LV tour stop to offer $4.25 mil.

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 | 10:14 a.m.

Las Vegas' PGA Tour stop received a huge boost thanks to a global electronics, software and systems company looking to increase its own brand recognition.

It's a boost that all parties involved hope will help lure the best players in the world (read: Tiger Woods) to the fall tournament.

Las Vegas Founders' Club president Chris Byrd announced on Tuesday that Invensys PLC has signed a three-year deal to sponsor the tournament, formerly called the Las Vegas Invitational.

The deal goes into effect this year and increases the tournament's purse to $4.25 million, with $765,000 going to the winner.

"There is a great anticipation perhaps not this year, but next year, to get Tiger back," Byrd said of Woods, the 1996 winner. "In terms of players on the tour, this announcement will get them talking about Las Vegas and hopefully wanting to play here.

"When you look at the prize money, the players have a good incentive to come."

Starting this fall, the tournament will be called the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will remain on as a presenting sponsor for this year only.

Originally, the prize money was set for $2.6 million, but with the increase, the tournament will offer the largest purse for a co-sponsored event.

This year's tournament will be held Oct. 9-15 and played on rotating days at the TPC Summerlin, the Desert Inn and a course to be determined at a later date. Byrd said a decision will be made after a PGA Tour meeting on May 23.

Panasonic was the last title sponsor of the event before it dropped out about 10 years ago.

Invensys agreed to increase the prize money to $4.5 million in 2001 and $5 million in 2002.

"It's a big step," tournament manager Charlie Baron said. "I think it can only help us in the future.

"We've probably been lacking top names that have chosen to play in Europe, but we're working on it. I think this deal will bring an international feel to the tournament and make it more fan inquisitive.

"It's going to put more responsibility on the staff and Founders' Club to make this event great."

Allen Yurko, chief executive officer of Invensys, which is based in London, said he approached the PGA Tour last December to talk about sponsoring an event. Officials suggested Las Vegas and Yurko agreed after a meeting in PGA headquarters at Ponte Vedra, Fla.

"It's part of our advertising and branding program," Yurko said. "We recognized we needed to start doing significant advertising and a lot of our customers are golfers so this was a good fit.

"We do think the increased prize money will attract the better players. It's no secret that it is an advantage for us to say we are offering the largest purse. The key for us is to create enthusiasm about the tournament."

Traditionally, the galleries at the tournament have not been very large.

Yurko plans to hold conventions in Las Vegas and bring a few thousand of his customers and employees so that they can attend the tournament.