.chryslerchampionship.com

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 01:02:16]