The Las Vegas stop on the PGA Tour faces an uncertain future after Shriners withdrew as title sponsor.
Bob Roller, the vice president of sports for Shriners, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal of the decision: “We have enjoyed a tremendous 18 years as the host and title sponsor of the Shriners Children’s Open. The opportunity to tell our incredible stories of the more than 1.6 million children that have received care from Shriners was, and always is, our primary goal.”
He did not say why Shriners decided to withdraw its sponsorship.
This year’s Shriners Children’s Open concluded on Sunday with J.T. Poston earning a one-shot win over Doug Ghim.
It’s unclear whether the event would proceed without a title sponsor. Seven PGA Tour events had new title sponsors in 2024.
The tournament began in 1983 as a five-round event known as the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro-Celebrity Classic, and Fuzzy Zoeller was the winner at Las Vegas Country Club. The next year, with the name changed to the Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational, Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson was the champion as the event became the first in PGA Tour history to offer a $1 million prize pool.
The event was cut to 72 holes starting in 2004.
Other winners have included Australia’s Greg Norman (1986), Paul Azinger (1987), Davis Love III (1993) and Tiger Woods (1996). Jim Furyk (1995, 1998, 1999) is the only three-time champion, while Kevin Na (2011, 2019), Scotland’s Martin Laird (2009, 2020) and South Korea’s Tom Kim (2022, 2023) are two-time winners.
The event has been played at multiple Las Vegas courses, with TPC Summerlin serving as the current host.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
Source: espn.com