Sponsor satisfaction is the lead storyline of this tournament

Adam Candee

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 10:06 a.m.

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Michelin's weeklong test drive sponsorship of the Las Vegas PGA tour stop begins today and tournament organizers are cautiously optimistic about the chances of the tire manufacturer sticking around for a while.

A month ago, Michelin signed on as the title sponsor of this year's tournament and its $4 million purse, with an option to extend the agreement through 2006. It amounts to a cut-rate trial run for Michelin, which paid a pro-rated amount to attach its name to the tournament because it does not get the benefit of a full year's worth of advertising exposure.

Financial terms of the agreement were not released. After Invensys ended its three-year commitment after the 2002 event, the Las Vegas Invitational operated without a title sponsor last year and organizers said it could not continue that way again this year.

The event continues to receive financial support from Helen Morton, a Bay Area widow who committed $5 million over the next three years when it appeared that the tournament might not survive.

That, however, is a short-term solution at best for an event that both players and PGA tour officials love, but has never enjoyed consistent financial or community support. Whether Michelin chooses to continue the deal -- its first-ever foray into golf sponsorship -- could be vital to the future of the event.

Tournament chairman John Sullivan of the Las Vegas Founders Club, which organizes and administers the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas, wishes the sponsor could get a full picture of what the deal can offer. But after nearly two years of struggling to attract title backing for the tournament, he'll take what he can get and hopes it's enough.

"For five weeks when you would expect everybody to be tense, it's been a great working relationship," Sullivan said.

Those five weeks included a lot of scrambling to change all the signage, advertising and other forms of branding for the tournament to include the Michelin name and logo.

"There are things we couldn't do in that little window," Sullivan said. "I think we're both very satisfied with where it's going to be."

Sullivan said Michelin is looking at TV ratings and the experience of its invited guests, among other factors, to determine whether it will continue its sponsorship. He hopes that decision can be made within six weeks after the event to help avoid the limbo situation of last year that forced the PGA tour to originally list the tournament as "TBD" when it released its schedule in December.

"I think it's a really broad dynamic (of factors)," Sullivan said. "Part of it is that takes time, and they're getting a really short look at this."

The name change did not require much change in the tournament operations setup. Groundskeepers did some "taming of the greens" this week to bring them under wraps, spreading some sand to control the speed.

"If you'd played it a week ago, you wouldn't have liked it, but it's great now," Sullivan said.

Sunday included dry runs for volunteers in different areas and setup for the arrival of players beginning this morning.

"(Sunday's) just a button-up day," said tournament director Charlie Baron.

Baron said Sunday that he expects all 432 amateur playing spots will be filled before the beginning of play Thursday. Each spot costs $7,500 for the four-day tournament, of which amateurs play the first three days.

The event was reduced from five to four days this year in deference to players traveling from last week's American Express Championship in Ireland.