It's Official: Quicken Loans Taking PGA Tour Event To Detroit Golf Club In 2019 And Beyond

The PGA Tour is returning to Michigan and in a big way, bypassing the cushier suburbs for Detroit Golf Club. This is the base for Quicken Loans, current sponsor of the Washington D.C. stop played this year at TPC Potomac.

For Immediate Release:

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA, and DETROIT – Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, and the PGA TOUR today announced a long-term agreement to create a new professional golf tournament in Detroit, beginning in 2019. Quicken Loans has been working with officials from the PGA TOUR for several years to bring golf’s highest level of competition to its hometown.

“Professional golf belongs in Detroit. The Motor City – and the entire state of Michigan – have long served as a premier golf destination with some of the best courses in the country. We will be working with the PGA TOUR to make the Detroit stop one of the most exciting and engaging events on the professional golf calendar,” said Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner.

“Quicken Loans has been a tremendous PGA TOUR partner for several years now, making an impact through the innovative spirit and community-first mindset the organization and its leaders bring to every endeavor,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan.  “We’re thrilled to take this new step in our partnership and bring a PGA TOUR event to the great city of Detroit.”

Quicken Loans is partnering with Intersport, a leader in sports and entertainment marketing, to oversee the operation of the tournament, as well as create numerous related attractions and festivities that are planned to take place throughout the city of Detroit during the event.

The Detroit Golf Club (DGC) is expected to serve as the host venue. The club’s membership recently overwhelmingly voted to empower the Board of Directors to explore and execute a PGA TOUR event at its historic Donald Ross-designed golf course.

A look at the course and awesome clubhouse from three years ago:

Jack Loves The Memorial's New Schedule Spot, Not So Sure About A May PGA In Rochester

Dave Shedloski reports for Golf World about Jack Nicklaus's pleasure at future Memorial's situated perfectly between the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. The Golden Bear also notes there will be less European competition in future years and is pleased that the Players and PGA Championship will present more interesting weather equations as part of the mix. 

Except in Rochester, 2023.

"I don't know," Nicklaus added, "what's going to happen in May in Oak Hill in Rochester, but I wish them well. I hope the weather is good. That's going to be a tough time."

A Steph Curry Hosted PGA Tour Event In The Works?

That's what Darren Rovell reports is in the works, with hopes for a fall schedule slot in the Bay Area. 

From the ESPN.com report:

Frank Zecca, a managing director at Octagon who has worked with the Curry family for more than 25 years, would not confirm that a deal was inked but did acknowledge that conversations happened.

"Besides family and basketball, philanthropy, investing, technology and golf are high up on his list," Zecca said. "Culinary, community and the Bay Area are also priorities."

Culinary?

The PGA Tour acknowledged the plans and of course, suggested right out of the gate that he might attract the M's!

"There's no doubt Stephen Curry brings a young, new, diverse audience to the PGA Tour through his passion for this great game and support for the community," said PGA Tour spokeswoman Laura Neal. "We're excited about the prospect of partnering with an iconic athlete of his caliber in the future."

Will Sports Gambling Bring Fan Interference?

Here at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic, players are slowly beginning to realize the economic benefits of sports gambling may come with a downside.

While they aren't ranting like Randall Mell did in his piece for GolfChannel.com, they are sharing the same concern.

With legalized gambling, there promises to be a billion new reasons for fans to root against a player, just as there will be a billion new reasons to root for a player.

Thomas had a right to be annoyed at the Honda Classic. Golf isn’t like the NBA. A fan screaming in a player’s backswing is different than a fan screaming at a player on the free throw line. A golf fan can control the outcome of an event a lot easier than an NBA fan can.

Nobody’s paying to see Joe Blowhard dictate who wins. But that’s the thing about legalized gambling. It’s a pretty good bet we’ll see more Joe Blowhards coming into the sport. And I’ll wager one of them costs a PGA Tour player a chance to win.

Will Gray talked to some veteran players who see potential issues. Ernie Els sees pushback when a player lets a fan down, while Jimmy Walker pointed to the intimacy and quiet of golf.

“Golf is so much more intimate, player to fan base, than any other sport. Tennis may be the only other one where it’s so quiet and the fans can get so close,” Walker said. “I think that’s the big deal, and that’s what people have to realize when they come out here, is that you can stand 5 feet from the best players in the world. You can’t do that at a football game. It’s hard to do that at a basketball game because it’s so loud, nobody can hear all that. So I just think we need to police it a little better.”

Monahan On The Players: "This product works in May, this product works in March."

He hasn't rolled out a Finchem-esque coterminous or compaction reference, but Jay Monahan has definitely picked up a case of B-speak during a week of Players Championship meetings.

From a chat with GolfChannel.com's Rex Hoggard, updating us on the schedule, the Tiger-Phil pairing and the state of the Players. 

