Shell Ending Third Longest Sponsorship Run In Houston

Aaron Reiss of the Houston Chronicle with a report on Shell ending a 25-year run next April, with only AT&T and Honda having been sponsors of tour events longer.

Negotiations had been ongoing but appear to have broken down with the tough financial times for the oil industry. This leaves the Houston Golf Association and tournament director Steve Timms looking for a new tournament backer.

Timms said negotiations for a sponsorship extension with Shell began last fall. He said the HGA "remained optimistic through the process."

"We know that (the declining oil economy) has an effect locally," Timms said. "Today is the culmination of a lot of people working really hard to try to make it work. You do also kind of get to a point where there's a decision path that has to be culminated. That's where we are today."

The PGA Tour issued a press release that included this confident statement.

The PGA TOUR, working closely with the HGA, will begin the search for a new title sponsor immediately. The TOUR has a proven track record of securing replacement sponsors and is confident a new title sponsor will be identified, particularly with the advance notice Shell has provided and for a tournament that is so well established and has had such a positive impact on the community.

Unless the Salinas brothers come along and want to move the event to Cancun.