“To bring the best field in golf here, early in the season and to be able to use this platform and have tent-pole events, big events, every month March through July and get the playoffs to a position where we’re really excited about where we’re going, that’s good for the overall schedule.

“When you look at how we make this product [The Players] better, this product works in May, this product works in March. You need to pick the areas where you need to improve.”

"PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan proves to be what tour needed"

Steve DiMeglio of USA Today profiles Commissioner Jay Monahan a year into the job and notes the strong run of late securing sponsors, including nine tournaments with 10-year deals.  He is pleased and humbled by the opportunity.

“Honestly, I don’t think about me and my job but I think about what we are doing,” Monahan said. “I feel like the product is our players — how they perform, how they relate to each other, how they relate to the fans. And our financial contributions are significant. We are part of the fabric of so many communities, which brings a whole level of responsibility and energy. We are in a good place with all of that.”

I'm not sure about this that Davis Love bought into, but it makes for a good story from Commissioner 60 Is The Mandatory Retirement Age For Everyone But Me:

“Tim paid Jay a very high compliment one time when he said to me, ‘You know, I don’t really want to retire, but Jay is so ready. I need to get out of his way,’” said Davis Love III, one of four players on the Tour’s policy board. “That’s the highest of compliments.

And I think we'll all remember this next time a PGA Tour player leaves a ball down as a backstop in defiance of honor and integrity.

“There are so many things I love about golf,” he said. “Its meritocracy — nothing is given, everything is earned. The values of the game — honor, integrity, respect, sportsmanship.”

Video: PGA Tour Fleshing Out Its Sports Betting Position

PGA Tour VP Andy Levinson appeared on Live From to unveil five points of focus should the Supreme Court rule in favor of some form of sports betting. A decision has been expected any day now for over two months.

As you'll see, the Tour has given this a lot of thought and is mapping out its position in anticipation of a change in the law. Levinson's smart take is comforting, though golf still can be more easily corrupted by fan behavior than any other sport.

Check out the short chat with Ryan Burr:

Astros Owner Jim Crane Joins Effort To Save The Houston Open

The Houston Chronicle's Dale Robertson reports on Jim Crane's push to secure sponsorship dollars for the Houston Open, openly fearing the community impact if the event were to disappear. 

The Astros owner says they have until mid-June to get a deal done.

Multiple sources, all requesting anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly, have told the Chronicle that the Tour has given Houston until early-mid June to pull together a viable sponsorship package that figures to cost at least $12 million annually, much of that going toward ad buys during the NBC telecasts. Crane wouldn't confirm the deadline, saying only that it's in all parties' best interests "that something gets resolved soon ... July at the latest."

Good News (Really): PGA Tour Schedule Revamp Announcement Delayed

Golfweek's Forecaddie with news that the expected release of the 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule--the first with a May PGA Championship and potentially shorter playoffs--has been delayed.

The reason, besides the obvious difficulties involved with a nearly year-round global calendar to line up, appears to be driven by efforts to find the Houston Open a spot.

They've been around since 1946, it's the nation's fourth largest city and a tournament run by the local golf association doing incredible things to sustain and grow golf in the region. They've earned the right!

"Tournaments come, and tournaments go. That’s how it is on the PGA Tour."

MorningRead.com's Gary Van Sickle provides some fun memories while reminding us of bad news we already know: nothing lasts forever on PGA Tour.

As two towns integral to men's pro golf prepare to lose events or become less significant in the 2019 schedule--Akron and Houston namely--Van Sickle says this is the history of the PGA Tour, where even the once-vaunted Western Open teetered and is now barely recognizable. 

He also reminds us that someone in Tour headquarters signed off on Cialis as a title sponsor.

History is nice, but our memories often are nearly as short as our modern gnat-sized attention spans. Remember the Western Open? It was a cornerstone of the PGA Tour lineup for decades. Butler National Golf Club, the tournament’s long-time Chicago-area home, was considered a beast by Tour players. The event was seen as being just a notch below a major championship during the 1980s.

Today, the Western Open is long gone, having hit a low point – in my eyes, anyway – when Cialis, an erectile-dysfunction drug, became the title sponsor for a few embarrassing years. Imagine being a female tournament volunteer and having to wear a big Cialis logo on your shirt.

Have New Course, Need Sponsor: Memorial Park In, GC Of Houston Out

As the Houston Open tries to remain on the PGA Tour schedule where it's been since 1946, Golf Club of Houston is out as the host venue.

The Houston Business Journal's Jack Witthaus reports on the potential move to the downtown muni going forward. (A Memorial Park change in operator to the Houston Golf Association has been proposed.)

The move to Memorial Park would return the PGA Tour to a course it last played in 1963. Even if no sponsor is found for 2018, let's hope this leads to a long term goal of saving the event and carrying on the Houston Golf Association's efforts to refurbish the Houston city courses.

Colonial Officially Secure Through 2022

Doug Ferguson with the official word of Charles Schwab rescuing the PGA Tour's venerable Colonial stop through 2022. Sensational news!

Detroit Golf Club Poised To Land PGA Tour Event In 2019?

That's what the Detroit News' Tony Paul reports, though no agreement is finalized. The rumor mill has been suggesting a Quicken Loans event in the Detroit area is inevitable, so for me the pleasant surprise is the selection of Detroit Golf Club.

With two Donald Ross courses and a delightfully old clubhouse, it's a grand and bold selection. There is plenty of space, though it'll be tough to see what happens to the short, delightful South Course around tournament time. For architecture geeks it'll be a great chance to go look at some very special Ross green complexes.

Anyway, from Paul's report, on what sounds like an inspired choice if it all comes together.

The tournament likely would debut in 2019, and be held at Detroit Golf Club, making it the first PGA Tour tournament to be played within the city limits.

A high-ranking employee at Detroit Golf Club declined comment when reached by The Detroit News on Monday.

A title-sponsor candidate would be Dan Gilbert's Quicken Loans, which sponsored The National in the Washington, D.C., area from 2014-17, but pulled out after last season’s event. Quicken Loans had told the PGA Tour that its priority is a tournament in Detroit.

The event would likely replace The National, which seems destined for its final playing in the greater Washington D.C. area this June 28th to July 1st. 

Venues Matter, Volume 3,909: Wilshire v. TPC San Antonio

Sweet-Swinging Jin Young Ko tees off at Wilshire's 7th, playing 92 yards for the final round to a front and far left hole location. 

It's been a long time since a course has elicited as many texts, Tweet responses and consistent commentary. They all went something like this: "Wilshire looks great! Fun viewing! Great crowds!"

Perhaps it was the prime-time placement of the LPGA Tour action from stately and cool Wilshire Country Club. Maybe it was that ingeniously placed crane shot, conspiring with the late light to make Wilshire and surrounding old Hollywood look so darn cool. And just possibly all of that, with enthusiastic commentary from Gannon/Stupples/Cockerill/Foltz/Abbott juxtaposed with the already-tired-looking and soulless TPC San Antonio served as yet another remind of golf in a classy old course in the city center is way better than rural TPC golf.

Wilshire won the week 8&7 over TPC San Antonio. 

All of this should sting at PGA Tour headquarters but won't, even though the Valero Texas Open used to be played at a beloved city-center course with Tillinghast ties and big crowds.  The PGA Tour chases the money and worries about the fallout of going to antiseptic, suburban, bloated venues later. Or the events just die and no one examines the ties between venues with soul and those where even a novice detects the joylessness.

As the PGA Tour pursues a mind-bogglingly short-sighted position in favor distance advances that will all but rule out quaint, city-center courses on a more human-scale like Wilshire, they will have no one to blame when the numbers speak volumes.

Sure, the PGA Tour will still out-rate the LPGA Tour this week because a network broadcast still always wins. But only three of the world top 30 could find their way to San Antonio, while LA's new LPGA stop drew 21 of the world 25. For perspective, the upcoming Zurich Classic and its two-man team format has landed 10 of the world's top 14 thanks almost entirely to the fun format change.

The Valero will change dates next year to a pre-Masters slot. But major changes in the TPC San Antonio design and maintenance will be needed to build upon what Houston did in the pre-Masters position. Though as I noted in last week's Alternate Shot, the Valero should be careful what it wishes for in demanding the pre-Masters date. Houston's venue offered no masterpiece, but it also didn't make players want to hurl their drivers.

As Eamon Lynch notes for Golfweek, the May calendar spot is not helping the Valero, nor is the stagnant nature of PGA Tour golf. But really, it's all about the venue for players, fans, television and ultimately, the sponsors footing the bills.

That same poll declared the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio the fourth-worst stop on the schedule, suggesting that being named for a corporation isn’t the most objectionable thing about it. The Greg Norman design (presumably he confessed to it under interrogation) hosted last week’s Valero Texas Open. It is one of the Tour’s oldest and most respected events and raises huge sums for charity. Yet players look forward to TPC San Antonio much as a condemned man does the gallows.

Schwab To The Rescue! Colonial Appears Primed To Land Long-Term Sponsor

Brad Townsend with great news for fans of the historic Colonial PGA Tour stop: Charles Schwab appears set to take over as the event sponsor in 2019. 

There are still dots and crosses that could derail things, but as Townsend lays out, Schwab will have a nearby presence in a year and it appears to be a great fit. (The 2018 edition of the Colonial is sponsored by a combination of American Airlines, AT&T, XTO Energy and Burlington Northern.)

Most significantly to Colonial, Schwab and the potential for a longterm, mutually beneficial relationship, Schwab is building a $100 million campus in Westlake, north of Fort Worth, that could house up to 2,600 employees. The campus is scheduled to open in 2019.

Much like North Texas' other PGA Tour event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, Schwab would represent to Colonial a sponsor with a long, deeply rooted association with the PGA Tour.